mikestaple
Member
Date(s) Skied: Feb 17 - 22
Resort or Ski Area: Steamboat
Conditions: Powder, Packed Powder and one 2 by 2 foot patch of ice on Vagabond
Trip Report:
Wow. First trip out west – went with another family for a total of four adults and 7 kids ranging from ages 4 to 12. The locals had complained about bad snow all year, but we lucked out as it snowed 1 to 5 inches each day and we easily found fresh tracks in the glades even late in the afternoon.
Most days we started by running up the gondola and then over to "Wally World" for some warm up runs down Sundial and Tomahawk and mixed in some great glade skiing there. Fresh all day! Easy turns and nice dry powder. The kids ate it up. They really enjoyed the glades all over the mountain and were looking forward to them each day.
We usually then popped over the back to the Morningside area. After a run or two down Cowboy Coffee we got wise and just jumped in wherever and ran over the bumps and through the trees. Only minor wipeouts in the fog and bumps down the Morningside Face and no one brought food to feed the birds on the lifts – but they were there and looking for it. Delighted to see the 12 and two 10 year olds going off the ten foot boulder on Jump Start. Fantastic.
Friday morning we hit the very bumped up (still soft) and steeper Sundown Liftline. LOL – group yard sale near the end. Only the 12 and 6 year old made it down this black in tact – the 12 year old is good. The 6 year old just treated the moguls (up to his chest) as a giant sledding park. And then we got to run the bottom of Shadows to hit the lift. Whew. Cold brews at lunch after that.
Easily bumped High Noon was dad's alternative to the better adults and fearless kids' run down the steep, moguled Rolex. 6 year old's quote "that was a black?" I fear for when he comes back East and hits the same type of trail with a nice ice glaze on it. The kids also loved the bumps on Tornado, Cyclone, and White Out. Really nice to see them looking beyond (way beyond) the groomers.
The usual runs – Buddy's Run, Vagabond, Rainbow, Vogue, Tornado Lane, Heavenly Daze – were great in the am but scratchy in some areas after noon as they are the main blues on the mountains. The runs off Storm Peak Express were amazing. Storm Peak North and South, the Ridge, Big Meadow and Over Easy all skied great – bumps, powder, amazing pines etc. If and when we go back, we will spend a lot of time here.
Some in the group hit the Pony Express lift area and marveled at the gigantic moguls and tons of powder. A dad hike up a headwall to assist one 10 year old's lost ski hunt in the powder - soured further excursions over there though.
All parks were in decent shape. The kids lapped the small pipe and jumps on Lil Rodeo at the start and end of each day. Sometime was spent on the larger half pipe (Mavericks?) above the Christie Lift and Bunny Ears(?) – all got rave reviews from the pre-teen crew. The oldest two met their pre-trip goal of nailing 180s off the jumps too.
Ski school was fantastic for the 4 year old. On January 1st he needed tip clips and was a general disaster at Gunstock. By the end of the trip he was hitting the moguls on the ungroomed blue/black headwall Surprise. Just an amazing leap in his ability. He is able to hit almost all terrain now. Unreal.
We all loved the "ski the whole damn mountain" mentality. Great trip.
Packing tips – We flew United and they have a ski gear policy of one set of skis and poles and one boot bag – only boots – counting as a single bag. This caused us a lot of anxiety. We ended up stuffing smaller skis in other "normal" bags. For the adults we purchased a couple of legit ski bags that we double packed with skis and included empty ski bags just in case we got called on it at the counter. (so we could divy the extras into the additional bags – oversized or stuffed bags are $175 each) But – dropping the bags with the curb side check in at Logan ceased all issues. They didn't weigh or check anything. Just a big tip. At Hayden, they really only worried about the 50lb limit. And the kids each had a Transpack boot bag for their boots and electronics.
Sorry. Still haven't figured out how to embed the photos in the TR. Here they are in the gallery. (ignore the orphaned thumbnail below..)
