Steamboat Conditions

Opening early due to 3.5 feet of snow this November.  More snow coming this weekend and into next week.

http://my.steamboat.com/steamboat-to-open-early-due-to-nearly-3-5-feet-of-snow-this-month/

is that where you guys decided to go for your family trip? if so your gonna love it, steamboat's awesome. although contrary to coach  ZZZZzzzzzz's opinion I think you'd love pcmr too  based on your posts

That's definitely where we're going.  Coach ZZZZzzzzzz has already been a debbie downer about how we're going too early in the season (12/26-31).

It's early but you picked the right year to do that.  Colorado is going to have an epic season.  My son is going to Copper next week for a race camp and the conditions look great.

They have almost 4 feet so far.  Looks like a foot or more coming early next week.

We were basically able to go Christmas Week or not at all, because that's the only time my parents can get the time off needed to be there 6 days.  We're skiing 5 of those.  The other day, I'm taking a winter driving class and my parents will probably go snowmobiling that day.  This is the first season that I have my drivers license, so I'm not confined to places my parents are willing to drop me off at and pick me up if they don't want to ski when I am.  I'm hoping to ski more days at Hunter than I did last year as a result.  It also means that instead of skiing Mountain Creek in a sleet/snow/ice mix, I can drive to Hunter and ski in all snow.  Improving my snow driving skills means I can better handle whatever weather conditions are out there and my parents will be more comfortable with it.

Season total of 50 inches with more to come Thanksgiving Day into the weekend.  After a soft opening this weekend with the Christie Peak Express, they're going to do their normal opening day this Wednesday 11/25.  Top to bottom skiing will be available, served by the Gondola, Storm Peak Express, Christie Peak Express, Burgess Creek, and Four Points lifts.  

Steamboat is a fun place.  they are getting hammered.  check out Johnny B Goods dinner in Steamboat Springs.  Also the local YMCA has a fun indoor water slide into hot springs.  

ScottyJack wrote

Johnny B Goods diner in Steamboat Springs.

+1.  Good food, inexpensive, nice people.

Over 5 feet so far for the season.  Snow coming down right now, possibly up to a foot from this storm.  Dry through the rest of the week, but two weaker storms coming for the weekend.

As far as terrain goes, they have now opened all of the Four Points runs.  The only thing left to open on Storm Peak is the main face near the top which looks very well covered.  I'd say that it opens in the next couple days.  The Four Points runs I believe are natural snow, so that means that some runs in Sundown and Sunshine should be ready as well.  The Pony Express area is around the same elevation as Four Points, so some of those runs may be getting closer to opening.

They seem to open lift areas in this order:

1.  Christie Peak
2.  Gondola, Burgess Creek, Four Points, Storm Peak
3.  Sundown
4.  Thunderhead
5.  Sunshine
6.  Morningside
7.  Pony Express

The're on step 2 right now, and step 3 should be coming soon.  Once step 3 happens, the others seem to happen in rapid succession making me think that some of the lift opening dates are based on cost and staff availability rather than snow.

It sounds like conditions are shaping up for Steamboat and the big holiday weeks. You are going to have a really good time.

It's great to hear that Jonny B's is still open, it's a good joint.

I spent two years there in the 90's so I'll give you a few pointers.

-Cruisers: Vagabond is one of the most fun as it rolls and undulates with big high speed corners. It gets busy though. Valley View Runs and the Heavenly Daze off the gondola are both great cruisers too. For a flatter cruiser that is labeled blue but really a green imo head for Buddy's run to Tornado Lane off Storm Peak.

-Trees: As you already know the tree skiing is what shines at Steamboat. The classics being Shadows and Closets and they are rightfully so so don't skip them. Other really awesome trees off the Sundown Express are located skiers right of Two O-Clock trail called the 2:30 trees and in between the run One O-Clock and Two O-Clock there are the 1:30 trees. These are little more lower angle and easier going than Shadows and Closets but still really beautiful tree lines. When I lived there the Pony Express lift didn't exist but we skied that area often, it was bc skiing back then. I'm sure there are still the same trees in between the cut ski runs.

-Bumps: Lots of that in Steamboat. The classic run is White Heat off the Burgess Creek lift but you can find perfectly formed zipper lines on a lot of the black diamond ski runs there. Four Points area has some good mogul skiing as well and Rolex on the other side of the mountain is another classic. 4 Points is also a fun area to lap on deep powder days. Rolex is really fun when it gets groomed also.

-Steeps: Not Steamboats strong point but there is a little bit up on top there viewers left on the trail map. The kicker is there isn't a lift that directly serves this area so you have to drop all the way back down to the Storm Peak Express and then down over to Morning Side Park (we used to call this area Boring Side! it's mostly very flat) and then use that lift to get back up. One cool feature going into Morning Side we would hit a lot is a small rock drop somewhere in what is marked on the map as Cowboy Coffee. My first season the Morning Side Area didn't exist and we would hike up to the summit every lap to access the steeps. We would do that 8 to 10 times a day sometimes. All three chutes are nice but Chute Two was my favorite as it has a nice steep narrow choke to it. In between the chutes are permanently closed areas called the half chutes, this and a few other spots are where my friends and I started to develop our steep skiing techniques. I had a friend named Newt that would air out the whole cliff band that is Chute One and a Half in the early 90's. We unfortunately lost Newt in a skiing accident in 2005. He was a hero of mine and mentored me as I was progressing during my big air days. What is now called the East Face used to be called Gate D and North St. Pats was Gate C. These are the two other areas that have interesting terrain. I would skip Christmas Tree Bowl and the other options and just head out to these areas. NSP opens up into a steep little bowl with some cool straight-linable shots that empty into a perfect wide open flat. Gate D...er East Face has the most featured terrain on the mountain. It's a fun area with lots of short pitches and big boulders and mini hucks. In between the two zones along the rope line dividing the two areas is a small rock outcropping with a small but funky chute dividing the the rock face, this is the only fully rock lined chute in Steamboat and it's called Rancid Tuna. It has a small drop into it but it's like 4 feet.

I hope that helps. Enjoy!

One more restaurant you shouldn't miss is the Double Z BBQ joint. The burgers and the Chicken Lips Sandwiches are so freaking good.

If you just want something quick, cheap and pretty tasty after skiing try Azteca Taquieria on 9th Street. We've been to Steamboat five times and are sure to hit that a couple times each visit. We usually split a burrito, each have a fish taco and a couple $1 PBR cans...then head back to the hot tub.

If you want to stop for a quick lunch slopeside the T-Bar always seems to have good, interesting food at decent prices for where it is. Keep your eyes open or you'll go right by it and end up at Slopeside.

We're planning on going out there in January. Hit Winter Park for a couple days then Steamboat for a few. We've had everything from 18" powder days to spring conditions at Steamboat and have never had a bad day there.

Take some bird seed to feed the birds on the Morningside lift - they'll land on your hand while you're riding the lift or after you're off at the top.

They're making snow at the base of the Sundown lift, so that is opening soon.  After that is Sunshine followed by Morningside and the Pony Express.  Still plenty of time for snow to build up, so great chance of everything opening.

Sundown opened yesterday, Sunshine opens tomorrow, Morningside opens Wednesday, Pioneer Ridge opens as hike-to this weekend, and the lift should follow by around the time we get there.  They expect to be at or close to 100% open by the time I am skiing there.

RA

Is that the bbq place with the flying pig out front?

If so that is the best food in town

raisingarizona wrote

It sounds like conditions are shaping up for Steamboat and the big holiday weeks. You are going to have a really good time.

It's great to hear that Jonny B's is still open, it's a good joint.

I spent two years there in the 90's so I'll give you a few pointers.

