IN THE DEEP

Another glorious day with the powderhounds in search of the mid-mountain 14 that fell since yesterday. The morning report clued us in to stay low, reporting only 7" up top, so we did mostly that... Starting with a lap down Norther to Four Points, somewhat bumped out but still good. Next we hit Nelson's to Twister to BC, where the powder was knee deep and not as tracked. From BC we did the liftline back down, arguably the best run of the...

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There's nothing better than waking up to a foot of fresh on Christmas! The presents can wait (unless you're us, and have to work on Christmas, so you opened your presents on Christmas Eve!), the powder is calling! Craig had to work, so I was solo today, and other than having to ride the Gondola with grouchy, loud, hungover 20-something locals, it's often nice to have a day of silence in the snow.  From then on, every lift ride was pleasant, talking to folks from Orlando, San Antonio, Cody, and even Australia, wishing...

The snow Gods are smiling down on northern Colorado this week, making up for lost time, filling in the holes, and bringing joy to all the little powderhounds. Our wee gaggle of single trackers honed in on first Gondy and first chair at Four Points today, (a-thankyou Craig!) and we were chomping at the bit after hearing a patroller say we got 18" in the last 24 hours.  It's the never-ending storm, so much so that I honestly can't...

Still snowing.... In lieu of a verbose description of today's 6" we got to chew up, here's a video to wet your whistle... It was great to get up with my powderhound today,  and it looks like more snow's on the way, so stay tuned to this channel!...

Powder daaaaayyy!  Celebraaaate! Yeah that was good. We needed that. Big time. Of course there were 300 locals chomping at the bit, and there still isn't much open, but compared to brown everywhere the white is a winter welcome for sure. It's been snowing since... I forget, Saturday? Literally. Some have told me Sunday was pretty good, but all I know is today - and it was brilliant! They've reported a foot or so in 48 hours, and so I say, Let the Games Begin!  I'll be the first to admit, prior to today, I wasn't...

I'll admit, it's been hard to get excited about snow when it still seems like September outside, when the east coast is getting so pummeled that talk of weather seems insensitive, and when there's so much else to think about - events, growth, progress, change; yet when the forecast barrels down on us with something this big, the buzz finally spreads. It was just 12 short months ago when I posted It's comin' right for us! (11/14/2011), ...

A great Bluebird day in the 'Boat and we got to share a few hours on the slopes with Butch, our southern buddy who just plain rips... and for us to say that, you know he's fast! It was a spring day out there, and it's although a nice change from the cold we've had, the Almanac says nothing major until the 3rd week of March.  2 weeks of warm weather is going to wreck that good February snow.  Snow Dance time! So the three of...

Today's 6am report said 4" and snowing.  That's what we call a "sleeper" report.... that's a good thing.  sleep·er noun /ˈslēpər/ 9. A movie, book, play, etc., that achieves sudden unexpected success after initially attracting little attention, typically one that proves popular without much promotion or expenditure. In addition to that, it keeps those lazy sleepers in bed, and leaves the rest of us with all their leftovers.  Needless to say, I took 5 runs down Pony before Craig caught up with me (delayed...

It's one of those days that locals call "weird." That can mean a million different things, but today it meant unpredictable, uneven, ravined, and flatly lit.  There were many different reports from the locals I talked to today, from "great groomers" to "chunked up," but either way I had a great morning hunting for the good stuff. There was no doubt, while the high wind caked the trees beautifully, it turned yesterday's 7" into...

There are obvious rewards for patience. For those who have said all year, "it will come, it always does," with that deep inner peace of knowing that winter was just around the corner; for those who read the Farmer's Almanac and said, "it's always right, just believe;" for those who enjoyed every blue bird groomer day anyway thankfully, this week is your week.  Your patience has paid off. Twenty seven whopping inches yesterday broke the Steamboat record for deepest day.  And it was probably 35" by the time I came down...

We called the snow report this morning twice at 5:30am. Then again at 6:30. It was so funny, we recorded it. "Did she say twenty seven inches?"  And she did say it was still snowing. Around 7 I checked my snow report app on the Droid to be sure ~ Vail: 0".  Winter Park: 4".  Steamboat: 27".  Holy shit. Patience pays off. I've lived here since' 98, and I don't remember a day like this. Craig's lived here since '94 and said "that Fat Friday in January of 1996 is the only thing comparable to this." ...

