Report from Steamboat - Early February 2013

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BernardP

New member
Edit: I have changed the thread title and added a post at the end to report on our trip to Steamboat during the first week of February

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Hi, has anyone here been skiing at Steamboat Co very recently? I have to decide if I'm going to book a trip there for the last week of January. From bestnow.net, I see that central Colorado is still marginal.

Steamboat currently has about 40 inches of base, which would not be too good at other places I have been (eg: Alta, Whistler), but might be OK depending on the undelying ground surface.
 
Thanks to you both for your replies. They make me feel confident enough to book my trip.

I know about the not-that-steepness, thanks to Google Maps. The attraction is a new destination for me and my wife, with long fall-line runs, glades skiing, and no car needed to go around a town that seems lively. We'll see!
 
Steamboat snow is great right now. Tree skiing is first class. Lack of steeps is disappointing but fun town and good snow/trees. You won't be disappointed you booked.
 
And FYI naromando lives in Steamboat... and is currently skiing in Utah.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note II using Tapatalk 2
 
Following up on that, I booked our trip to Steamboat on January 2. Since then, there had been no significant snow. Only a couple inches here and there. I was discouraged to see the snow report show a laughable 0.25 and 0.50 inch of new snow on some days. Seriously? The resort was as desperate as I was. The base went from 50+ inches in late december to 34 inches a few days ago.

But suddently, the mother of all dumps has hit. More than 3 feet of new snow since Tuesday. The base is now up to 58 inches. That's cutting it very close, as I will be arriving in Steamboat this coming Saturday, February 2.

I'll sleep better until then...
 
As with the Christmas storm Steamboat got over twice as much snow last week as any other area in northern & central Colorado.
 
Tony Crocker":1xjczuao said:
As with the Christmas storm Steamboat got over twice as much snow last week as any other area in northern & central Colorado.
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Thanks Tony. Is this a regular pattern? I have only one chance a year to go out West for skiing.
 
Many times I get these questions. Individual weeks are not predictable. Steamboat is clearly the most reliable area for snowfall in northern and central Colorado, although its margin over the other places is much more than normal this season. Steamboat is lower and has worse exposure than most Colorado areas so its surface conditions are less reliable from mid-February onwards.
 
BernardP":150rw1c2 said:
Is this a regular pattern?
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Not overall, but it does happen frequently enough. It's called the Steamboat Surprise. Where everywhere else gets half or less of what the 'Boat gets. That particular one was a double surprise as mid-mtn had 24", but the mountain top measurement was only 9". Funny stuff happens at the 'Boat in certain storms and even the meteorologists can't figure out why.
 
I am back from Steamboat (Feb 2 to 9). A very good trip. Five days of sun and one day of light snow/clouds/fog which made us quit at noon as we couldn't see anything. No major snowfall during our stay.

The mountain has met my expectations and is even bigger than I thought. Snowbase was about 57 inches, which is about the minimum for reliable conditions. Still, I scratched my skis more than a few times on rocks lurking just below the surface, even on groomers.

Essentially no liftlines, even on Sunday. But the on-mountain restaurants, like everywhere, are always full... It's nice to be able to get around town with free shuttles and buses, without having to worry about a car.

Like at many other resorts, it seems that 80 % of traffic is using the easier groomed slopes, so that all that nicely bumped advanced terrain is our private reserve.
As always, I find that skiing out West is a different world altogether... sigh... Back to our regular boilerplate.

Here is a link to our souvenir video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z74Cr_D ... e=youtu.be
 
Thanks for posting your report. It looked almost as if you had reserved the whole mountain, as you were the only one visible in a lot of those clips.
 
BernardP":2oaa18si said:
I
As always, I find that skiing out West is a different world altogether...
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To me, steamboat is the most like an east coast mountain of all the mountains i've skied in the rockies. I've been on the record here saying that before. IMHO it's flat and doesn't have a ton of continuous vert. It gets snow, but I really do believe its trees are over-rated. IMO it's reputation for them are a product of marketing, given that there isn't much else to sell there. I do however, think the town there is great, especially the the hot springs.
 
rfarren":2zeg0i9j said:
To me, Steamboat is the most like an east coast mountain of all the mountains i've skied in the rockies. I've been on the record here saying that before. IMHO it's flat and doesn't have a ton of continuous vert. It gets snow, but I really do believe its trees are over-rated. IMO it's reputation for them are a product of marketing, given that there isn't much else to sell there. I do however, think the town there is great, especially the the hot springs.
Click to expand...

I agree the trees are overrated, like they are most everywhere else. There is a difference between a nice summer-maintained glade and letting people make their own tracks in the woods. The latter costs nothing to the ski area, but is only worth it when there is a lot of snow.

There a some gladed runs in Steamboat that start out well, but end up in dead-ends at mid-mountain.

As an easten skier myself, I think that Steamboat is certainly not "flat". For example, compared to the Park City areas, it has more longer runs with a more consistent steep-enough pitch.

What there is not in Steamboat is really steep terrain, except a few short chutes on the back side of Morningside (which were scraped-off when I was there). There are no steep slopes that will make you pause before you leap (eg: Alta: High Rustler... Blackcomb: terrain off Spanky's Ladder). On the other hand, a few years ago, I saw my wife come within a hair of tumbling down Pakalolo (Blackcomb). This can't happen in Steamboat.

I like the ungroomed terrain in the Pony Express area. Trails are narrower, with more contours. If this mountain ( Pony Express only) was in the East, it would be mythical. Think about all the hype regarding Mad River Glen: yet, it's not steep at all and generally lacks snow.
 
BernardP":2z527qn1 said:
What there is not in Steamboat is really steep terrain, except a few short chutes on the back side of Morningside
Click to expand...

Two words: Fish Creek.
 
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