Steamboat is a large, family friendly ski resort that gets over 350 inches of light, dry snow. The resort coined the phrase Champagne Powder to describe the snow they get because it’s dry like champagne.
Offering nearly 3,000 skiable acres, Steamboat has terrain for everyone. And at 3 hours from Denver, Steamboat’s just far enough to keep the lift lines low.
This quick video shows some afternoon snowboarding at Steamboat Ski Resort. There’s not much going on, but the views are OK. Anders Osborne is playing at the beginning.
Terrain
Steamboat is known for it’s deep powder stashes and expansive tree skiing. In addition, you’ll find easy learning trails, fast groomers, rollers, moguls, steeps, chutes, cliffs, and terrain parks. The only feature you won’t see at Steamboat is big open bowl skiing.
With a summit elevation of 10,568 ft, Steamboat never reaches above the treeline. This generally means more hospitable temperatures than at higher altitude resorts.
Steamboat has 18 total lifts to navigate around the resort’s 165 trails. From the base you can take a gondola to mid-mountain. From here you’ll have three main choices: ski back down the front side of mountain, go left to Storm Peak, or go right to Sunshine Peak.
Beginners will find a learning area near the base and plenty of greens from mid mountain down. There’s also some additional runs suitable on the Sunshine Mountain side.
Intermediates will have a blast on the whole mountain. From the top of all the chairlifts, you’ll always be able to find an intermediate (blue) trail back down. Steamboat grooms a lot of beginner/intermediate terrain every morning, smoothing out the bumps and providing fresh corduroy.
Experts will find most of the advanced terrain above mid-mountain. From the top of either Sunshine or Storm Peak you can head down the backside of the mountain to Morningside. Take this lift to access Steamboat’s legendary chutes, or hike 5 minutes further to the top of Mount Werner.
All the runs from the summit of Mount Werner require a five minute traverse at the end, except for No Names, which leads you to the bottom of the chutes. After you come down you’ll arrive Storm Peak Express lift or you can explore further down at the Pony Express lift for some hidden stashes.
The tree skiing is notorious at Steamboat. Almost all of the trees between the trails are open to skiing, and usually hold powder stashes for days. The mountain is a stunning blend of evergreens and aspen. The premiere skiing is Shadows and Closets. Often overlooked are trees off Sunshine Peak between High Noon and Three O’Clock.
There are three terrain parks, varying in size. Maverick’s is the largest and features a Superpipe. There is a beginner park near the Gondola.
Village
Steamboat has both a mountain village and historic downtown. At the base of the mountain is Ski Time Square. This is the heart of Steamboat’s mountain village with lots of nice places to shop, eat and stay. Slopeside Grill and a few other restaurants host live music most afternoons.
On-mountain there are several places to eat, drink and relax. Rendezvous Saddle offers two levels of food courts and fine dining at Ragnar’s. The Gondola Station has a couple restaurants. Grab a Bloody Mary at Stoker’s or get a nice lunch at Hazie’s Fine Dining. The Four Points Hut is usually cooking burgers under Storm Lift chairlift.
Downtown Steamboat is located five minutes from the mountain. The main street is wide and lined with nice restaurants, bars, shops, spas and lodging. There is a hot springs pool right downtown, the Old Town Hot Springs and a ski area, Howelsen Hill. For a more primitive after ski soak, visit Strawberry Park Hot Springs, fifteen minutes from town.
Read about the Top 17 Cool Hotels in Steamboat Springs.
Two other winter activities in Steamboat include snow tubing and dog sledding.
Details
Address: 2305 Mt. Werner Circle, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
Phone: 800-379-7425
Season: mid November-mid April
Lift Hours: 8:30am-4pm
Mountain Stats:
- Elevation: 6,900 ft (2103 m) – 10,568 ft (3224 m)
- Vertical – 3,668 ft (1118 m)
- Ski Area: 2,965 acres (1200 hectares)
- Average Snowfall: 349″ (886 cm)
Trails: 165;
- 14% Beginner
- 42% Intermediate
- 44% Advanced
- Longest Run – 3 miles (4.8 km) – Why Not
Trail Maps: Steamboat Resort Map (PDF)
Website: steamboat.com
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