Monday, April 14, 2008

The Steamboat Ski Season is Officially Over...



This Steamboat Ski Bums blog entry is a little belated because I had slipped out of town to Vail, Colorado, for a week. I left Steamboat at lunchtime on closing day, sadly missing the new Pond Skimming Event. I left in the midst of a snowstorm which did not stop until this past Saturday.

Regretfully, The Steamboat Ski Resort does not record snowfall after the ski area closes. We ended this epic season with a record breaking 40 feets of snow, 489 inches, but that does not count the several feet that fell after the last chair came to a halt on Sunday April 6th. Jon Wade alluded to the possibility of over 550 inches total snow this season (Steamboat-Spring.blogspot), "A friend told me that as of this morning there is 4 ft of fresh light stuff on top. So much so that the snowmobiles can't get close without a cut from the snow cats."

Whatever the total, as the Steamboat Ski Resort posted in it's final news alert: "This is one for the record books; a season that will no doubt live on in our memories through stories told year after year. It’s the story of the ultimate four-wire winter where over 500 inches of the light fluff fell at the summit and over 40 feet cascaded down at mid-mountain"

Diehard skiers and riders are still seeking those fresh track up on Buffalo Pass, located north of Steamboat up Routt County Road 36, then a few miles east on C.R. 38. It’s about as well kept a secret as the location of Old Town Pub & Restaurant. Neither appears on Google Maps, but everyone in town knows how to get there.

"The pass, the jumping off point for some of the best backcountry skiing in Northern Colorado, is a secret, at least according to its biggest fans."

Today, the sun is blazing over Steamboat Springs, helping speed up the spring meltdown, making way for wildflowers, luminous Aspen Groves and an abundance of summer activities and events. Record snowfall certainly makes way for epic wrafting, kaying and even tubing this summer. More events April - July, 2008

Stay tuned for more Summer in Steamboat information...

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Last days to ski the Daze



SNOW: 2" (24 hrs); 4"(48 hrs); Base: 82"; Total: 82"
CONDITIONS: Powder/Packed Powder!
LIFTS: 16/18
TRAILS: 165/165
TEMP: 41/28



This morning I stepped outside in my little spring flats and had to turn around and pull on the winter boots again. A dusting of snow covered Steamboat Springs last night. Winter is certainly making a slow exit from Steamboat!

This weekend is closing weekend at the ski area. The Springalicious festival is Saturday and Sunday and includes a pond-skimming competition, the annual Cardboard Classic and live concerts by American Relay, The Radiators and Susan Tedeschi. Steamboat Ski Resort officials plan to hold the event annually.

The Cardboard Classic is especially near and dear to the ResortQuest Steamboat staff. Our very own maintenance employees, Jim and Carl, have been holed up in a the Timberline Lodge at Trappeur's Crossing Resort parking garage with a 10-foot ceiling almost every night for a couple of weeks now, preparing Steamboat Springs best ever Cardboard Classic craft!

For his sixth year participating in Steamboat’s most bizarre rite of spring, Fletcher is trying to include as many moving parts as possible in a craft that has been preceded by a “Talladega Nights” racecar, a Hummer, a gondola car and a tank.

...to read more about Fletcher's amazing talents for cardboard craft construction, check-out the Steamboat Pilot Article, Cardboard King Under Construction. Or better yet, check-out the Steamboat Cardboard Classic video:


Steamboat Cardboard Classic Preparation, Video by Steamboat Pilot


SPRINGALICIOUS FESTIVAL EVENT SCHEDULE:

  • The 28th annual Cardboard Classic begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the base of the ski area.


  • American Relay performs in Gondola Square at 3 p.m. Saturday.


  • The Radiators perform in Gondola Square at 2 p.m. Sunday.


  • The Splashdown pond-skimming competition begins at 3 p.m. Sunday on the Lil’ Rodeo ski trail near the base of the mountain.


  • A children’s Jib Jam is at 3:15 p.m. Sunday on the Stampede trail.


  • Susan Tedeschi performs at 4 p.m. Sunday in Gondola Square.

Saturday and Sunday are expected to be sunny, with high temperatures in the low to mid-50s, according to the National Weather Service.