IN THE DEEP

Today started with a 5am report of 5", but by the time we racked up our first run - Four Points to Cyclone to Vortex to under-the-Storm-lift-line (newly named the Craig-BumpinJoKelley-Run) - it was probably more like 8-10".

By the end of the second run - 3 OClock to 1 OClock to 12:30 trees - we had declared it upper thigh-high and officially "nuking" (snowing more than 2" per hour).

We were in the eye of the storm. Visibility was 1-2 chairs - "the wind was a-howlin' and the snow was outrageous." The east coast Weather Channel reporters (cough, sensationalists!) have already dubbed this "Winter Storm Ion."


We rallied for several more before coming down around 10:30, including Storm Face to Mustache Meadow to Sunset to Moonlight Trees, divine! And Sundial to Tomahawk to Ramrod. So deep you had to go straight and just leeaaan back!

It snowed all day up there, and according to all those coming down late afternoon, Ion had dumped about 20" up there. It's not supposed to stop snowing until tomorrow.  The 1pm report is saying we've racked up a 65" base already. Killer. Do I smell a rivaling of the famous January of 1996? We just may!

It's supposed to be cold tomorrow, so dress warm, bring a long board, and SEE YOU IN THE DEEP!  (Forgive me if I don't brave the bare hands to take any photos or videos tomorrow!)

Oh, and if you don't have the Alpine Replay app (thanks for the tip Jake J-Dub Wolf), get it. It tallies your vertical, average speed, max speed, jumps, air time, and maps your lift rides and runs - then ranks you against other skiers using the app. Pretty darn cool.


Oh Oh, and props to the Burmans for keeping up with the locals today!

What a delivery. Following what I heard was the "worst day of the season," Mother Nature delivers a 8-10" powderday under bluebird skies. What a way to end the season, totaling 338". Not bad.

It started snowing mid morning on Thursday, so we went up for afternoon turns.  It snowed off and on through Friday morning (that day's highlights here), and then warmed up, brightened up, and clouded up again - in usual spring fashion. Saturday's continual cloud coverage eliminated the chance for soft spring snow, and high winds scraped whatever snow was left completely off. So sure enough, although we didn't venture up there yesterday, we heard from the majority that the conditions were abysmal. Glad we skipped. Instead we enjoyed the festivities - which are unparalleled in my opinion, although not that I've tested the rest (why leave?).

Steamboat throws a mean party. 11am Cardboard Classic. 2pm birthday party for Billy Kidd (70!).  3pm 3-7time Grammy Nominated (depending on who you ask around here) local favorite Missed the Boat bluegrass. And we ended it with dinner at Slopeside. Yum.


Then around 7:30 last night it came roaring back in with a vengeance - high winds blazing ahead of a dark, thick cloud front.  (God, I love weather.)  It began drizzling on our walk to the car, and by the time we got home it was a full blown rain/hail/slush storm, smacking the back door's glass with a wall of water first, then caking the door, deck, and dish (required scraping) with a heavy layer of slush.   The forecast called for a foot... we went to bed anxious.

We woke up with a spring in our step, called the report, and jumped out of bed. 9 new inches and 8 degrees at the summit.  Then we looked outside. Oh yeah! BLUE! As far as the eye could see.  Frankly I can't remember a closing day like it. And the locals came out in force.

The Gondy line? Full. The SSRC VIPs reopened First Tracks to appease the masses, and there was happiness all around.

We started out with five, our favorite monoskier and a fourpack of snowboarders, much to his chagrin. We loaded at 8:20 and enjoyed fast, silky turns down Rudy's, as the sun crested over the summit.



We snagged 2nd and 3rd chair at Four Points, only behind Straight Talk Reporter David Wittlinger and his subject Pickle.  From halfway up the lift we noticed Storm Peak wasn't running due to high winds up top... although Tornado Lane/Nelsons looked oh so untouched and smooth, the wind was whipping upward, creepily running like ghost waves over uneven surface.


