Thursday, December 27, 2007

Steamboat announces 100 inches in December

SNOW: 1" (24 hrs); 10" (48 hrs); Base: 46"; Total: 143"
CONDITIONS: Powder/Packed Powder
LIFTS: 17/18
TRAILS: 150/165
TEMP: 14/-10 F



It's snowing in Steamboat, again! The skiing / riding is idyllic, but bundle-up. It's cold outside.

The Steamboat Ski Resort released the following information in a press release yesterday: With a recent series of storms dropping more than 4 feet of snow in the past week, the Steamboat Ski Resort has surpassed 100 inches of snow in the month of the December for just the 6th time in the past 29 years.

“December has been a Champagne Powder snow generating machine and with five days still to go, we’re closing in on a top-three month in terms of total snowfall,” said Chris Diamond, president and chief operating officer for the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. “Steamboat is enjoying some of the best snow in the Rocky Mountains, with one of the largest mid-mountain bases of any major Colorado destination resort.”

The resort is currently in an active storm cycle that has yielded over 2 feet of new snow in the past 72-hours. During the past seven days, the resort has piled up a whooping 49 inches (4.08 ft) of fresh snow at mid-mountain and is reporting a 50-inch base at both the mid-mountain and summit locations on powder conditions. Steamboat is currently offering powderhounds 2,820 acres (95% of the mountain), 147 trails, 17 lifts and 3,668 vertical feet of skiing/riding enjoyment.

For the month of December, 102 inches (8.5 feet) has fallen at mid-mountain, making this the 6th time the resort has surpassed the 100” mark for the month in the past 29 years. The resort has seen snow 21 out of 26 days (80.7%) this month, with 12 of those days recording more than four inches. This season, 142 inches (11.8 ft) of Champagne Power snow has staked up at the ski area’s mid-mountain site.


The National Weather Service has issued a snow advisory for Steamboat from 6pm this evening until 6pm Thursday. Sunny skies and mild temperatures today likely will be replaced by heavy snowstorms and low temperatures for the next week. Longer range forecasts continue to show the area in an active weather pattern heading into the New Year.


[Photograph courtesy of Larry Pierce, Steamboat Ski Area Photographer]

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