Steamboat Jan 30-Feb 9, 2019

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 1 Jan 30
Once again I'm back at Steamboat--year number 12!
I did things a bit different this year--usually I fly United and connect in Denver, but this year Jetblue is offering nonstop service from Boston on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so I decided to do that instead. The flight wasn't full, so I had a whole row to myself, which is usually unheard of out of Boston. When I fly United, I usually take the last flight so I end up getting into Hayden at about 8 or 9pm when no other flights are landing, so everything is really fast and seamless. Today, there was at least one other large plane landing at the same time, so everything was delayed--from waiting for the ramp to get off the plane to the 35/40 minute wait for bags and another 10 min after that for skis! Then the shuttle driver was overwhelmed as everyone on my shuttle brought skis, so he had to be creative in order to get all the bags in the van--he said it rarely happens that everyone brings skis; I've never seen the van packed so full myself either.
But I finally arrived at my usual lodging, the Sheraton and scored a 2 bedroom unit with mountain view. Of course I'm by myself so have no need of all the space, but nice upgrade anyway.

I spent the afternoon getting my ski binding fixed (easy fix) and sitting in the hot tub enjoying the view.
Went to early dinner at the Ore House, which is one of my old stand-bys. This time I got the teriyaki steak tips and the house potato.

 

[canski]

Following! Going 1st wk of March & on JetBlue direct from BOS!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 2 Jan 31
Today was a beautiful sunny day. It started out about 12 degrees and warmed to the 20s (maybe low 30s) by end of the day.
I have pictures from today that I took with my camera, but my portable card reader has apparently died--and since this Mac Book Air has no card reader built in, I have no way of getting todays pictures off the camera! So I guess I'll be switching to taking photos with my phone if I want to post any. Since I have no pictures, I'll go heavy on text for today's report.
Anyway, I started off over on the Sunshine area since it's a fun place to warm up and the sun hits over there first. I skied Quickdraw, Flintlock, Tomahawk, High Noon and Sunnyside. I also did the little open glades I like over there a couple of times. I then moved over to the Rainbow area and focused on skiing the bumps along the sides on the lower section of Rainbow. My rule that I started toward the middle of last year is that I have to ski some ungroomed everyday. Groomers are my comfort zone but I want to improve in skiing ungroomed terrain--and just sticking to groomers will not accomplish that goal. After that I skied the moguls on Norther. The bumps on Norther are usually not that large and there are 2 or 3 sections with cat tracks in between that you can bail onto if you decide it's not going well.

I ended up having lunch at the base at the Truffle Pig. It's relatively quick for a sit down--and the food is tasty. I love their burger and the "brie LT" sandwich. And the parmesan fries are a must have.

After lunch I went back up the gondola and then skied to the Pony Express lift. It had been a couple years since I skied over there, as last year was a low snow year and that section is all natural snow--no snowmaking. I skied Longhorn and then went back up and did Half Hitch . . .I thought I would end up on Flying Z Gulch . . . .but instead I think I somehow screwed up and ended up on some trail with large moguls and pretty good pitch . Anyway, I managed to make my way down, albeit poorly.
After that experience I took a run down Buddy's and the over to Skeeter's which then empties onto trail with nice small to mid size moguls on the side.
I ultimately quit a bit early today around 2:30pm, as I skied more ungroomed than I thought I would and cooked my legs since I was nervous for some it.

Had dinner at the Backdoor Grill; they have very good burgers there from traditional to more inventive toppings. I count them as among the best burgers in the 'boat.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day. I signed up for First Tracks, which allows you to load the gondola at 8am and ski over on the Sunshine area before they open it to everyone else.

@canski it was definitely nice to be able to go nonstop from BOS. Have you ever been to Steamboat before?

 

[marzNC]

Always look forward to your trip reports, with or without pictures.

My ski buddy Jason is interested in going to Steamboat at some point. It's on my list.

 

[Powgirl]

I love skiing Sunshine Peak!