Jesus its coming down and no signs of stoppin...

After five days of skiing and a stompin-fast African Dance class this week, I wasn't sure my body could handle the additional 9" on top of it all, man is Mother Nature piling it on!  But between a morning and afternoon meeting today I managed to make it up for about 90 minutes of powder hunting. As I love to challenge myself when riding alone, today I decided to avoid riding the same lift twice, and went from the Gondola to Pony...

Happy Valentines Day!  It's another powder day in the Boat amigos y amigas, and we've been awarded for our patience, Pony Express opened today and Pioneer Ridge was amazing.  I only had about 90 minutes this morning, but enough for 3 sweet luscious laps in the Ridge, unfortunately without my Valentine, who got up there about an hour after I did. But I didn't ride alone and made some turns In the Deep with Alicia (today's photographer,...

Today was a strange ski day. Having worn myself out the last 2 days in dense powder, I was like cold molasses moving down the hill today.  We didn't get up until around noon, as the sun was trying to poke its orb through the clouds, unsuccessfully... those clouds were extremely close all day, lightly snowing midmountain, densely foggy at the top, and by our last run, they'd broken open and begun to dump large silent snowflakes that...

Just because we've had so few, because it was a gorgeous blue day, and because its Saturday, I decided I had no choice but to "Take 2!" on the powpow. I made it to the Gondy at 8:10 and was in the same spot of the singles line I was yesterday, about 25 people back: so far so good.  But I heard from the gate keepers that it was a record First Tracks (locals get 1 free Feb FT with their season pass) so I knew immediately I wasn't headed...

A good powder day is like a good set list at a live show... you're constantly excited about what's coming next. Today was one of those days, a rare one this year, where the foot of fallen fresh was only made better by what was coming out of the Skull Candy as I took some turns solo.  So without further adieu... hum along if you so choose. Sweet Emotion> Sweet Leaf (Sabbath v.)> Jealous Again> Isis> Feeling Alright> TNT> Sunshine of Your Love> List of Demands> I've Seen all Good People> Iron...

Compliments of John Strongosky from Syracuse, following In The Deep's tracks since 2002, skiing with Craig today on Westside... <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Farmers Al<br> Farmer's Almanac is calling for snow starting Valentines Day... I'm not holding my breath, but I'm sure praying they're right.  We're overdue. -See you In The Deep one of these years...

It was a chilly 12° when I looked at the gauge this morning, but by the time we got to the mountain, the sun was warming things up nicely for a balmy Bluebird Sunday on the slopes with friends, both visiting and local.  We started out making a few long runs -sans turns- with the Krauthamers, from MD, who have been coming to Steamboat a couple times a winter for two decades and who expressed great appreciation for our local adaptive...

Steamboat's had a good dumping of snow in the past few days while we were in Denver and we came home yesterday with eyes on the prize for skiing this morning's leftovers - and glad we did.  It was a beautifully warm midday under "Giants-Blue" skies (watch out Patriots!); we got up at about 10:40 and made turns for about 2 hours with Pops, aka Wild Bill, who was ashamed today was his first day of the season. (Some Local!) We rode the lifts up and made our first mid-mountain turns down Rudys to Storm - soft groomer for carving! ...

Unquestionably, undeniably, our first full-on powder day of the year, today's foot of fresh brought the hoots, hollers, and yip-yips from locals that Winter's smile is all about.  But don't be fooled, it wore us out. And froze me out. It's a chilly-will up there today, with a -16 report on the 5am. It snowed all day yesterday, starting while it was still warm, and bringing about 2-3" of heavy stuff, a perfect buffer layer over that unmentionable stuff beneath that we've been grimacingly skiing on for weeks now.  Then...

We'll take what we can get this year, and the 2" last night turned into 5 or  6 on Morningside in the afternoon due to all the winds!  I took some late-day turns with the monos down Kodak and had a blast!  But brr, was it cold and windy! Tomorrow is the last day of the camp, and the first time in 7 years that we've been unable to do Powdercats for lack of snow.  While as sad as that seems, it'll be nice to spend one more day with these amazing athletes on the hill! ...

We're heading out for another great day on the slopes, and if you want to help by donating to these amazing partnering program that bring adaptive adventure to Steamboat, check out this movie tonight - call STARS to pick up the last tickets before it sells out! Featuring many skiers and riders you might know, including Adaptive Adventure's own Matt "Hollywood" Feeney....