So we headed over to Sunnyside right away - via Rainbow and Moonlight. From the top of Sundown we could see what the fuss was about. Howling with a knock-you-over kind of force. We beelined it down 3 to 1230 and ducked into the trees wherever we could.



Next we hit Sundial to Ramrod - best run of the day I think; although grabby it spots, the snow was heavy on the bottom but light on top, like Billy's 70th cake.  Then to Westside/Wristband, yes, the trees were powder-icious.

3rd run up Sundown the boys decide - against my better judgment I'll add - that they should at least do ONE run over on the other side. So we traverse across the Land of Hoth Storm Face and meadow, and down to test out Hurricane. GONG. Back to Four Points (yes, Storm STILL closed), Sunset, Moonlight Trees. Ahhh, much better. Again, glorious in the trees.

We did Sundial again, and then to Rolex/Land of the Little People. Uh huh. Then Morningside opened and Craig ached to do Kodak one more time, one last powder run to remember her by.

On the way down we scored last goods in the trees off Vagabond left (surely they have a name), and the trees under Thunderhead lift. By then it was time to party again, and down at the base the weather was downright springtime, with a nip in the air.

Yes, another day of ridiculousness - 1pm Pondskim, 2:30  Head forthe Hills (bluegrass) and 4:00 Leftover Salmon!  Lots of costumes, tutus, fagbags, wigs, and locals with kids, dogs, and beers in hand. Good times.



See you next year snow-covered heaven, until then, we'll put up the boots and boards and explore your lush hills on foot or on wheels.  Gotta love it -

We both skied yesterday, but we pressed glass this morning at the Gondola. It was "like" a powderday, there were 5-8" (scoped yesterday), and with no one around, it would be intact. In fact, there were 6 people in line behind us at the Gondola, that's how deserted it is around here.

We headed right for Four Points, down a buttery, gorgeous Rudy's, and eyeballed Tornado the whole way up. What was groomed was grabby underneath with 3-6" of heavier but still fluffy April snow on top. What wasn't groomed was deeper, up to 8" on top and of the bumps or in the trees, but unpredictable and lightly populated with "snow snakes."

From Tornado we hit Four Points again, and headed down Sunset to Moonlight trees - I found two snow snakes, but the trees were otherwise surprisingly soft and generous. Up Sundown through a thick thick fog, and over to Sundial to Ramrod, our boards gliding through the creamy top layer with no other tracks in sight - yesterdays tracks mostly covered.

Up Southpeak and down Westside, the right side of which (dubbed Craig's Ridge) was just the same, graceful and predictable. The view from Westside (left) was of the sky breaking apart finally to reveal what would become a bluebird afternoon... perfect the STARS employee ski day (2-4pm) and party.

Up Sundown again and down to One OClock and into 12:30, then over to Daybreak and ducking left into the trees (dubbed Andy's trees); a little less snow down in this section, but 12:30 takes the cake as usual.


From Sundown we took the Face's mustache - sketchy in the fog but if you could find the line it was lovely - to Rainbow and BC. I took Valley View down while the boys did another to-to-bottom.  VV wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible - the snow losing its fluff the lower I got, until finally it was like spring skiing again.

The end is in sight, and yet the powderdays loom - the forecast is snow right on through Tuesday so you know there will be some hikers getting their turns in after the lifts stop churning. It's bittersweet, but we're all ready to break out the bikes and bag some raise...

Hopefully there will be one more In The Deep before then though -

If the mountain was a butter factory, today's snow would be the homemade creamy kind that spreads easy even on cold toast. You'd think the warmer temps would have made for heavier stuff, and the lower layer may have been so, but it was coming down so hard and fast that we didn't notice, today was voted creamiest day of the year by our bunch.

Winter Storm Warning came in around 10pm last night, although it started snowing around suppertime. By morning, the 5am report said 9 inches up top, but - see Craig's last post to understand this word - it was NUKING all morning, so by the time we'd gotten to our second run, the previous tracks had been covered, and well over 9 inches.

We loaded the Gondy just early enough to beat the Thunderhead crew to Four Points yet again, and our pack of hounds started with a Cyclone-Vortex run into the clouds. Or was it fog? Or nuclear aftershock? Either way, the visibility was zilch, and we were all talking about the vertigo effects on the ride back up Storm. I had to hug the left hand trees of Cyclone to keep my bearings, and yet still found myself on DropOut instead of Vortex since I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and rolled over the lip before the fall line because I couldn't tell the ground from the sky. But who's complaining? It's deeper now that it was then.

Next we did Storm Face-Sunset-Lights Out, still blinded and asking "Where am I?" about every 5th turn, and still cackling at the shin deep butter. The turns were silent, but to quote Dylan, "the wind was a-howlin' and the snow was outrageous!" 

Next run Craig and I ducked into 12:30 while the rest of the crew did 1:30, and everyone bragged about knee deep first tracks when we met back up at Sundown. "Amazing," "unbelievable," and "gorgeous" type adjectives were thrown around like confetti. 

Following that up with a Sundial trees to Ramrod, fast and furious. Then captured this on Westside to prove that despite the 9am report saying only 1 additional inch, we were choking down face shots like we were boxing The Hurricane.
1 inch my ass. And sometimes a run is so nice you do it twice. Sure enough, Sundial/Ramrod/Westside was a two-fer for us today.

By then it was 10:30am and I had to part ways with the crew to get some work done. They went for a 1:30 lap, then a Morningside lap, and a top-to-bottom from there.  I went straight for Storm Face nose trees again, and caught the deepest butter of the day on lower Concentration. Good gawd, untracked and knee deep all along the left side... glorious.

I sure hope if you're reading this and can make a few pm turns you do, because it's still coming down like a frozen monsoon out there.  Get some.

See you in the deep!

... they made a Pirate Theater about this day a decade ago... and we haven't heard those exact words since.  We've gotten a 28" day, some 18" days, and a lot of days in between, but either my memory fails me, or those exact words haven't made the morning report more than a few times in Steamboat history, and what music to our ears it was.

We had all been waiting, patiently, for weeks, and today was the pot at the end of the frozen rainbow.  These are the days we live for - the Phat Tuesdays, the 2 foot dumps, the bluebird powder days - especially after a three week hiatus.

The odd thing was, the 24" were at midmountain. The mountain's top side report was only 9". So with debating ideas of where to head first, we headed to the Gondola at 8:10. Low and behold, the troops loaded us early, and we didn't have a choice - head with the First Trackers on Sundown or wait 20 minutes at any of the other lifts. And what a choice it was.

First run down Keith's Ridge to One O'clock to untouched 1:30 trees had us "oh my god"ing by the time we got back to Sundown. Knee and thigh deep champagne billowing over Craig's head made for some amazing video, that is when the snow didn't completely block the entire lens.  The conditions were perfect: blue sky, late rising sun glittering through the trees,

Second run (above) we tried Three O'clock to One to 12:30 and same again; breaking trail into 1230 was worth it. And the "oh my god"s, "unbelievable"s, and more must have had the lift operators just jonesing for a breaking.  Thank you lifties, thank you snow gods, thank you Steamboat!

Third run we had first tracks again down Sundial, breaking trail out to Tomahawk, over to Ramrod, and up the SouthPeak lift to the deepest spot we found on the mountain: Westside. Alicia said it was her best run down Westside ever (and she grew up here), and by far the deepest run of the day. We did Craig's Ridge down the right side, in and out of Wristband in snow up to my waist.

By then it was 9:15, and the Sundown line was growing, so we headed over to Storm Face and Mustache, down Hurricane and headed for a couple lower mountain laps up Thunderhead, and found some of the deep on Mother Nature, Oops, and hero bumps with 2+ feet on them on Vertigo.

All in all, best day on the mountain yet. And there's still snow on the horizon. We are blessed up here, no questions about it.

See you 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 day with wide open glades of powder and empty at that, so we stopped for a few photo shots. Go Alicia!




Then we got the text I was waiting for, Craig was headed up the hill! So we hit Oops to Vertigo, also among the best of the day, lower thigh deep, glorious light powder. We ducked under the lower T-Head lift line and found the untouched stash hiding there! 

Riding Thunderhead up, we were tempted by what was below us, and hoping we were timing it right, (frankly we couldn't help ourselves) so we hit Concentration and the top was the deepest stuff we found all morning - upper thigh deep and then knee deep to Mother Nature. Wow. Back into the liftline, and back up to the saddle where Mr. Powderhound was waiting.

We took a rare trip down Vag to Surprise to get to Storm Peak so we could hit 3O'Clock and 1:30, otherwise known as ... errr, ask me in person next time you see me.   Very nice in here, all the way down the right side of High Noon even. 


From the top of Sundown we did the Face Mustache to Hurricane, freshies in both! At this point it was 10:45 and Alicia and I were hitting our limit, and apparently so was Craig's rig, which blew a bearing on the way down just before we got a chance to hit Vertigo again unfortunately.  Anyone got a new sit-ski they want to get rid of? ... yeah. Any kind will do, Craig's Revolution Pro Comp is a whopping 17 years old with 1300-1500 days on it!  A new one is $5000...

Well, we've been chewing up this mountain since before Christmas, and it looks like we will all finally get a bit of a respite to rest the old knees, backs, necks, ankles, and sit skis... a week of sunshine on the forecast should make a few people (non locals) happy for the New Year.

And when the snow returns... you'll see us In The Deep!
 

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 everyone a Merry Christmas with a smile.

I had one mission today and one mission only, enjoy, and find some new openings, and I got buried several times on the Sunnyside in the 14" inches since yesterday!

In spots, it wasn't that deep for sure, but if you know where to look, it was above the knees. Being Christmas, it was empty; the locals seemed to head right for Pony, so I was virtually all alone on the other side. 

I started with a gloriously deep run down a bumpy Norther, laughing at my solitude and headed right for Four Points. Sunset had been groomed, so next I headed there, also up to my knees, and then into the Moonlight Trees - very fluffy, very deep (the rope had been dropped today I think), and so I took my first video.

 

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 - no really - remember when it started.  We are skiing ourselves into shape quickly on Mt. Werner, and no one's complaining. In fact, we're downright bragging. Everytime I look at my Ski Report app (get it, awesome), Steamboat still has the highest dropcount. 10" on this morning's report, but it's so much deeper than that. We're inching our base above 40 now... soon the trees will be safe again!

Rudy's and Blizzard were magic velvet, and it just kept getting better from there.  From 4P we did a Nelson's - Hurricane, hooting and hollering and OMG-ing the whole way down.  I was watching Craig get face shot after face shot on every turn, with snow billowing over his head (nearing goggle failure) , and up above my own knees in spots.  It felt like a backcountry day, weaving the outside of the track before me to assure freshies the whole way down. Glorious.  Hurricane was so nice, we had to hit it twice, taking Storm up to do a "Nose" run down the center of the face and then over to Hurricane's creamy left side.  There was nothing to do but smile, shit-eating-grin style.  It was perfect, every last bit of it. 

More terrain and lifts are opening every day- and today it was Sundown, so from there we headed over to do a Clock lap, from 3 to 2 to Daybreak, all good, all deep, all the time. Then another Nose lap to get us down before we headed into work.


It's still coming down out there, check the grooming report for openings, stay safe, and see you In the Deep!  (Which looks like it'll be tomorrow once again!)

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 into it. I had no qualms about hiding out, not tuning boards, not embracing the hill until - gasp - January if I had to. But when this storm hit - and stuck to Storm Peak like glue - and piled up snow like icing on my deck railing - I shifted. Finally!  It's winter the in 'Boat! Big fat flakes comin' down!

I repeat, not much is open - so we got a safety announcement in line today from Ski Patrol: "We're blasting the top today, so for your safety, obey the closure lines," and get ready, 'cuz the rest will open later this week!

So I rallied with a boarding bunch today, 8:15 at the Gondy, the line not filling the maze, everyone hooting when we got to the top. It was Alicia's 10th day (homegrown Steamboat girl is all about it! Best facials in town for those of you who come visit!), George's second (and his excitement was barely containable because he's had to take the last two years off!) and my first- and no matter what day it was, we were all ready to rip up some of the good stuff.

We headed to White Out first, but the cat track was too deep - Alicia and I made it as far as Norther, and bombed down the first pitch with a vengeance! I was in shock by the 2nd turn, it was deeper than I expected, fresh tracks, powder puffs, it was glorious.  Again, since none of the top is open, BC lift was all we got.

We laugh at our spoiled-ness here, not waiting in lines, ever... but the massive line (for the Boat) at BC today didn't matter. We charged it thrice, and it was quick, social, and full of smiles.

After Norther, we were temped by BC liftline but passed it up for White Out and while it wasn't quite as good - with 300 locals, 5 runs get tracked up in a heartbeat - it was still very nice.  See?




By the time we took our last mid mountain run -  Velvet to Rainbow - I was realizing I have thought I was in shape, but "powder-shape" I'm not, and I was ready to call it quits.  

The Dayz and Vogue did not fare so well with the new snow... the "machine" snow is what I've been avoiding since opening day - it's not predictable, it ices up quick, and it's just simply not Godly. Like Steamboat's famous Champagne is.  But those first three were worth the last one. Unquestionable.

The skies look like they're quitting for now, so it may be a while before you see me again... but when they unload upon us, you can guarantee we'll see you In the Deep! Hopefully next time with my trusty PowderHound.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!~

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 due to work) and there was still plenty of snow to be had at 10am.  I have officially skied myself into shape when I can ski 3 hours of - yes, A FOOT - of powder and not complain to my dance instructor that afternoon.  Booya! You can't build that shit in the gym.

So you heard me right, it was a foot of fresh today.  And it was GLORIOUS. 4 inches my ass.

I was about 20th car on the Gondola and 15th chair on Four Points, with unbelievably tasty lines down Twister - imagine about 10" over a fresh groomer and then go change your knickers.

My five runs in the 'Ridge were solitary, and I had a fresh-Zamboni feeling the first run down Longhorn- not a single track in front of me, and light, knee-deep powder over soft cord.  Seriously priceless.  I managed to stop myself and get a clip of those who trailed me; Jonathan, "this buds for you."  Great turns.



Following that I chewed that land up and spat it out - bombing down Middle Rib, Diamond Hitch, Nash Junction, Cabin Fever, Perry Park, and WJW, coming out with a stellar run down Vortex and hitting the bottom of the Storm Peak Lift Line with hollers from above as I bounced over the powder pillows.  Thanks Pony lifties, I'm sure you got sick of seeing my backside this morning.

Craig caught up with me at Storm and we headed east, finding the deep stuff on Sunset, in Moonlight Trees (video), Sundial and Ramrod as usual.  But for the first time - in perhaps ever - we meandered off Sideburn into Closets - for Craig, those tight trees and unfamiliar lines aren't good, but that part of the Closet is pretty wide open. We came back out onto Sunset again so we took the Moonlight Trees twice. Yum.


And it's not snowing now, but that storm is a big'un, and dropped a foot in Park City last night so we're hoping there's some left in those clouds for us. Timing is everything, and we sure love those Sleeper Days when the best snow falls after that 5am report.

-See you In The Deep!

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 after 10, perhaps 38 or 40 by the end of the day?   Yeah, that's three feet!

Today the ski area reported another 9" at 6am, definitely more like 12-15" in Pioneer Ridge by 9am, and it's  snowing sideways with those big fat pancake flakes that stick to your jacket and goggles and pile up fast and furious.  We're looking at another two feet today...

But it doesn't stop there. Tonight we're in the middle of a Winter Storm Warning (I love these, but it seems redundant to warn people of an eminent danger when we can look outside our window and see it's already here).  They're calling for another two feet.  I can add, that's 5-6 feet in 3 days.  Has there been a week like this since the epic 1996 January that held the record of 26" in 24 hours that we broke yesterday? 

I saw this in a Pirate Theater once... I think it's time to bring "24 in 24" back this year boys!

Today I did laps down Pony with the girls, Cabin Fever, Diamond Hitch, Royal Flush, Ambush, Longhorn, Flying Z, Drop Out, and every where we went it was the same story- bottomless leftovers from yesterday with a fresh coat of Champagne frosting. Especially in the trees. Can't beat that.

My last thoughts: Thank you Mardi Gras Gods.  It always dumps the motherload on Fat Tuesday!

I didn't take out the camera today because it was intensely blowing, and my sit-skiing powderhound was at work... so today's video is brought to you by the best at Steamboat:


©Steamboat2012


Keep it coming, Mama, thank you for this week's love In the Deep!

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."  Today may very well go down as the deepest powder day on record.  Watch for the press release, powder fans.

When we rolled into Gondola Square at 7:40am, there were hundreds, perhaps a thousand, people in line for First Tracks.  It was laughable, they had to cut the line off at 8:20 to get ready to load the regular paying customers. We hopped in before they did, and from the top, beelined it to Four Points and made 10th chair, never once thinking to go over to Sunny Side today. Can you imagine? 800 people on 3 O'clock. Right.

From 4P, we took the first turns down Tornado and Oh-My-God.  Words barely describe, Champagne was up to my ribs and Craig literally couldn't see. He looked like a mole, and had to stop every 2-3 turns to get his bearings. To do it right, there was no turning... it was straight ahead or get buried, with all of Storm Peak Lift riders hooting down at you.

Our second run was no different... from Storm Peak North we tried to get to Cyclone, to no avail- it was just too deep.  We wound up on Rainbow and took Hurricane down, laughing hysterically the entire way.

Next run, we were damned if we were getting to Cyclone, so we hit Buddy's, which was not so deep unless you hit the trees, and on the left it was about thigh deep (no one here is complaining). Cyclone was where we caught our videos... and Drop Out was ridiculous: bombing bottomless bumps like a porpoise, I should have gotten some images of Craig here, but I was too busy trying to stay afloat! 

I have only one word for today.  EPIC.





What a day for surfing In The Deep!

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, Steamboat native) and Peter, who has lived here since 1974 and therefore native as well. 

We started out with a lap up Four Points and down Cyclone and Drop Out, exploring the trees and about 10" of fresh, which has now pretty much covered up that ccrrrrrr sound beneath.  From Drop Out we headed right over to a newly opened Pony, which hasn't been open all year due to abysmal conditions, leaving the 16 or so in the last few days wide open for us, glorious us.  We went right to Fetcher's Glade and the bottom of Middle Rib, surfing and yipping like it was early season again.  Another lap up left me with little time to make my 10am Zero Waste meeting, so I did Cabin Fever to Longhorn to WJW- which I have always thought should be called WOW instead, and was tearing up at the return of winter. 

I must say, I'm glad I took yesterday off to work out and bulk up, because after 3 days of riding Friday-Sunday, my rudder leg was outright whining. 

A last note, it was clouding up around run two, and started snowing upon my descent down Valley View... and suffice it to say, it hasn't stopped snowing since!  BIG FAT FLAKES, tomorrow is going to be another beautiful powder day in the Boat.  Winter, we love you, thanks for sticking around.

See you In the Deep!

