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Steamboat Jan 27-Feb 6

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's once again time for my annual Steamboat trip. I got in last night and today was my first ski day. In the morning there was definitely an inversion--it felt much colder down below than it did farther up top. It was sunny all day and the snow was so nice! Coming from the east coast where we've had such a "meh" winter so far, I appreciated the texture of the snow even more than usual. Since I'd only gotten to ski for 2 hours so far this year prior to the start of my trip, I had planned that I would quit early and I did. I only skied 5 hours as I was afraid to over do it but I still think my muscles are going to be sore.
I didn't find any untracked areas but there was plenty of cut up powder by the sides of some of the groomers, which is good for me to practice in. When you see that type of leftover snow at home you can usually bet that it will be frozen solid (even if it looks inviting), which thankfully is not usually the case here.

I plan to have some pictures to go along with the trip, but for some reason tonight the internet is not uploading them.

One plus so far is my upgraded room at the Sheraton. I always book the cheapest room but I ended up with a one bedroom suite directly facing the slopes. I think the hotel is at capacity and in the past I've been given upgrades in that case due to being a past guest, so I assume that is the case this time as well.
Here's my view, which I was actually able to enjoy a little today since I quit skiing at 2pm.
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Had dinner tonight downtown at the Back Door Grill--if anyone likes burgers, I recommend Back Door Grill. Lots of inventive burgers in addition to standards and I found it to be really tasty. It's pretty small and more of a bar than a restaurant and really casual.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Stayed at Sheraton when I went to steamboat....,ski in ski out is the bomb. Had so much fun on that trip...
 

snowski/swimmouse

Angel Diva
The Lodge at Steamboat with it's ski check and frequent shuttles is actually a better experience than some of the places I've had "ski in/ski out". An alternative....
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 2 Thurs
Well, my legs weren't as sore as I thought they would be. So once again I started out at 8:30. It was sunny again today and it got warmer. By the afternoon the snow was getting a little wet/clumpy on parts of the mountain, so I imagine tomorrow will be crusty in the morning.
Here is my attempt at an "artistic" groomer picture
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I spent the morning working on trying to engage and tip my inside ski more. I also concentrated on carrying more speed than I usually do. These were good things to do in the morning before I got tired and my form went downhill. The afternoon I spent skiing more slowly and making rounder turns. I also skied the little bump run I like, "Norther" a few times. Norther is great for learning moguls because it's like 3 short sections and in between each section is a cat track. So if you feel like you want to bail out, you can, you don't have to ski the whole thing.

Here's another picture but I have no memory of where it was taken.
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Today I skied the Volkl Yumi all day (yesterday I spent half the time on the Yumi and half on the Nordica Wild Belle). While I liked the Wild Belle ok, I determined that I liked the Yumis better as they felt livelier and just turnier than the Nordicas. The Yumis started to get deflected a bit in the wet clumps of snow during the afternoon though.

Below is just a picture of snowy trees since I love the look of trees with snow
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Tomorrow I have an all day lesson. My legs are going to be tired. I really wish I had gotten to ski more before coming out here and having to ski for so many days straight, but it is what it is.
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sorry, today doesn't look like it's going to be a blue bird day. I'm looking at the mountain, it looks pretty socked in. Snowing lightly here in the village. But with all the snow headed this way looks like you'll have great conditions.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes, I have about an inch of snow on my balcony right now. Looking up the mountain it appears to be snowing. This will help with the crusty conditions I'd predicted due to the meltier snow yesterday.
 
Gorgeous pictures, have fun
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We're not fortunate enough to have the perfect groomers long enough to coincide with being down that low at the same time!
Here's the secret ... Ski early. Fall on your first run!

What I find fascinating about the photo is that I searched Steamboat over for corduroy just trying to find proof they had groomed. I need to try again.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 3 Friday
I had my lesson today. We got a couple inches of snow. The first part of the morning was tough, since the visibility was poor almost everywhere. It was a little better mid mountain and below, so we stayed there. I've skied with the same instructor for years now. We worked on some of the same things I always have to work on. We also did some easy trees.

There was a porcupine in a tree. In fact there were 2. One hangs out in a tree off Tornado Lane and the other was visible in a tree off the Burgess Creek Lift.
The brown blob in the tree in the photo below is the porcupine.
IMGP0054%20copy_zpsokq8brdb.jpg


In the afternoon the skies cleared off and became eventually became sunny and blue. I skied one of the trails I sort of consider my nemesis and did pretty well. The easy trees we did were fun too, but pretty much skied out.
Below you can see how sunny it got in the afternoon. This was taken off the Storm Peak chair.
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Saturday the storm we are supposed to get is supposed to start. I have another lesson, which will be good since I need all the help I can get in powder.
 

snowski/swimmouse

Angel Diva
This all brings great memories back to me; My instructor, Nancy, points out those little critters to us and works on the same stuff with me each December.... I'm :jealous:
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 4 Saturday
We got about 3 inches of snow overnight but it was the heavier, wetter variety due to warm temperatures. In the morning the visibility was okay but even though there wasn't much fresh snow because it was heavier and sticky, the push piles that formed were also the firmer variety. I had another lesson today.

There was a junior big mountain competition happening on Chute 1 and 2, so we traversed over Crow Track area to see a couple people go.

About 12:30 or so the snow started and the visibility deteriorated. We stayed in the trees for a little while since we could actually see there. Below is a picture from the Thunderhead Lodge about 2:30pm.
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I skied poorly and defensively in the afternoon due to the heavy snow and poor visibility. In some parts of the mountain you couldn't even see the push piles, so you couldn't tell when you were going to ski into one. Annoying, as all the bad habbits I'd worked this week to correct came screaming back. Oh well, at least I stayed upright. Another day will be back to the drawing board.

Now, I'll be taking a 4 day break from downhill skiing and switching to some light backcountry touring. As those who have seen my prior Steamboat trip reports know, I always make a stay at Vista Verde Ranch where the touring part of the trip takes place. I'll be posting updates and pictures from that part of the trip as well.
It's snowing now--that storm they've been talking about for days. So hopefully it delivers.
 

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