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1214
Resort or Ski Area: Steamboat
Conditions: Powder, Packed Powder and one 2 by 2 foot patch of ice on Vagabond
Trip Report:
Wow. First trip out west – went with another family for a total of four adults and 7 kids ranging from ages 4 to 12. The locals had complained about bad snow all year, but we lucked out as it snowed 1 to 5 inches each day and we easily found fresh tracks in the glades even late in the afternoon.
Most days we started by running up the gondola and then over to "Wally World" for some warm up runs down Sundial and Tomahawk and mixed in some great glade skiing there. Fresh all day! Easy turns and nice dry powder. The kids ate it up. They really enjoyed the glades all over the mountain and were looking forward to them each day.
We usually then popped over the back to the Morningside area. After a run or two down Cowboy Coffee we got wise and just jumped in wherever and ran over the bumps and through the trees. Only minor wipeouts in the fog and bumps down the Morningside Face and no one brought food to feed the birds on the lifts – but they were there and looking for it. Delighted to see the 12 and two 10 year olds going off the ten foot boulder on Jump Start. Fantastic.
Friday morning we hit the very bumped up (still soft) and steeper Sundown Liftline. LOL – group yard sale near the end. Only the 12 and 6 year old made it down this black in tact – the 12 year old is good. The 6 year old just treated the moguls (up to his chest) as a giant sledding park. And then we got to run the bottom of Shadows to hit the lift. Whew. Cold brews at lunch after that.
Easily bumped High Noon was dad's alternative to the better adults and fearless kids' run down the steep, moguled Rolex. 6 year old's quote "that was a black?" I fear for when he comes back East and hits the same type of trail with a nice ice glaze on it. The kids also loved the bumps on Tornado, Cyclone, and White Out. Really nice to see them looking beyond (way beyond) the groomers.
The usual runs – Buddy's Run, Vagabond, Rainbow, Vogue, Tornado Lane, Heavenly Daze – were great in the am but scratchy in some areas after noon as they are the main blues on the mountains. The runs off Storm Peak Express were amazing. Storm Peak North and South, the Ridge, Big Meadow and Over Easy all skied great – bumps, powder, amazing pines etc. If and when we go back, we will spend a lot of time here.
Some in the group hit the Pony Express lift area and marveled at the gigantic moguls and tons of powder. A dad hike up a headwall to assist one 10 year old's lost ski hunt in the powder - soured further excursions over there though.
All parks were in decent shape. The kids lapped the small pipe and jumps on Lil Rodeo at the start and end of each day. Sometime was spent on the larger half pipe (Mavericks?) above the Christie Lift and Bunny Ears(?) – all got rave reviews from the pre-teen crew. The oldest two met their pre-trip goal of nailing 180s off the jumps too.
Ski school was fantastic for the 4 year old. On January 1st he needed tip clips and was a general disaster at Gunstock. By the end of the trip he was hitting the moguls on the ungroomed blue/black headwall Surprise. Just an amazing leap in his ability. He is able to hit almost all terrain now. Unreal.
We all loved the "ski the whole damn mountain" mentality. Great trip.
Packing tips – We flew United and they have a ski gear policy of one set of skis and poles and one boot bag – only boots – counting as a single bag. This caused us a lot of anxiety. We ended up stuffing smaller skis in other "normal" bags. For the adults we purchased a couple of legit ski bags that we double packed with skis and included empty ski bags just in case we got called on it at the counter. (so we could divy the extras into the additional bags – oversized or stuffed bags are $175 each) But – dropping the bags with the curb side check in at Logan ceased all issues. They didn't weigh or check anything. Just a big tip. At Hayden, they really only worried about the 50lb limit. And the kids each had a Transpack boot bag for their boots and electronics.
Sorry. Still haven't figured out how to embed the photos in the TR. Here they are in the gallery. (ignore the orphaned thumbnail below..)
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1214
Last edited:
