Steamboat Jan 29-Feb 8, 2020

[NewEnglandSkier]

Since it's now the end of January, it's time for my annual Steamboat trip.
Day 1 Jan 29
I flew Jetblue nonstop form Boston. As was true last year as well, the plane was only half full so no neighbors sitting next to me--that never happens on flights anymore! I hope their loads are better on Saturdays or I fear they will discontinue the nonstop service if they continue to not get full planes. Most people don't start their vacations on Wednesdays though, so I have to assume Saturdays are fuller. We even arrived about 45 minutes early, so that was a nice bonus.

As usual, I'm staying at the Sheraton at the base. Below is the view from my room this year.


Since I got the hotel in plenty of time, I skied for a little over an hour. I didn't really do much; just lapped the Christie lift and found a run with easy, low angle bumps to practice on so I did that a few times. I still had time to sit in the hot tub and enjoy the view from there as well.
I went to Christy Sports to see if they had the Blizzard Sheeva 9 to demo---they do but it was already signed out for tomorrow, so I reserved it for Friday. I hope to be able to demo some other similar skis as well either tomorrow or Friday.

Headed downtown for an early dinner since all I'd eaten all day was a slice of gingerbread cake and a small bag of cheeze-its on the plane. I opted to eat at Aurum tonight. It's been around for while now, but I had never been before. I always aim to try one new restaurant each year. Got the pork carnitas nachos and a the brownie sundae for dessert. There is also a nice view out the picture windows of Howelsen Hill, so you could see people skiing and ski jumping during dinner. I enjoyed the food, but am not sure I'd return as there are other places I simply enjoy more.
Brownie sundae--with view in the background


Looking forward to getting out and skiing a full day tomorrow

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 2- Thurs Jan 30
It started snowing overnight and it snowed all day long. Visibility was fine (but snowy) in the morning, but deteriorated by later in the afternoon.
In the morning when I started there were about 3 inches on the ground and depending on where you went on the mountain I think we got about 6-7 inches total.

Today I demoed a couple skis. First up was the Elan Ripstick 94 in 163 length. I had demoed these a few years ago and loved them and figured they would be great for our conditions today. I was right! I loved these skis. They are very playful and lively and did great in the fresh snow and on mogul runs. I stayed on these until early afternoon when I went to demo the Volkl Secret 92. The Secret was ok, but nowhere near as playful/fun (for me). I liked them okay, but much preferred the Ripstick. I think the length of Secret they had (156) was a bit short though. Since I wasn't loving the Secret, I went back and got back on the Ripsticks before I had to return them. To be fair, my own K2s did great in todays conditions too, but I liked the Ripsticks even more.

I sought out runs with lots of fresh snow on the edges, glades and easier moguls. Unusual for me to ski 85% off the groomers. I only used the groomers to get to the other stuff today.

Below is a picture of the glades I like. You can see how widely spaced the trees are.


Not many pictures today since it was snowing.

Dinner tonight was at the Ore House. This is a tradition for me. I got the Whiskey Steak (teriyaki) and mud pie for dessert.

 

[marzNC]

Wonderful pics as always! I'm paying even more attention that usual since I'll be skiing Steamboat later this month. Those trees look like so much fun.

 

[diymom]

I always love your trip reports. So much detail and great pics!

 

[Tennessee]

Where are those trees, please? Looks like my kind of skiing...

 

[Tennessee]

And thanks for the great trip report and pictures! Love following your journey. Love Steamboat in a storm too!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 3- Fri Jan 31
Today was a relatively clear day. Sometimes sun, sometimes clouds.
I began the day demoing the Blizzard Sheeva 9. I like them a lot but at first didn't like them as much as the Ripsticks but by the end I liked them just as much. Another playful, lively ski that really shined in the left over fresh snow. I skied most of the same areas that I took the other skis on so I could compare. So once again I didn't ski as many groomers as usual.

It was busier today than it was yesterday so there were more lines.

Below is a picture of part of the mountain taken from the top of the gondola.


I used the Sheevas for the morning and then broke for lunch at the Truffle Pig. This is a sit down restaurant but can be quick too--I was in and out in 30 minutes. I generally don't eat in the cafeterias that much--sometimes I do, but I don't like how crowded they always are, so I like to eat at other places. Truffle Pig has some good sandwich options (burger and the brie LT stand out to me).

After lunch I went back to the shop to see if they had the Head Kore 99 for demo--they didn't have it in my length. Instead I tried the Rossignol Sky 7 for the afternoon. This was another fun ski. I liked it just slightly less though than the Sheeva and Ripsticks but it too was very lively.

In the afternoon I skied an area I like called The Ridge.


Another run I like called Sunset near the Four Points chair.


I brought the skis back around 2:30pm and then got back on my own skis for little bit. While I like my skis, they felt a bit short after all the demos I had done . . . .you can see where this is going right? I decided to make a purchase--I picked the Blizzard Sheeva 9 after hemming and hawing in the shop for 20 minutes over whether the Sheeva or the Ripstick would be best.
Can't really go wrong with either in my opinion, but I felt like the Sheeva was a touch better on any skied off areas I found---and since these will be travel skis you can't always depend on the snow being fresh, I wanted something that would be okay on firm snow too. Plus with the Ripsticks you have a dedicated right and left ski due to their construction--not that that's a real reason not to pick them. I still wonder if I made the right choice!

For dinner tonight I went to my favorite burger place downtown--Backdoor Grill. They have lots of burger toppings and tasty too.


I think tomorrow is supposed to be another relatively clear day.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

@Tennessee the glades in the second post are the "olympian glades" and are located off of the trail "Quickdraw" on skiers right.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 4- Sat Feb 1
Today was a mostly sunny day. Locals were happy to see the sun, as apparently they have not seen a lot of it this winter.
I was supposed to be able to pick up my newly mounted Blizzard Sheevas this morning, but they screwed up and temporarily misplaced them so they did't get mounted. Because of the mix up, they gave me the demos to ski for the day instead. Of course I could have just used the skis I brought, but I took them up on it.

Today I had one of my lessons. I've skied with the same instructor for 14 years now (hard to believe it has been that long!). We spent 50% of the time on groomers and 50% off piste. When conditions are good, the past year or so I have been trying to focus on off piste more. We spent the morning skiing off Four Points and the Sunshine lifts. For those who were interested in the glades in post 2 above, another sort of similar run is Black Powder--the pitch is slightly steeper but the trees are widely spaced.
I didn't have time for many photos today, but here is one taken from the Rendezvous Lodge, looking back at part of the mountain.


We had tacos for lunch at Los Locos and then headed back up. The afternoon we spent time skiing off the Pony Express Lift.
Below the photo was taken from the top of Pony Express


Now, as is the usual routine, I will be taking a few days away from Steamboat to go to Vista Verde Ranch for some other winter recreation--light back country touring, horseback riding and snowshoeing etc. I'll continue to post updates of my days at the ranch, ski tours etc.
I'll be back in Steamboat on Wednesday morning.

 

[bsskier]

Love your report! Curious how tall you are and what length Sheeva 9 you decided on. Congratulations on the purchase! Exciting!

 

[MissySki]

Woohoo, congrats on the Sheeva 9! I have them as well and love them in both the east and west!!

 

[Tvan]

Great report - thanks for sharing!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

@bsskier I'm 5'4 112 lbs and picked the 164 length. That seems perfect for me.
@MissySki I recalled that you love yours for both east and west and ski them as an everyday ski in NewEngland, so when I was debating between the Sheeva and Ripstick, the fact that you feel they do quite well on harder snow too actually helped my decision in that direction!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 5- Sunday Feb 2
Since Vista Verde offers so many activities, it would be a shame to only take advantage of the skiing, so this morning I went horseback riding instead.
This was my view out my window this morning. Each day the bring the horses in and cull out the ones they need for the day.


This afternoon I did a backcountry ski where we went to what is referred to as South Fork and skied in that area.
Below is a nice view from that ski trip.


Since the temperature was so warm at 40+ the snow was very variable. Some places had remained powdery, some places were wet and sooo sticky and others were breakable crust. Still a fun ski despite the conditions--it was T shirt weather.
I think the snow is supposed to start again tomorrow so hopefully it will cover all the icy parts up.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 6- Monday Feb 3
Since it got so warm yesterday and was going to be cold overnight, I decided that backcountry skiing conditions would not be that great and decided to snowshoe instead since no turning is required. I was right, we were facing breakable crust with a few patches of snow that had stayed nice here and there. Luckily a storm was rolling in so that will hopefully improve conditions. I didn't get many great pictures from the snowshoe but here are just 2 nice views coming back to the ranch and then back on the property.