Great insider tips ^^ from RA.
We went to Steamboat last Feb for a family ski vacation.  It was the first time skiing out west for the kids & my wife.  We had an absolutely terrific time, and I guarantee you're going to love it Sno.  I posted a Trip Report here, and more on my blog.  I'll add to a couple things RA mentioned:

 - East Face and North Saint Pat's have awesome terrain, but beware of a very long, flat runout to get back to the lifts (or maybe we just missed a shortcut to get back?).  We found the No Names to have equally great terrain but a much shorter glide back to the main trails / lifts.  All of the above are accessed by HIKING to the top of Mt Werner from the top of the Morningside lift, but it is a VERY SHORT hike, and well worth doing.  DON'T SKIP THIS TERRAIN, SNO!  I'll also echo RA's recommendation to skip the Christmas Tree Bowl, we didn't find it all that inspiring.  Also, you're going to HATE the Morningside terrain (flat,boring) and Morningside lift (slow fixed grip chair), Sno, but you gotta ride Morningside to access the hike-to stuff off Mount Werner, so TOUGH IT OUT.
 - Besides Closets & Shadows, one of our favorite runs was down the Priest Creek lift line, cut skier's L into the woods, cut across the 3 O'Clock trail and into the 2:30 woods.  Awesome trees in 2:30.  Everything off Storm Peak is great, it was our favorite part of the mountain.
 - Gondi.  You ride it just once, at the begining of each day.  If you want to squeeze in an extra lap or two on the gondi to finish out the day (we did a few times) that works too.  Otherwise, the best terrain is all above the gondi.  Beware that Heavenly Daze can be kind of a S-show at the end of the day with all these beg/intermediate types wedging their way down the hill.
 - On-mountain lunch is kind of tough, and I'm sure it will be very crowded while you are there.  The Four Points lodge is really nice (and we mostly ate lunch there), but it just doesn't have enough seating and (at least last year) the line to get your food was highly unorganized and inefficient to the point of being painful.  You've got all these people trying to push up to 4 different ordering stations (one for grill stuff, one for pasta, etc) and it was a total JF.  God forbid one of you wants grilled cheese and someone else wants pasta.  Maybe they've fixed that for this year.  My recommendation is to go off-off-hours, like 10:30 or 2.  We tried lunching at the Rendezvous lodge one day and though it is much larger it was also a total CF.  My wife had to beat some kids with her ski pole to get us a table.  Don't worry, they were OK-ish. We never ate lunch in the lodge at the top of the gondi, but that may be your best bet.
 - Someone mentioned the T-Bar.  Cool place, we liked.  Could work for lunch.  It's right at the bottom of the mountain but kind of tucked off to the side and easy to miss.  Local vibe, def not fancy.  I'd also recommend the bar (not the fancy restaurant) in the Sheraton right at the base for dinner.  The bar menu is reasonable, the food was good and you look right out at the slopes which are lit up for night skiing.
 - Night skiing - We did it our first night because it was free, but otherwise I'd skip it.  As soon as the sun went down the slopes magically transformed into slick, icy slides that reminded us of night skiing back East.  It's limited terrain too.
 - If you have a rental car, definitely check out the Strawberry Park hot springs one night after skiing.  It's got a bit of a retro, hippie vibe but it's the real deal.  The drive up can be a bit of an adventure too.

Have an awesome trip, conditions out there look great!

What are the best groomed runs?  While I plan to start on the groomers and work my way into the glades, bumps, and maybe even the hike-to terrain, getting my mom to venture off the groomers takes effort.

I've been eyeing the Sunshine area as well as Buddy's Run off Storm Peak, and Longhorn off the Pony Express as the best groomers.  Are there any that I am missing that are good?

I'm thinking that if we get a storm that we'll head straight to the Pony Express since it isn't tracked out by the pay for first tracks program (Sundown and Sunshine), and is often overlooked in favor of the Storm Peak Express.  The Bar UE lift looks to have some high elevation glades off of it which could be good on a storm day.  That lift also looks to be out of the way, so no line.

snoloco wrote

What are the best groomed runs? blah blah blah

Dude, people are helping you out here. Some humility and thanks would be in order.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

snoloco wrote

What are the best groomed runs? blah blah blah

Dude, people are helping you out here. Some humility and thanks would be in order.

You and campgottagopee are getting all over my ass for something that is none of your business.  Maybe you're just jealous that I'm going out west in a week and you're all stuck here with no snow and shit warm temperatures.  

Coach Z wrote

RA

Is that the bbq place with the flying pig out front?

If so that is the best food in town

 
I can't remember exactly. It's down by the Yampa on the far side of town (further from the ski area).