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!  We got wind that Sundown Lift was closed, so we skirted from the top to Sunshine and down the lift line and what a glorious run that was - groovy-soft rollers, powder along the sides in the trees, and I punched a little into Pumphouse and was pleased I did, cotton-ball fresh. And then came the burn for Old Man Kennedy, this is why we call it "skiing into shape."  That long run reminded Wild Bill he shoulda been riding his trusty treadmill more often!

We rode up Sunshine and took Flintlock this time, where I trailed our monoskier all decked out in his #10 Manning jersey. Why not, he'll be wearing that for 2 more weeks mind you. And hopefully more... but this isn't the place to talk football.

Watch and learn...

Good news, more snow is on the horizon - it seems Steamboat is finally out of its doughnut-hole! Time to build that base! 

-See you In The Deep!

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 came the buttery layer; I wouldn't call it the Steamboat Champagne™ - it was heavy enough made turning not an option.  Today was brought to us by the letter P for point and go, and stick to the steeper stuff.  Unless someone broke trail for you, but since we were first, there was none of that!

We rode first car on the Gondy, got to Four Points 2nd in line behind a die-hard skinner (where all those behind us were chompin' about how great Rudy's was!) and bombed our way (hooting) down the knee deep glory on Sunset to the western gully of Moonlight trees.  A ride up Sundown gave the view of what First Tracks had chewed up, and we opted for Keith's Ridge to Sunshine LL's left side to 12:30, but never made it there.  The cut through the trees from Sunshine to High Noon was formidable, and I had to opt for the connector lane (found a frozen mouse-icle on the cat track, indicating the sub-zero temps) while Craig burned his guns out on a High Noon traverse to 1:00.  I found him at the bottom there - catching the lovely thigh-deep pow at the bottom of 12:30 mind you - and snapped this:



We did another run down 3:00 to 2:00 to Daybreak and were puffing for a top-to-bottom by then. It's time to ski yourselves in shape peeps.  We took Elkhead to Norther (omg HERO soft bumps for some more hooting), to Storm Peak for a SP-Face to Mustache Meadow (BEST run of the day without fail) to Rainbow and out.

While the snow fell early enough yesterday to fall prey to the night crew grooming schedule, even those groomers were nice again - with the only-occasional growl underneath.

I told her yesterday, "Winter, please stick around," and it looks like she will; snow is yet again on the forecast.  Check the Almanac, uncanny prediction for Winter's commencement on January 16 in the Western Rockies.  HOW do they do that??


-See you in the Deep once again-

In a normal year, today would have been dust on crust, would have been a day for sleeping in, would have been skipped by those who called into the snow report and heard 0 at 5am, would have been, perhaps, even laughable.  But it's not a normal year. With a 20" base, dustings on the report for all of December except two days, and no snow on the forecast for another week, today's 5 inches were a blessing.

Sadly, this was day two overall for me. And it's January 7th, I know. I'd normally be ashamed to say that, but with the lack of snow (grass and bushes still showing, no tree runs open, not enough base to groom the Clocks) the general dangers on the slopes, and the crowds from the last 2-3 weeks, I'm not ashamed. We were practically sunbathing. 

So today was a day for motivation (thanks Craig for forgetting your phone at home)!  I checked out the grooming report at the top of the Gondy, and having listened to the locals this past week, I knew where that new "renovator" had been as well and stuck to those....

First tracks down Buddy's was downright buttery, I'm not lying, as was Rainbow.  I even did a second lap, Buddy's-Cyclone this time, but not as reliable underneath- mind you, it IS still dust on crust, after all, it's just sad that's what we're getting excited about.  Because this was only my second day on the hill, I had a little Zero Waste work to do, popping in to Four Points and Rendezvous to take pictures of bins and signage, get ideas from the staff, and give props to the hard-working F&B crew who make the mountain's Zero Waste Initiative possible.  So that said, I found more butter left side of High Noon (not bad towards the bottom for sure) and Fawn, glorious Fawn, which was actually quite nice at the bottom - nice of course meaning a reliable grabby base with about 5" of softer powder on top (not the champagne, which for today, was better for coverage). Even Lower High Noon's middle line was safe, with powder piles and that same reliable (not icy/slip-and-slidey) base.  From what people have  been saying - and that's all I have to go on - it's been east coast skiing, and I remember that ice not fondly. So to have some carve is nice.  That stuff's gonna groom up nicely if I may say so.