 

[canski]

I've been twice - 1975 in my early 20s and 1990ish with DH - I'm sure we will not recognize the place!
Loving the tips on where to eat! Going with another couple, have a condo at the Mtn, and they also have friends who are renting a house in town that week....(unfortunately one of our friends just fractured the top of her humerus - so no skiing for her - glad there are lots of other things to do in the area.) Really looking forward to getting back there.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 3, Feb 1
Today was another beautiful sunny day. I did First Tracks this morning and was out skiing by like 8:05am since they started loading the gondola a bit early. It was nice to have the Sunshine area with fewer people. I stayed over there most of the morning doing a few other trails I hadn't gotten to ski yesterday.
The mountain was definitely busier today than it was yesterday, today being Friday.
I did a quick lunch at Slopeside Grill--the fried ravioli were quite good.
The afternoon I did a run into Morningside and then took the lift out and skied The Ridge which is an area you can get to from the top of the Morningside lift.
Here is a view from The Ridge


Here's a bonus picture from yesterday (I went to Walmart and bought a new card reader)
This one I think is from the top of Pony Express lift, looking toward the rest of the mountain.


Dinner tonight was at Three Peaks Grill. It's a bit pricey, but the atmosphere is nice. They have a fireplace which I was lucky enough to be seated beside and they have a pianist that performs several days a week.

Tomorrow I have a lesson. I think it's supposed to be not as sunny but I'm not sure.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 4, Feb 2
Today I had my all day private lesson. I've taken from the same instructor for years, so it's less about drills and more about tips.
The day started out with flat light but by the afternoon the sun had come out. It was also super busy today--lots of lift lines and people flying around. They were even managing the the lift lines which I've never seen before at Steamboat.
I felt like I had skied poorly yesterday, so I requested to start on a very easy trail so I could focus on some fundamentals. After starting to feel better about what I was doing, we moved on from there and worked on carving for a bit.
Today I skied 2 trails I hadn't skied before--Voodoo and Black Powder. I especially enjoyed Voodoo, as not many people take it.
After a lunch of tacos at Los Locos at the base we went back up the gondola and skied easy trees and moguls.
No pictures today as I didn't have time!
Now I'm taking a break from alpine skiing for 3 days while I go up to stay at Vista Verde guest ranch for 3 days. While there I'll be doing some light ski touring and some horseback riding. I'll still be adding to this blog and posting pictures from those skis.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 5, Feb 3
Today I just did a backcountry ski in the afternoon, as I opted to go horseback riding in the morning.
The visibility was not great, so the picture is pretty poor. The weather was weird all day--we had thunder and power got knocked out in our area for a few hours.


We climbed a fair bit up and our first descent was the best one--with the best snow. Some of the others had a different aspect and were fairly crusty.

Here is a picture of some local ranch residents


And bonus picture. Our s'mores dessert spread!

 

[GaSkier]

Wow! I haven't been to Steamboat in about 10 years and your pics reminded my why I liked it so much.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 6, Feb 4
This morning I did a ski at the area known as Trilby West with a guide and another guest. We found some fun hills and enjoyed the view of Hahn's Peak.


Then in the afternoon, I skipped skiing and instead did a few different things. I did a trail ride for an hour, then a fat bike ride for about 45 minutes then helped feed the horses on the hay sled.
Trail ride

 

[Christy]

Horseback riding in the snow! Magical.

 

[diymom]

Between the skiing, the horses, and the food-- I think I have something to put on my wish list for future years!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 7, Feb 5
Today I went for another backcountry ski in the morning with 4 other guests and 2 guides. We split the group as 2 of us wanted to ski faster than the others and our goal was hills. We drove up to Columbine and skied up there for a few hours. The 2 of us that wanted hills got to the "tele hill" and had time to lap it twice before we had to head back. It was a tiring ski as it was uphill all the way to the tele hill and then once we got there we still had to get all the way up.
Here is a view from the top in one direction


And a view from the top in the other direction


This was one of my favorite skis as far as getting to make lots of turns as the hill is longer than many we encounter. The descent after the tele hill was fun too because it was down through aspens.

