The idea for Big Air on Elk was simple enough. Load up a huge pile of snow on Crested Butte’s main street, Elk Avenue, have a snowcat sculpt the snow into a giant jump, then tow skiers and snowboarders with snowmobiles into the jump so they can do tricks right in downtown Crested Butte. OK, maybe that doesn’t sound very simple, and maybe it even sounds like a recipe for disaster. But this is Crested Butte, where we’ve always done things differently. And if it sounds like a really fun and unique event? Well then, that’s something that we excel at in Crested Butte, so it’s no wonder this is one of the big events of the winter.
It’s tough to say how big the crowds are, but spectators seek out the best spots for Big Air on Elk:
One of the early competitors in this event was Crested Butte’s own Aaron Blunck, who competed at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. What skier or snowboarder will be next to make his or her name at Big Air on Elk?
