Should have quoted this a long time ago, but better late than never.
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.
They broke 100 inches this week, and are about 7 inches away from breaking 10 feet. They are 85% open already and will be even more open by the weekend. I also asked on twitter if the Pony Express (last lift to open for the year) will be open by the time I get there. They said it should be open by the time I arrive.
raisingarizona wrote
-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.
We'll definitely be hitting those. I heard that the Thunderhead Express is to be avoided in the morning, so we'll probably be hitting Vagabond, Heavenly Daze, and Valley View in the afternoon. I'm sure that NOTHING at Steamboat gets anywhere near as busy as Belt Parkway at Hunter, or Horizon at Mountain Creek gets, so trail crowding shouldn't be an issue. Buddy's Run to Tornado Lane sounds like it would be a good warm up run and a first taste of western skiing.
raisingarizona wrote
-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.
I'm not much of a tree skier, and I kind of baby my equipment, but Steamboat should have way better coverage in the trees than anywhere on the EC ever does, so no issues bottoming out. I'll definitely be trying out some of their tree skiing. I'm also sure that the trees are more widely spaced, so that would make western tree skiing better than eastern tree skiing in another way. Definitely not to be missed. From my study sessions of the trail map, it looks like the Bar UE lift serves some good high elevation tree skiing, so good coverage. That lift is also out of the way, so no lines. How does the tree skiing there compare to 1:30, 2:30, Shadows, and Closets
raisingarizona wrote
-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.
Not much of an EC bump skier because "bumps" in the east usually means "icy death trap from hell". Out west, that should be different with the bumps soft and much easier to ski. I'll definitely try and hit some bump runs. Definitely looks like the Four Points lift supplies some great steeps to lap. Hopefully it doesn't get a big lift line.
raisingarizona wrote
-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 can't ski most of the true extreme terrain at other resorts, so I don't have a problem with this. For one who can ski just about everything in the east, would the chutes be doable? I don't want to get too full of myself and crash and end the trip early.
Once again, thanks for the advice. I should have done this post a long time ago.
I've lived in New York my entire life.
Locked