Then in the afternoon, I went on another ski with one of the guides. We drove to the South Fork area about 5 minutes from the ranch and did the ski route they call "figure 8". This was not as taxing as the morning ski but was really pretty. It's one I've done several times before.
Below is one of the views. You can see the ranch down below. It's the buildings you can faintly see in the center of the image.


Tomorrow I'll be back in Steamboat back to downhill skiing.

@diymom You should totally put this place on your list (everyone who likes winter activities should check it out). They have so many fun activities to do--backcountry touring, nordic track skiing and skate skiing, snowshoeing, horseback riding (both trail rides and clinics in the indoor ring), fat biking, snowmobiling etc. And you are only about 45-60 min from Steamboat if you want to spend a day doing downhill. The food is really good too--and plentiful. You are exercising so much, you tend to want to eat a ton. December holidays and March (and Feb starting President's week) are times when kids are welcome, while most of January and early February are for adults only.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 8, Feb 6
Now I'm back at Steamboat, once again at the Sheraton.
It snowed on and off for much of the day today. It seemed like there was about 4-6 inches of fresh snow. Usually I flail in powder and cut up powder, but today I think I skied it pretty well. I spent the whole morning on the Sunshine side of the mountain and then moved around the mountain for the afternoon, including runs into Morningside, Storm Peak, Big Meadow and the Ridge.
This is a view down the run Sunnyside


For a brief period in the afternoon, the clouds all blew out and the sun came out strong. That lasted about 1 hour, then the clouds and fog closed in again.
Here is the view from Sundown Express lift for that brief hour.


The conditions were really nice and it was a really fun day.

Bonus picture--this is one I took of my dinner cocktail and then used the new app I have on my phone to turn it into a sketch, watercolor or oil painting.
Dinner was at Besame, which is a latin cuisine restaurant--it opened last year right after I left, so I wanted to try it.

 

[MI-skier]

Enjoyed your report! Glad it was a great trip. Steamboat is on my list too.

 

[Marta_P]

Great trip report, thank you! I've been fantasizing about Steamboat now that JetBlue flies direct from Boston. It's exciting to have more options close to airports in the west!

 

[Powgirl]

I love how the trees frost up off of Sundown Express...and love how you can ski in and out of the trees over there... The snow this year is a lot better than last!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 9, Feb 7
Today I had another lesson with my instructor. The weather however was crappy. It ranged from below zero to single digits all day---and it may have gotten to 10 degrees at the base. It snowed much of the night and much of the day and visibility was really poor. Worse than yesterday for sure and the wind was relentless (and it with the windchill it was well below zero). At one point we went up the Storm Peak chair and attempted to ski down Buddy's and the wind was so strong and it was so foggy, it was hard to really do anything.
I skied like #$@&--one of my worst ski days ever--between the powder, the low viz and the fact I was so bundled up and wearing mittens (I hate skiing in mittens) it was just crap. In fact, I chose to end it early as I was not accomplishing anything and just reinforcing bad habits.
No pictures today due to the conditions.
I do have some pictures of the Winter Carnival snow sculptures downtown.




Dinner tonight was Mexican fare at Vaquero's downtown.
I have another lesson tomorrow. I really hope for better visibility tomorrow.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Day 10, Feb 8
Today I had another lesson. The weather was much better. It still started out about -11, but it warmed up throughout the day and it was mostly sunny. There was still some fresh snow, but a lot had been windblown.
I skied much better today, as all the "obstacles" had been eliminated.
Being Friday it was busier today as well--tomorrow will be crazy busy.
Here are some photos of fun in Morningside




Today, after a few runs on groomers to get me feeling confident after yesterday, we worked mostly on smaller moguls and some easy trees.

Dinner tonight was at Mambo, which is an Italian restaurant and one of my favorites. Below is one of my favorite desserts. It's fried chocolate ganache balls! A crispy exterior shell with warm, melty chocolate inside!


Tomorrow is my final ski day of the trip and I have one last lesson.