2013-14 Opening Day

Today was the opening day of the 2013-14 ski season here in Steamboat, and as opening days go, it was one of the better ones. With plenty of snow through October and November the mountain was able to open with 600+ acres of terrain, including my favourite tree run - shadows.

The snow was a little crusty in places but this run down Storm Peak face into Triangle 3 was very nice.



Here's the GPS track.

Sliding into Spring

It's spring here in Steamboat which means the snow is slowly sliding off my side roof. Fortunately there's no access to that side of the house, so I don't have to worry about it falling on someone, but it still makes a hell of a noise when it hits the ground.

The last hurrah

I skied today despite the fact the mountain is looking very sad and the lower mountain is closed, simply because I wanted to get one more set of turns in before it's all over for another season. The mountain is not due to close until Sunday April 15, but I don't think it is going to make it. Less than two-thirds of our normal snowfall combined with temperatures 15-20F above normal for this time of year is just killing the snow and there's more of the same forecast between now and the 15th. So this may well be it until November.

here's the GPS data:

As bad as I've seen it

I skied yesterday, mostly because I wanted to ski with some friends who were heading out. Parts of it were OK, but with the below average snow pack and the ridiculously warm temperatures we've had throughout March (15-20 F above average) it's getting very patchy. And one run in particular - Westside - was about as bad as it gets.

Let's pray for snow or the season will not last until April 15.

Here's the GPS data.

St. Louis Friends

i skied last week with my friends Rob and Elizabeth from St. Louis. Just some easy cruising with some slush bumps on the side, in ridiculously warm conditions (so warm that we had a BBQ on the deck on Friday afternoon).

Here's the GPS data.

Monday:


Wednesday:


Friday:

Snowshoeing Rabbit Ears Loop 1A

Today we snowshoed the Loop 1A trail on Rabbit Ears Pass with Aline and Tony.

It was warm again today but fortunately a little cloudy with a breeze which made it perfect.

Here's the GPS data.

Thunderhead Express

It's not often that I go out and spend the entire time on the lower mountain but that's exactly what I did today. We found Goldilocks conditions - not too hard and not too soft - so we just kept circulating on the Thunderhead Express. Concentration was good enough to do twice, which is unusual on a non-powder day. Vagabond was also nice and not too crowded. Even Heavenly Daze on the way home was good.

The high temperature today was 60F or 15C. That's the warmest I've seen it in March in eight seasons.

Here's the GPS data. Only lap 1 on the lower mountain is mine; Tony and Aline stayed out after I was finished.

Summer skiing

It should be spring skiing this time of the season but it is so ridiculously warm I am calling it summer skiing.

I skied with Tony and Aline again today.

Here's the GPS data.

In-laws

I skied today with my wife's brother Tony, and her sister Aline.

Aline hadn't been on skis for several years (she normally snowboards) and Tony hand't been on his snowboard for a couple of years (he normally windsurfs) so we started out on the bunny slopes. They both quickly graduated to Wally World and had no trouble on Heavenly Daze on the way home, so they'll be read for harder stuff tomorrow.

It was warm. warm, warm today, somewhere around 50F or 10C.

Here's the GPS data.

A classic spring day

Today I skied with a former colleague on what was a classic spring day - it was a little crusty early but it got better and better as the day went on and the snow softened. After lunch Shadows was particularly good.

Here's the GPS data.

Not a powder Monday

A big proportion of the best powder days seem to be Mondays, including the best day ever and this late season powder day.

Yesterday was not one of those days. In fact it was so unremarkable I forgot to post my report. Anyway here's the GPS data.

Icicles

These huge icicles form on my back roof in the spring. The warm weather melts the snow on the upper roof and then the water refreezes when it hits this small roof which doesn't get much sun.

Spring can wait

Now that we're into March we ought to be enjoying spring skiing. Since winter didn't really arrive until February it has decided to stay and it's very welcome.

Eight inches of new snow overnight on top of nine inches in the preceding twenty-four hours and the sun coming out makes for an awesome powder day. And it started snowing again late morning as I was heading in.

I started with the lower half of Whiteout where there was enough fresh snow to make the bumps quite friendly, then Twister-cane (the trees between Twister and Hurricane) before finding the really good stuff in Shadows and Closet. 2:30 trees and 3:30 trees. Best of the lot was definitely Shadows. Here's some video of just one of my three awesome runs through Shadows this morning.