From there I took Elkhead up and laughed (or cried) the whole way.  I mean, there really isn't ANY snow under Elkhead.  And when you see a few lines through that, you have to wonder, "who the hell ventured in there?"   On the way down.... Although most of the top of the Daze was nice - even at 10:30am (found it as usual on the left side, in and out of those willow branches, and that's just laughable) - but since I can say it now, the death chunks at the bottom were ferocious. Duck-bowling sized.   And although the top of Vogue was treacherous, the bottom might have had more snow than the top of Buddy's. 

Pray for us - so we can see you In The Deep!! The 7th Annual All Mountain Adaptive Ski Camp starts tomorrow, and those boys and girls deserve some snow (not that we all don't)! 

Craig and Keith at the top of Buddy's the sign was buried!

Steamboat closed its doors for winter business this past Sunday with a rockin' powder morning, totaling 433 inches for the year and peaking out at a 137" summit base, nearing some best-ever records.

The last is always a bittersweet day full of on-hill shenanigans, base-area parties, live music and games, and Mother Nature held off her fury just long enough for a comfortable day at the base with the icy blue pond skim with Katchafire and the Whalers blaring the tunes shortly after.  Smartwool gave out some free prizes for a little work with their 'perfect match' game (ironically appropriate for sock winning), and the Bear River set up 3 extra base area jockey-bars with shots and brews to fill the crowds with fizz.

But the most impressive part of closing day for us were the numbers... and we'll probably get a few more inches that won't even count. We'll miss you for a few months Mr. Werner, but we'll be back!

Bust of Buddy Werner nearly buried as well!

Snow totals

2010-11 season mid-mountain snow totals (inches):
October (pre-season): 21
November: 90*
December: 73
January: 68
February: 84
March: 79
April (through Sunday): 18
Total: 433
*61 inches fell in November before the ski area opened for Scholarship Day on Nov. 24

400-inch seasons - we've been blessed to rack in our vertical during six of these record years!

2007-08: 489
1996-97: 448
1983-84: 448
1995-96: 441
2010-11: 433
2005-06: 432
1992-93: 416
2008-09: 405

The calving glacier off our neighbor's house in mid March

If we thought yesterday was good, today was phenomenal. Best day I've had on the mountain perhaps all year- the temp was frigid, the snow was light, and it was up above my knees in spots. The fog was dense, and the place was deserted once again. Man, were we in for a treat.

We started out on the sunnyside, blindly finding our way through the fog by the trees from KeithsRidge to 1230 to AndysRidge- which has been newly named after only one day to AndysWetDream, then BlackPowder (holy crap we were buried!) to Ramrod (this is where we became verbal in excitement) and finished up that side with CraigsRidge to Wristband before taking Elkhead up to explore the middle peak terrain.

Over here we bombed through soft bumps on Norther, found untracked lines under the Four Points lift line, and continued to dip in and out of the nearly two feet in the trees.  Then back up Storm again to explore Morningside starting with Frying Pan which was the deepest snow of the day, and back up MS for one more down Kodak, which is where we got some footage, finally. Some days it's just too mint to make movies!  It was super windy over here, but well worth it.

We closed it out with a stellar run through the Crowtrack trees, just as the fog began to lift, and a top-to-bottom that included the left trees off Rainbow, some deep trees off Vag, a small deep section of Concentration, and some sneaky new stashes in Rough Rider.

One word: Glorious.

The storms continue through the end of the week, so we'll hopefully post a few more before the season wraps.

-See you in the Deep!