Winter Outreach Events Schedule

RMBL Outreach Events

Winter 2026

Experience Winter with RMBL!

Winter at RMBL offers a rare chance to connect with science, place, and community in a truly immersive way. As a center for snowpack science and long-term ecological research, winter is a time when critical work unfolds. You’re invited to join us for a season of intimate, small-group experiences that bring you into the heart of our winter research on snowpack, watersheds, and the Crested Butte landscape. From guided ski tours and hands-on snow science demonstrations to Après Science—cozy, living-room-style talks with RMBL researchers—and RMBL Reads, our science-centered book club, these gatherings offer meaningful ways to learn, ask questions, and connect.

Together, they provide an insider’s look at the research, people, and place that make RMBL extraordinary.

RMBL 365 Winter Programming

 

~Après Science

This winter, RMBL is hosting Après Science, a cozy series of living-room style talks that bring RMBL’s science, research, education, and community together under one roof. These intimate gatherings offer a rare chance to hear directly from the scientists who shape our understanding of mountain ecosystems — and to connect with neighbors, friends, and fellow lovers of science.

  • January 30th -FULL! Check out our next science talk in February
  • 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm at RMBL 365 (formerly Crested Butte Hostel)
  • Guest Scientist: Dr. David Inouye
  • Title: What do weather stations in Crested Butte and Gothic tell us about how the climate has been changing since 1910?

 

  • February 25th – RSVP
  • 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm at RMBL 365 (formerly Crested Butte Hostel)
  • Guest Scientist: Rosemary Carroll
  • Title: Snowpack to streamflow and the importance of groundwater in mountain systems.

 

  • March 25th – RSVP
  • 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm at RMBL 365 (formerly Crested Butte Hostel)
  • Guest Scientist: Ian Breckheimer
  • Title: Reflections across space and time: using sensors, robots, and humans to understand landscape patterns in nature.

 

~RMBL Reads 

Join us at RMBL 365 for a relaxed and engaging book club gathering alongside co-host Townie Books! RMBL Reads is dedicated to science, place, and the stories that shape our understanding of the environment. We’ll come together to discuss this month’s read, share insights, ask questions, and enjoy good conversation with fellow readers. Whether you’ve finished the book cover to cover or just want to listen in, you’re warmly welcome.

  • February 18th – RSVP
  • 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm at RMBL 365 (formerly Crested Butte Hostel)
  • Winter Caretaker’s Pick: Goodall, Jane – In the Shadow of Man 

 

  • March 18th – RSVP
  • 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm at RMBL 365 (formerly Crested Butte Hostel)
  • Winter Caretaker’s Pick: Mytting, Lars – Norwegian Wood 

For additional RMBL Reads information, please email the discussion leader, John Hausdoerffer at: john@rmbl.org

 

Winter Outdoor Programming

 

~Cross-Country Ski to Magic Meadows Yurt with CBLT (1/23/26)

Join RMBL alongside community partner, the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT), for a scenic cross-country ski out to the Magic Meadows Yurt for a demonstration of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) snow survey by Andrew Breibart and Ari Yamaguchi, along with an overview of snow science by Crested Butte local and watershed scientist, Rosemary Carroll.

  • Friday, January 23rd: 9:45 am – 12:00 pm at the Alien Shack Trailhead
  • 2-hour intermediate ski tour with snacks provided. Participants must provide their own ski gear. This is a guided tour, and all participants should be able to ski independently. 
  • Space is Limited. Tickets Required – No Cost but Donations Accepted. Please RSVP HERE!

 

~Alpine Ski on Crested Butte Mountain Resort (2/6/26)

Join us for an afternoon of skiing with RMBL docents and educators at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR)! Colorado historian Brian Levine—fourth-generation Coloradan, CU graduate, author of six books, and longtime contributor to Crested Butte Magazine—will lead an afternoon on the slopes exploring the geology, mining history, and incredible people of Crested Butte. The group will explore intermediate “blue” terrain off the Paradise, Painter Boy, and Red Lady lifts. Participants should be comfortable skiing on their own without an instructor.

We’ll finish the guided portion of the tour around 3:30 PM. Afterward, participants are welcome to continue skiing or join the group back at RMBL 365 for a beverage and some social time.

  • Friday, February 6th: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm at RMBL 365 and Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR)
  • 2-hour intermediate ski tour with après snacks provided. Participants must provide their own ski gear and have a valid CBMR lift ticket. This is a guided tour, and all participants should be able to ski intermediate terrain independently.
  • Space is limited. Tickets Required – No Cost but Donations Accepted. Please RSVP HERE!

