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Shane_Currie

Picture: Heavenly Daze Run

We went to Steamboat for one thing and one thing alone - skiing, and we were not disappointed. I had  spent some time researching resorts that had good early snow. After all you don't want to spend 32hrs sitting on planes and in airports travelling to the other side of the world to get there and have no snow.  Well snow isn't a problem in Steamboat, with snowfalls of 38cm in October, 210cm in November (snowiest November on record) and 264cm in December (5th snowiest December on record) we were welcomed with a base of 170cm when we arrived December 24th 2005.

We were early to rise Christmas Day, thanks in part to the jet lag, and hit the slopes straight after breakfast. We enjoyed two perfect fine, blue sky days, that we spent familiarising ourselves with the various runs. Lucky we did to, it snowed for the next 10 days straight!

We are both Intermediate skiers, although my wife is more comfortable on long green groomers than blues. We spent several hours on the first day cruising on the green run Headwall getting re-acquainted with our skis. In the afternoon we headed up Christie III triple chair and explored Main Drag, Boulevard, Giggle Gulch, Bigfoot, Swinger, So What, Right-O-Way and Bee Line; all greens. The upper green runs off the lift are Main Drag and Boulevard, which whilst being fairly narrow are not that steep. The other greens with the exception of Right-O-Way are relatively steeper but are also wider. Having said that, we considered all of them within our ability level. It should be noted that before arriving in Steamboat we had spent a grand total of 12 days over the last 3 years skiing.

Picture: Swinger Run

The great thing about Steamboat is that the mountain is divided into basically three areas; the lower levels, which are almost solely greens, are serviced by the Christie II & III lifts, the mid mountain is mostly blues and blacks, with some greens, serviced by the Silver Bullet Gondola, and the upper mountain is all blues and blacks, serviced by Sundown Express. So as we became more comfortable on our skis and as our confidence increased we were able to move further up the mountain into a wider range of terrain. It also meant we could individually ski different runs and meet back at the same lift.

Picture: Top of Tomahawk Run

Tip for the Beginners: if you want to go to the top of the mountain take the Gondola onto Spur Run (green), which will take you to Sundown Express (high speed quad lift), when you get to the top take Tomahawk (Blue). Whilst Tomahawk is a blue it has a very short, but wide, 'blue' section, less than 100m in length, at the top which is followed by a long, wide and relatively flat section for the next 1.5km or so. I'm sure that if it didn't have the steeper section at the top it would most certainly be a green.

Tomahawk takes you down to Sunshine triple chair, where it's back to the top.  Alternatively, you can take South Peak triple followed by Broadway (green) back to the top of the Gondola.  From there it is Why Not (green) all the way down to Right-O-Way (green) and back to the base area.

For the sightseeing groomers like my wife, I'd recommend So What (green) which branches off Why Not and then BC Ski Way (green). This is some of the prettiest scenery on the mountain with relatively little traffic.

For those intermediate skiers, like myself, who are trying to improve but aren't quite ready to tackle a full blown black, See Me is a good option. See Me is accessible off the Christie lifts, via Sitz, and offers a small taste of black skiing.  Stay to the right of See Me, as the left is a little steeper, and hang on! The great part about See Me is that it is only 'Black' steep for the first half of the run, after which is becomes more like a blue as you run down to Headwall. If nothing else the great view from the top of See Me makes it a worthwhile run to attempt.

Picture: Top of See Me Run