400 Plus Inches of Snow- Steamboat Powder Morning

The Steamboat Ski Resort just announced that Steamboat has officially received over 400 inches of snow snow snow! And as soon as we announced that total,  Mother Nature decided 400 inches was not enough and gave Steamboat another 9 inches just to top it off!

I spent yesterday morning in all that brand new snow and it was, to put it mildly, soo soo soo much fun!  Some of my favorite days in a ski season can occur the last few days the ski resort is open - this morning was one of them.  The snow was soft, the snowflakes were perfect and it was perfect with so many runs of perfect untouched snow! This morning was foggy but the sun has already burned through any left over storm clouds and the Steamboat skiers and riders are playing in fresh pow with gorgeous sunshine!  Here is what all 400 plus inches of Steamboat powder looked like!

There is still plenty of time to come play in Steamboat's white Spring powder conditions! Springalicious is tasty with discounted lodging, discounted lift tickets- you get 4 days for $100 bucks! and there is plenty of free music, closing weekend events and sunshine and beers! Get to Steamboat for Springalicious spring!

Springalicious Spring Skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort 2011

We've made it through an incredibly snowy, deep, exhilarating winter and the first signs of spring are beginning to show around here in Steamboat Springs!  The temperatures are getting a little warmer, the days have been staying lighter longer, the sun has been brilliant- perfect for those long days of skiing.  Spring is Springalicious in Steamboat!

Top Reasons Why We Love Spring Skiing?  

Glad you asked- other than the warm sunny afternoons perfect for happy hour, getting together with friends and family after some killer runs, live music and apres deals there are also these:

1. Extended Spring Ski Hours!  The sun is hanging out a littler longer each day and with that means more minutes to ski the day away. The Spring lift operating hours went into effect February 26th at the Steamboat Ski Resort providing up to an additional 30 minutes to enjoy the slopes. With the extended spring hours, Morningside and Pony Express chairlifts will now close at 3:30pm; Storm Peak Express, Sundown Express and Sunshine Express at 3:45pm; Burgess Creek, South Peak and Thunderhead Express at 4:00pm; and Elkhead at 4:15pm. Check the daily grooming sheet for daily lift status as some lifts may close based on business levels for that day.  See a Steamboat Ski Resort Map

2. Springalicious Ski Events: The final ski weeks in April are packed with live music from big names like Los Lonely Boys, Katchafire, and the Wailers- these outdoor free concerts are at the base of the gondola with beer sales, band merchandise tents.  Grab your friends and get your groove on off the mountain! 

The final week of the Ski Resort's 2010/11 season also hosts unique events like the  splashdown pond skim and the cardboard classic.  If you are brave enough to face the frigid waters of a barely above freezing pool in the attempts to skim across it and make safe to the other side then this is your sport! Otherwise grab a good spot and get ready for this hilarious event!  

3. This is the best one:  Springalicious Lodging and $99 4-day lift tickets!  Stay with ResortQuest for your spring fling trip and you'll get 20% off 2 + nights and you'll 4 days of lift tickets for only $99 dollars.  How awesome is that! Book now and get your spring skiing underway!

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...

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:

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  The 28th annual Cardboard Classic begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the base of the ski area.
  
  
  
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  American Relay performs in Gondola Square at 3 p.m. Saturday.
  
  
  
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  The Radiators perform in Gondola Square at 2 p.m. Sunday.
  
  
  
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  The Splashdown pond-skimming competition begins at 3 p.m. Sunday on the Lil’ Rodeo ski trail near the base of the mountain.
  
  
  
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  A children’s Jib Jam is at 3:15 p.m. Sunday on the Stampede trail.
  
  
  
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  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.