MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE — The mountains closed early. The skiing was not great. Workers dependent on ski crowds didn’t bank the cash they wanted to cover things like the soaring cost of health insurance and housing.
The pressures on mountain-town workers are high this spring as the high-country transition season descends.
“There is a lot of anxiety. People are stressed and they are anxious with limited resources,” says Meghan Dougherty, the executive director of CB State of Mind, which helps Gunnison County locals better address their mental health. “I’m worried.”
Her peers in other mountain valleys are equally concerned this offseason as a growing tangle of stressors take root. Demand for counseling is high, with a surge in the first months of this year. That’s a good sign that people are recognizing their own need for help and seeking assistance but it also indicates that trouble is brewing.
The offseason is typically a tough stretch in ski towns. Businesses close and a lot of people leave for a change of scenery. The isolation can push people into dark places. Without work or skiing, substance abuse climbs.
The Vail Health Crisis and Community Support Team conducted 17 interventions with locals who called the crisis line in January. That number climbed to 34 in February and 31 in March.
More than one evaluation a day is “a significant uptick” from previous shoulder seasons, said Dr. Paige Baker-Braxton, the director of outpatient behavior health for Vail Health.
The Vail Health crisis team, which offers round-the-clock response to people needing mental health support, is busy with calls from more people who are “acutely suicidal,” Baker-Braxton said.
The Eagle River Valley, from Vail to Gypsum, has a robust system to respond to people in crisis, developed over the last decade as the average number of annual suicides climbed to more than 10, from seven in the previous decade. It’s not just the 24-hour crisis team and hotline “but community members creating connections,” Baker-Braxton said.
“We have a lot of people calling because they have no one else,” she said. “The biggest thing we can do right now is focus on generating community. You do not have to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to help someone dealing with isolation and hopelessness.”
Mountain health professionals say they are seeing more men struggling with their wellness. Triggers can include financial challenges, loss of work and loneliness. Those strains are plentiful in the offseason in a mountain town.
The Tri-County Health Network in San Miguel County offers “therapy scholarships” to people across three counties — including Montrose and Ouray counties — providing six free sessions with a counselor.
More than 100 merchants and local workers marched down main street in Telluride on Wednesday, Jan. 7, urging both patrollers and the Telluride Ski and Golf resort company to end a labor dispute that has hurt the local economy. (Ben Eng, Special to The Colorado Sun)By April 1 the network had spent $106,375 on therapy sessions for adults and children in San Miguel County, an increase of 65% from the first three months of last year.
Kerry Brock, the behavioral health administrator for the Tri-County Health Network, said the increases “are not surprising given the past year.” In Telluride a ski patrol strike and resort closure in late December, combined with a dismal snow season has weighed heavily on locals, she said.
“Many San Miguel County residents have experienced significant financial strain and increased stress,” said Brock, citing reports from contracted therapists in the Tri-County network. “Clients are presenting with more severe symptoms and may require more frequent or intensive care to maintain stability.”
Drew Petersen is a pro skier who tours the West speaking with groups about the mental health crisis in mountain communities. He sensed the growing strain this year as he traveled.
“This winter brings to the surface and exacerbates much of what is already trying in our mountain communities,” he said. “Climate anxiety is ever present and I think that underlying energy is felt wider than we realize.”
Professional skier Drew Petersen debuts his new movie, “Feel It All,” at Summit High School on May 29, 2024. The movie details Petersen’s race in the Leadville 100 after decades of mental health struggles and navigating life as both a professional athlete and advocate for increased awareness around suicide in mountain communities. (Lucas Herbert, Special to The Colorado Sun)The transient nature of mountain resort communities — with people constantly coming and going — leaves a lot of room for fewer connections, and this snow-challenged winter delivered fewer opportunities to gather at the local hill, Petersen said. And that overreliance on skiing as therapy is a problem, he said.
“If we build our identities, social lives and coping mechanisms so centric to one sport or way of life, then of course folks will feel the effect of this winter even harder,” he said. “It’s part of why I always try to share that as humans and as communities, we need more than skiing.”
“It feels like the tension is really high”
Back at the base of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Dougherty is staffing a table at the end-of-season party for Vail Resorts employees, who got to ski the mountain the day after it officially closed. A DJ is spinning tunes and a bunch of people in costumes are dancing. The line for the taco bar is long. A group of kids are competing in a twist on a drinking contest, milk jugs tilted back as the crowd chants “chug, chug, chug!”
Dougherty is stuffing hands with pamphlets detailing all the ways folks can get help. Folks at a table next to her are handing out fentanyl test strips and safe-sex kits.
Last year CB State of Mind helped 144 Gunnison County residents get 10 free therapy sessions. In the first three months of this year they have helped 60 people, more than 40% of last year’s total.
Bradley Santelli with CB State of Mind talks with attendees at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort end-of-season employee party that day after the mountain closed on Apr. 6, 2025. (Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun)CB State of Mind several years ago moved the national mental health awareness month from May to April, because that’s when the 6-year-old group saw the biggest need as the resort closed and isolation spiked.
The group passes out 1,000 green light bulbs every April, urging residents to light their front stoops in green as a way to focus more attention on mental health. Awareness is high, Dougherty said, and pretty much everyone knows where to turn if they are in crisis.
“But the flip side of that is more and more people are reaching out for help while the system is sort of working against us,” Dougherty said. “So many people are losing Medicaid benefits. So many people are choosing not to have insurance because it’s so astronomically expensive right now. We are seeing a lot of strains in relationships. It feels like tension is really high.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-TALK or text TALK to 38255. The Colorado Mental Health line offers 24/7 support by counselors for anyone who calls or texts 988. In Gunnison County, visit cbstateofmind.org or gunnisonvalleyhealth.org to find therapists and doctors who can help with mental health challenges. In Eagle County, the Vail Health Crisis Support line can be reached at 970-306-4673. In San Miguel County, the Paragon Behavioral Health Crisis Rapid Response Team is at 970-343-7880.Hence then, the article about mental health stressors peak in colorado mountain communities as the winter that wasn t melts into offseason was published today ( ) and is available on Colorado Sun ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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