IN THE DEEP

A birthday hike around the Vista Trail

We finally paid our favorite ski hill a visit yesterday and found progress steaming ahead! The new Four Points chalet, visible from the base but even more so from the top of Thunderhead, is looking like a castle atop that second knoll to the peak.

My reaction: no wonder they got such low marks this year on sustainability, that's a freaking monstrosity. But it'll service our visitors exponentially more than its outdated predecessor. Craig's reaction: You're going to have to ski all the way around that thing to get to Twister!  Funny how two people see something entirely different.

Four Points is starting to look like a million dollar home on the hill

In other news, they dropping additional serious cash on capital improvements this season.  Dozens of new pipes are going into the Daze snowmaking system; stacks of them were laid all over the slope under the gondola awaiting their trenches to be dug. Gaping trenches remain in the saddle with the old pipes already  removed and looking far more than just "dated." We speculated that they may have been original material, but who knows - if there were any press releases on this in the Steamboat Media Room, we'd know more... but we didn't see any at first glance.

Rows of shiny new snowmaking pipes lined the Heavenly Daze

Last piece of note were the new bike racks. 20 of them, at $5000 each spells more money invested for SSRC. They look sharp, and surely they make life much easier on the staff. Of course, we sure would have liked to see a second accessible car worked into that budget. Currently the wait for the single car wide enough for a wheelchair is over 20 minutes if you "just miss it," like we did today. Those run $30,000 and it's been 8 years since that first one went in.

20 shiny new bike racks added to the line

In their defense, economically the cyclists are bringing in more money to Steamboat than wheelchair users do... or do they...?  Access Anything's numbers beg to differ that the potential is there - 55 million Americans spending $13.6 billion annually on travel and every wheelchair user travels with a 3-6 person entourage. We were up there for about 90 minutes yesterday and saw a total of 6 other wheelchair users - all dining on the hill. Were the cyclists? Nope.
I rest my case.

Let the countdown begin: 40 days until the tent sale and 129 til the slopes open. That leaves us some time to enjoy the hill in green - ashamed we haven't been up sooner, but we have several more visits to the playground in the next month... some hiking and biking to come, so it'll be quite a while before we "see you in the deep" yet again! 

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 -