In 2014 I discovered Crested Butte Resort gave out free lift tickets on opening day on a first come first serve basis. My partner and I spontaneously came up with a wild idea for an epic single day Denver to CB, couch to resort style. We both love Crested Butte and couldn’t pass up free tickets to snowboard at the resort.

The drive on the way out wasn’t bad, the return wouldn’t be as enjoyable though. We arrived at the resort early in the morning to get a spot in line for free tickets. I was helping a kid with a Flat Stanley project at the time taking photos of all the adventures we brought him on so I could return him along with the photos to my little penpal. You may see a lot of pics with him here!

We enjoyed an awesome day riding as many runs as we could squeeze in before the dreaded closing time and our drive home. The mountain was lovely and we had a stellar day well worth the long drive! A surprise storm rolled in after we left the resort just as we topped Monarch Pass. We had to wait out a brief whiteout at the summit before we got a small clearing to safely descend the other side of the pass. Slowly we made our way back home through the snowstorm safe and sound. A crazy epic, but we had a blast riding at CB for free!