Steamboat: A Place from my Dreams
Written: Aug 10 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Big Mountain, "Champaign Powder", Long Runs
Cons: Crowded, Expensive(but what isn't?)
The Bottom Line: Steamboat is as good, if not better than other mountains at a better price.
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| rancid1993's Full Review: Steamboat |
As most of you people know, Steamboat is a large Ski/Snowboard resort located in North Central Colorado. It is a nice secluded area with not many towns surrounding it. The drive to the town is very scenic and kind of dangerous during a snow storm.
Myself
I am a intermediate/expert snowboarder with about three to four years of experiece. I learned to snowboard in the Black Hills of South Dakota. My home mountain only has about 1,000 feet of verticle drop and about 600 skiable acres.
The Mountain of Steamboat
As I mencioned before on the opening paragraph, Steamboat is a massive mountain. After my home mountain, Steamboat is a monster. The stats are 3,668 feet of verticle drop and around 3,000 skiable acres. There are a grand total of over twenty lifts, with one being a gondola and four being high speed quad lifts. There are many green and blue runs as well as expert trails and a few double black trails. There is only one Backcountry bowl in the Mourning Side Park in comparison to Vail which has 3 or 4.
Experience
I made a mistake and and visited during what I was told was the busiest time of the year, Valentines weekend. However, if you arrive at the gondola about fifteen minutes early, you might be at the front of the line. Steamboat is actually three different mountains.
The one for Experts is Mt. Werner, which has a mix of mostly blue and black trails. The main lift is the high speed quad the Pony Express. The lift will only take you to the beginning of the Christmas Tree Bowl. It also has the double back diamond Christmas Tree bowl. I only recomend this if you are truly a skilled snowrider. I kept my distance from it, knowing there are very dence trees and 3-10 foot dropoffs.
The second mountain is Storm Peak, the central part of the mountain. To get to the top of Storm Peak, You have to take the Storm Peak Express. The ride up the lift is one of the most scenic ones on the entire mountain. The terrain up here is also mainly Black and Blue. This is also the best place to reach the Morningside Park on the backside of Storm Peak.
The third mountain, and the one furthest to the left, is Sunshine Peak. This is my favorite part of the mountain. It contains long, fairly uncrowded blue runs. There is one HUGE con to this place. The lift that takes you to the top is the one that has to travel the farthest, however, this lift is a very slow triple chair. Maybe the lift is the reason the place is fairly unpopulated.
Near the bottom of the mountains is where the trails go from difficult to more beginner friendly. The Gondola only goes up about half way up the mountain, from there you can ride to any of the lifts that go to the top or you can go down towards the bottom. Near the bottom are the two freestyle complexes that are state of the art and very fun. The Mavericks Superpipe is the longest halfpipe in North America with 15 and a half foot walls. The Sobe Terrain Park has lots of ramps, rails, and kickers needed to have a good time.
The snow at Steamboat is very good, maybe even the best in Colorado. The "champaign powder" is scientificly proven to have 60% less moister in it compared to normal snow. This means the the powder is nice a fluffy and there is more of it because of the less moister. While I was there, only one inch of powder fell, however the conditions were very good. You can always find some powder if you leave the mainstream trails.
Favorite Runs
Tomahawk- On the Sunshine Peak, this is one of the longest fastest runs on the mountain. Too bad the chair is slow.
Why Not- Quite possibly the easist run on the mountain, it is also the longest, and the most crowded. If you hit it early in the day, you can buzz down it at high speeds. I am not kidding when I say it may be four miles from start to finish.
Buddy's Run- This steep, moguled run on storm peak is challenging and fun. Also a simular run is Storm Peak, right next to Buddy's Run.
The Town
Steamboat is a fairly small town with a population slightly over 10,000. Of course there are many hotels and condo's, but the town contains some things I didn't think it would. To avoid high-priced food, I bought food items at the local Wal-Mart and Safeway.
My favorite thing to do at the end of a day Snowboarding is to relax at the hot springs of Steamboat. It is outside so if you dunk your head, if you keep it above the water it will freeze!
I recomend Steamboat among other resorts for a winter ski trip.
Recommended:
Yes
Level of Experience Needed: Intermediate
Best Time to Visit: March
Best Suited For: Friends
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