We've had problems over the years getting to Crested Butte, and at the end of WTF2015 someone (Carl?) suggested looking into a chartered coach from Denver Airport to Crested Butte. This not only makes the trip cheaper (at least two discount airlines — Southwest and Frontier — have a hub in Denver), it makes it more reliable.
Unless someone discovers a better service, the most likely candidate is Arrow Stage Lines. I've contacted them and they have a coach that can carry up to 23 people with luggage (it's a 30-person coach but 1-2 pieces of luggage per person would occupy some seat space) for $2009 each way (includes everything except tip). They do not require a deposit but full payment is due 2 weeks prior to the ride. This seems like a pretty low-risk experiment; if by two weeks before we don't have enough people signed up, we don't have to do it (and the choice could be made among those signed up whether to go ahead with it or not).
Here are pictures of their various coaches.
Follow-up Information:
"Our next size up is a 56 passenger that cost per one way is $2,384.
With the weather we prefer the 56 passenger (most of them have automatic chains), but the drive is just slower. As long as the roads don’t close we can travel."
AND the 56-passenger bus can hold 1-2 pieces of luggage for 56 people!
The price per-person is much better and it only needs 24 people for a $200 round trip. If that is the target breakeven, the ticket price would just go down with more people.
Regarding 110VAC, Wifi, and food and beverages (including alcohol):
WiFi is an additional $30 per trip. I can request the outlets but I can’t guarantee the bus will have them. We can let you know the day prior if you will have the outlets. We allow food and drinks as long as there is no glass.
So we should come prepared with our own backup power, just to be safe.