xlr8r
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- Feb 7, 2009
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After going to Winter Park last year, I realized that going on a ski trip out west on my own is not that difficult. So this year I planned on going out west again, and purchased the MAX pass with the intention of doing so. A 5 day lift ticket to Steamboat costs almost as much as the MAX pass anyway. Flew into Hayden for only about $400 round trip which I think is a pretty good deal, and stayed at the Hampton Inn which was convenient as it was right on the town free shuttle route, and the hotel had its on shuttle going back and forth to the ski area.
I was hoping for lots of fresh snow obviously, but it only snowed about 3" Monday afternoon/night. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all clear, sunny, and with temps around 30. The only day with any noticeable wind was Wednesday. The 3" did make Monday and Tuesday the best days I have had all year. First tracks in Morningside Park on Tuesday was the highlight of the trip. Overall the glades did live up to the hype although due to the freeze thaw cycles only the glades near the top of the mountain were soft throughout the trip. Lower tree areas were often too firm, but I can now see that Steamboat must be amazing after a good dump as the tree spacing is just perfect, and for me a lot of the tree runs had a perfect pitch, not too steep. The trees in Morningside and Sunshine bowl "Wally World" were flat but tons of fun. I also really like the whole area starting off of the Morningside triple coming down skiers right of the Bar-UE chair except for the chutes which I stayed to the left of as they looked too hard for me. One of my favorite things about Steamboat though was that it really is not intimidating at all, and everything is easily accessible, but on the other hand it is not an easy mountain either as there is very little green terrain. Pretty much everything is solid intermediate and above, but with no scary or extreme terrain. I don't want to make it seem like its blue square heaven like Okemo, because its not, the terrain at Steamboat has a lot of character, even if there is nothing extreme.
Some of the signature cruisers were great, but they did seem to get skied off quicker than I was expecting for a western mountain, especially around the Storm Peak and Sundown lifts. On mountain food was really expensive, but I guess just like lift tickets, that is the way things are in Colorado these days. Crowds were minimal, the only lifts to really ever have lines were the Gondola in the morning and the Sunshine lift. That is another great thing about Steamboat is that its remoteness keeps the crowds low compared to other Colorado resorts. Everyone was friendly, and the town was reasonably priced for eating out. The town had i nice down to earth feel as the town is not entirely based around tourism. The town therefore nicely complemented the resort. I did go to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs one night which were beautiful, even if a bit crowded.
So Overall this was one of the best Western trips I have done whether it has been on my own or with my family. I wish there was more fresh snow, but the base depths were deep deep deep, and the skiing far surpassed any I have had in New England so far this year. If ever there was a year to take a trip out west, this is it. I guess the best compliment I can give is that I really want to go back, which is new to me when It comes to western trips. I have been to Whistler, Vail, Beaver Creek, the three Park City resorts, Alta, Winter Park, and now Steamboat. Whistler is the only other place that I really plan on returning to again I just don't know when or if that will ever happen, I usually like to go to someplace new. But I liked the whole mountain and resort of Steamboat so much that I could see myself repeating this trip in a couple of years. Not next year as I think I will take a year off from going west in 2017. But I really want to go back, hopefully with more fresh snow. It just seemed like the perfect mountain, resort, town for me.
Pics to come tomorrow.
I was hoping for lots of fresh snow obviously, but it only snowed about 3" Monday afternoon/night. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all clear, sunny, and with temps around 30. The only day with any noticeable wind was Wednesday. The 3" did make Monday and Tuesday the best days I have had all year. First tracks in Morningside Park on Tuesday was the highlight of the trip. Overall the glades did live up to the hype although due to the freeze thaw cycles only the glades near the top of the mountain were soft throughout the trip. Lower tree areas were often too firm, but I can now see that Steamboat must be amazing after a good dump as the tree spacing is just perfect, and for me a lot of the tree runs had a perfect pitch, not too steep. The trees in Morningside and Sunshine bowl "Wally World" were flat but tons of fun. I also really like the whole area starting off of the Morningside triple coming down skiers right of the Bar-UE chair except for the chutes which I stayed to the left of as they looked too hard for me. One of my favorite things about Steamboat though was that it really is not intimidating at all, and everything is easily accessible, but on the other hand it is not an easy mountain either as there is very little green terrain. Pretty much everything is solid intermediate and above, but with no scary or extreme terrain. I don't want to make it seem like its blue square heaven like Okemo, because its not, the terrain at Steamboat has a lot of character, even if there is nothing extreme.
Some of the signature cruisers were great, but they did seem to get skied off quicker than I was expecting for a western mountain, especially around the Storm Peak and Sundown lifts. On mountain food was really expensive, but I guess just like lift tickets, that is the way things are in Colorado these days. Crowds were minimal, the only lifts to really ever have lines were the Gondola in the morning and the Sunshine lift. That is another great thing about Steamboat is that its remoteness keeps the crowds low compared to other Colorado resorts. Everyone was friendly, and the town was reasonably priced for eating out. The town had i nice down to earth feel as the town is not entirely based around tourism. The town therefore nicely complemented the resort. I did go to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs one night which were beautiful, even if a bit crowded.
So Overall this was one of the best Western trips I have done whether it has been on my own or with my family. I wish there was more fresh snow, but the base depths were deep deep deep, and the skiing far surpassed any I have had in New England so far this year. If ever there was a year to take a trip out west, this is it. I guess the best compliment I can give is that I really want to go back, which is new to me when It comes to western trips. I have been to Whistler, Vail, Beaver Creek, the three Park City resorts, Alta, Winter Park, and now Steamboat. Whistler is the only other place that I really plan on returning to again I just don't know when or if that will ever happen, I usually like to go to someplace new. But I liked the whole mountain and resort of Steamboat so much that I could see myself repeating this trip in a couple of years. Not next year as I think I will take a year off from going west in 2017. But I really want to go back, hopefully with more fresh snow. It just seemed like the perfect mountain, resort, town for me.
Pics to come tomorrow.