 

~Cross-Country Ski to Peanut Lake (2/19/26)

Discover how RMBL’s Youth Program is introducing students to snow science through hands-on winter exploration with Katie Lawn. Then, hear from RMBL Research Support Specialist, Amanda Henderson, about the CHESS campaign—Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Survey—and how snowpack measurements help drive critical watershed research.

  • Friday, February 19th: 9:30 am – 12:00 pm at the Peanut Lake Trailhead
  • 2.5-hour intermediate ski tour with snacks provided. Participants must provide their own ski gear. This is a guided tour, and all participants should be able to ski independently. 
  • Space is Limited. Tickets Required – No Cost but Donations Accepted. Please RSVP HERE!

 

~Snowshoe to Snodgrass Mountain (3/6/26)

Explore the winter landscape of Snodgrass Mountain with Ken Williams, Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and his field team. Learn how snowpack measurements help predict water availability and spring and summer flow through the East River valley.

  • Friday, March 6th: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm at the Snodgrass Trailhead
  • 2.5-hour intermediate snowshoe tour with lunch provided. Participants must provide their own gear. This is a guided tour, and all participants should be able to snowshoe independently.
  • Space is Limited. Tickets Required – No Cost but Donations Accepted. Please RSVP HERE!

 

~Gothic Hut Trip to Crystal Cabin (3/19/26 & 3/20/26)

Experience an unforgettable two-day, overnight hut trip to Gothic. You’ll ski alongside RMBL Staff Scientist Ian Breckheimer and get an inside look at the CHESS campaign—the Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Survey. The adventure continues with dinner and conversation with Gothic’s winter caretakers. The following morning, after breakfast, billy barr will join the group to share insights from his decades of snow and weather observations.

  • Thursday and Friday, March 19th and March 20th: 1 pm at the Snodgrass Trailhead

Overnight intermediate ski tour with meals provided. Participants must provide their own ski touring gear. Both alpine and Nordic ski touring are acceptable. In order to keep the group together, snowshoes will not be permitted. Additionally, participants will not be able to leave early unless there is an emergency. This is a guided tour, and all participants should be able to ski intermediate terrain independently. 

The hut is a 4-mile, one-way ski on moderate terrain. Depending on snow conditions, avalanche hazards DO exist so you MUST check the avalanche conditions with the Crested Butte Avalanche Center before departing. Users of the Gothic Huts shall NOT ski into or out of Gothic during HIGH or EXTREME avalanche conditions, as we do not allow travel in and out of Gothic during these conditions.  This is a condition of using the winter hut.

Due to crossing avalanche terrain, participants must bring their own avalanche safety gear (beacon, shovel probe) and be able to use it. Avy gear packages can be rented from The Alpineer in Crested Butte. Group travel to and from Gothic is not permitted during high or extreme avalanche danger. If avalanche danger is rated at high or above the day of the tour, the trip will be cancelled, and participants will be provided a full refund. If the danger rating increases while the participants are in Gothic, we will shelter in place at no extra charge and food (cached in Autumn) is available for use.

Cost is $275 per person. Space is Limited. Tickets Required. Please RSVP & PAY HERE!

Conditions of Winter Huts

Users of the Gothic Huts shall NOT ski into or out of Gothic during HIGH or EXTREME avalanche conditions, as we do not allow travel in and out of Gothic during these conditions. This is a condition of using the winter hut.

  1. Dogs, Snowmobiles, and Hunting are not allowed in Gothic.
  2. Each hut trip participant will need to fill out a RMBL liability waiver, which can be viewed ahead of time and filled out here: Winter Hut Guest Liability Waiver Adult guardians must include and sign for children under 18 on their waiver.
  3. The huts have in-floor heat, electricity, and running water.
  4. Crystal Hut sleeps up to 16 people in 16 twin beds across 7 bedrooms. Individual participants may need to share a room or reserve both beds. The space includes 1 large living and dining area, 2 small living areas, a shared kitchen, and 2 bathrooms with a shower and flush toilet.
  5. It takes 1 to 2 hours to skin out to the huts (mostly downhill).
  6. Make sure to bring: sleeping bag, pillow, towel, shampoo, body soap, warm clothing, and any personal snacks.
  7. There is a full supply of cookware: full-sized oven, microwave, stovetop burners, etc. It also has plates, pots & pans, a coffeemaker, and silverware that will be used to cook group meals.
  8. Plan to take all of your trash home with you, including any food you brought.
  9. Since the huts are located at RMBL where numerous research projects lie beneath the snow around the huts please do not ski anywhere in the Gothic townsite except to and from your hut, and do not build snowpits or snowcaves.

 

Please note these are active, ski and snowshoe programs meant for intermediate and advanced skiers and snowshoers.