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Colorado Resort Celebrates Romance in the Rockies

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 22, 2005
The compact Colorado ski town of Crested Butte has a heart disproportionate to its size, according to Ski Snowboard America & Canada. The magazine says the area ranks as the state's most romantic ski spot and trails only Sun Valley, Idaho in the entire western U.S.

That's good news for a destination that thrives on its annual �Romance in the Rockies� festival, scheduled to coincide with Valentine's Day.

Events include a couples massage workshop, romantic film festival, sweetheart dance, wedding show, and moonlight outings for skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts. A chocolate lovers' dessert buffet will precede Reel Romance in the Rockies, featuring Six in the City, a spoof of the HBO series, and Lovesick, a locally-made documentary with 15 interviews on the subject of love.

Not to worry: the host venue for Spirit, Mind & Body's Relaxation Massage for Couples is the Union Congregational Church. The two-hour, hands-on workshop, led by a pair of licensed massage therapists, covers basic techniques for back, hands, and feet.

That workshop could compete for the �Magic Moments� title of a music, theater, and dance review planned for the same timeframe by the Crested Butte Music Festival and Crested Butte Mountain Theater.

In addition to local musicians, Crested Butte artists will strut their stuff at the Gunnison Open Art Show, held at the Gunnison Arts Center. Its gift shop features one-of-a-kind items ideal for Valentine's Day gift-giving.

Although the official holiday falls on Tuesday, February 14, the Gunnison-Crested Butte celebration spans nine days. Although most events require admission tickets, participants have a wide array of choices. They include:

• Relationships and the Power of Intention seminar, designed to show how the power of intention helps attract a �perfect� match

• Mini Psychic Fair and Beginning Tarot Workshop, both slated to promote greater understanding of relationships

• Frame Your Sweet Memories, a hands-on workshop that allows participants to decorate a bisque pottery frame that will be fired and mailed when finished

• Two versions (tame and saucy) of �the Dueling Divas,� featuring Molly Brown and other women of the West

• NCAA Rocky Mountain Division alpine races and Nordic races

Both Crested Butte and neighboring Gunnison are historic mining towns that marked their 125th anniversaries in 2005. The area embraces some two million acres in the southwest part of Colorado, is best-known for alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice fishing, and a wide variety of outdoor summer activities. Accommodations range from rustic inns to B&Bs, condos, and full-service hotels.

Gunnison County includes the Curecanti National Recreation Area, where dinosaur fossils were found; the Blue Mesa Reservoir, largest body of water in Colorado; and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, one of the newest national parks.

For further information, call 800-814-8893 or visit www.GunisonCrestedButte.com.

Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is president of the North American Travel Journalists Association, and a frequent contributor to AAA Traveler and USAirways Magazine.

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