Here's the GPS data.

When the wind blows...

...find the spot where the wind blew the snow to, not the spot where it blew it from.

The 5am report said 7 inches, most of which fell during the day yesterday when it was very windy. So I went looking for the stashes in the trees. I started out with the Rainbow trees where there was a little bit, and then the 2:45 trees where there was more, before I hit paydirt in Shadows (twice) and Closet.

As an added bonus, the mountain was totally deserted today. No lines, nobody in the trees (except me!) and lots of untracked lines. One of those days where I went out with fairly moderate expectations and came home very happy!

Here's the GPS data.

Powdery leftovers

Another four inches overnight to keep it soft and powdery. Not deep, but on top of all the snow earlier in the week, it makes for some very nice skiing.

Best run of the day was this one down skier's right of Sundown Liftline. The 2:30 trees were also great, but I didn't ski them as well.



Here's the GPS data.

A foot of cement

The trouble with a day like Monday is that it ruins you for every other day. When I checked the 5am report I actually said, "only twelve inches" (I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there.)

Nevertheless I was hoping with a foot on top of three feet in the previous forty-eight hours it would ski deeper than that.

Instead I found a foot of cement. Still a lot of fun, but very exhausting to ski as you can see from my limited vertical today. Best run of the day is hard to pick. The bumps on Whiteout were excellent--the heavy snow slows you down a lot so it's easy to ski the big bumps, Shadows was good and Vertigo on the way home was probably the best by a whisker. Here's some video of the run on Whiteout. Unfortunately the Vertigo run is obscured by the frozen rain sticking to the lens.



Here's the GPS data.

New Best Day Ever

January 10, 2008 has now been dethroned as my best day ever.

The 5am report said 27 inches - yes 27 inches of super light Champagne Powder - and it was still snowing throughout the morning, so we're talking nearly three feet of new snow!

Every powderhound in North-West Colorado was out super early - so it was also the longest gondola line ever. I skipped that and went the Christie-Thunderhead route, and began my epic day with an epic run down Concentration.

Then it was over to Pony Express which was finally the powder wonderland it ought to be. So deep that I was choking on snow and could barely see where I was going through the billowing clouds of powder. Several runs there and Shadows to finish before heading home.

Here's some video highlights. Remember that you're not seeing the really deep stuff where the camera was buried in snow!



Here's the GPS data.

Finally the epic powder day

The 5am report only said four inches, but when it's the last four inches of three feet of snow in the past week, it makes for an epic powder day.

I hit the Pony Express first up since the Pioneer Ridge area is now finally open, but it was only so-so. Then Triangle 3 which was nice followed by Typhoon where it was super deep and soft. I thought this would be the run of the day before hitting a submerged log and tearing the brakes off both my skis (the repair bill is $60 and no injury so it could have been much worse).



After that it was Closet which was also super deep. Finally, Vertigo on the way home which is getting better all the time.

Here's the GPS data.

Best day of the season (so far)

I almost didn't go out this morning when I saw the 5am report said only four inches. Btu it was still snowing so I headed up the gondola around 9 am and I am so glad I did because by 9am there was another five inches on top of the four.

I started with Shadows which was good followed by the Priest Creek Liftline and then the 3.30 trees which I thought was going to be the run of the day, until I hit the 2.30 trees not once, not twice but three times; in places it was at least a foot deep and largely un-tracked, especially towards skier's left.

Vertigo on the way home was good once again. This feels more like skiing in Steamboat ought to be!

Here's the GPS data.

Shadows calling

I woke this morning at 6 am wondering what the storm that has been sitting on top of us for the past 48 hours had left. The 5 am report said four inches, but I knew there would be more, and I heard Shadows calling my name, so I was in the gondola line by 8.20 am.

Shadows was very good as was the Sundown Liftline, but again the 2.30 trees was the pick.

I also managed to pick up my favourite lower mountain run Vertigo on the way home. It's only been open a few days, and while you still need to look out for the hazards, it's less bumped up than usual, so with the powder it was sweet.


For some reason I had the camera turned off in the 2.30 trees, so here's my run down the Sundown Liftline instead. As you can see it was lovely and sunny today.