Steamboat Springs, CO (Saturday, December 10, 2005) - The winter storm that started dumping snow on November 26th in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, has brought the Steamboat Ski Area a total of 92 inches (7.67 feet) at mid-mountain and 104 inches (8.67 feet) at the summit over the past twelve days, allowing the resort to open nearly 100% of its terrain this weekend.

"This was one of Steamboat’s legendary snow storms where we measure accumulation in feet over days; and, as a result, the mountain is in incredible shape as we move into the holiday period,” said Doug Allen, vice president-operations of the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. "With the resort’s snowiest November already in the record book and 4.25 feet just nine days into December, Steamboat is definitely showing why it’s the home of Champagne Powder snow.”

Today the resort will provide 156 trails, 2,845 acres (nearly 96% of the mountain) on powder/packed powder conditions with 49-inch base at mid-mountain and 62-inch base at the summit. The new terrain includes the Chutes, Christmas Tree Bowl, East Face, Morningside Park, Sunshine Peak, which includes some of the resort’s favorite intermediate terrain, as well as hike-to access of Pioneer Ridge. Twelve lifts including the Steamboat Gondola, Storm Peak Express, Thunderhead Express, Sundown Express, Morningside, Preview, Southface, South Peak, Christie III, Burgess Creek, Bashor and Elkhead chairlifts, will access 3,668 vertical feet of terrain.

For individuals looking to hit the superpipe, the Mavericks Superpipe - the longest superpipe on the continent - is coming along ahead of schedule and is anticipated to open towards the end of next week. Typically, the superpipe opens around December 20th and this will make one of the earliest openings with only December 2000 beating out this year.

"If you’ve been holding off on a winter vacation because of snow, now there’s definitely no excuse not to book a trip to Steamboat this winter,” said Andy Wirth, vice president of sales & marketing. "This is shaping up to be one of those seasons that you’ll hear about and read about for years to come.”