I was originally going to ski in the afternoon, but since the conditions were so poor I changed my mind and decided to take out a fat bike and then go tubing with some other guests later.
Here is a photo of the Elk River from my bike ride


We are getting some snow now, so my current plan is to ski both morning and afternoon tomorrow. Hopefully the new snow will improve the conditions enough to be fun.

 

[Tennessee]

That ranch looks awesome. I have always wanted to go to a dude ranch — would love the horseback riding! Hope the food is good!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 7, Tues Feb 4
Today the temperatures started out around zero degrees. We only got a small amount of snow at the ranch, but we drove up north a bit for my morning ski to Trilby West and they had gotten more snow. Most of the crust was covered and you didn't break through as easily as yesterday. It was just myself and the guide so I got to lap the hill I like over there.
Below is a photo. It's not terribly steep, but we don't use AT gear for our touring, we use backcountry cross country skis and boots, so you wouldn't want to do anything super steep on that gear.


Then another nice view from a different portion of the ski tour.


I also did another ski in the afternoon. This one was over on the South Fork area. Below is an image.


This ski was less about hills and more about just touring, though we did find a couple fun ones to lap.

Tomorrow I'm back skiing at Steamboat and it is supposed to be cold again.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

@Tennessee the ranch is truly amazing. So many fun activities; I highly recommend it to anyone who likes winter sports and being out in nature etc.
The food is excellent . . .and plenty of it! Bottomless cookie jar with a different type of cookie each day set out in the great room. Very accommodating about making you what you like too-- for example I didn't like any of the sandwich choices for lunch today, so they made me a grilled cheese instead.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 8, Feb 5
It was another cold day today. I got dropped back in Steamboat and got out skiing by 10am. The snow was okay, not the best but not bad either. A few areas were icy, but others chalky. The snow was fairly slow due to the cold temps. It started out cloudy, then turned sunny and then overcast again. I picked up my new Sheeva 9s and skied those today and they did well.
Below is a photo of the run "Black Powder"


This next photo was in the afternoon and was taken from the Storm Peak lift. It is looking over toward pioneer ridge. You can see the top of Pony Express lift near the top in the distance if you look closely.


Dinner was downtown at Besame, a latin type restaurant.
These are the ham croquettes.


Bonus picture of the downtown area--I used my app that makes everything look like a sketch or a painting to make it creative.


Tomorrow I have another lesson. They are calling for snow, but it is so cold, it usually doesn't snow that much when it's super cold . . .

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 9, Thurs Feb 6
It snowed most of the night and all day long. Was about 4 inches on the ground this morning and it accumulated all day and I think we got about 9 inches total so far.
Normally, I'm a terrible powder skier even with just 6 inches or so. I give myself a grade of C- today which is an improvement over my normal D or F.
It just makes me nervous and I revert to all my bad habits, but today I did okay. Add to that the flat light and low viz and I often just fall apart.
I had another of my lessons, so that helped and I improved in some aspects as we went along.
I didn't take too many photos since it was snowing like crazy. but this one was taken off the Sunshine lift.


We stayed mostly in the Sunshine area all day, as that is all I felt really comfortable skiing as the snow added up and the visibility dropped. We did a bunch of glades and I skied my nemesis run, Hotcakes. I hit a covered stump on Black Powder and got launched and fell--I was afraid I'd gotten a gouge in my new ski bases but it doesn't look like much happened to it.
The great thing about having skied with the same instructor for years, is he lets me pick where we ski and he follows and gives me tips, critique etc. Sometimes he'll suggest we go to a certain run but mostly I ski where I want/feel comfortable or if I want to explore we go do that. We did venture over to Crowtrack/The Ridge at one point but that was in the afternoon and it was fairly deep in there and I flailed--needless to say I retreated back to Sunshine after that. One of my favorite runs today was Sunnyside--not as many people ski it.

Went downtown for dinner and looked at the snow sculptures for Winter Carnival.


Dinner tonight was at Mambo. This features Italian food and is one of NewEnglandSkier's Steamboat top picks for dining.
Below is the Short Rib


It is supposed to snow all night. They are calling for wind for tomorrow so I hope there are not too many wind holds.