Steamboat Ski Resort Review

March 29, 2018 The Virtual Sherpa Comments 0 Comment

Steamboat Ski Resort Review

Steamboat Ski Resort Website: https://www.steamboat.com/

Steamboat Ski Resort Trail Map

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)

Summary: Steamboat Ski Resort, home of the champagne powder, is located in Steamboat Springs Colorado. About 3 hours from Denver, Steamboat is one of my personal favorite places to snowboard in Colorado. The mountain has a variety of terrain from extreme to green circles with a handful of terrain parks as well. Steamboat Ski Resort is a fantastic spot to ski or ride in Colorado.

Parking: Steamboat Ski Resort offers two free parking lots (Knoll and Meadows) and two paid parking lots closer to the resort. Knoll is about a 5 minute walk to the base area and can fill up. Meadows hardly does, but requires a shuttle or a short gondola ride up to the base area. View parking map here.

Season Pass: As of the 2018-2019 Season, Steamboat Ski Resort is part of the Ikon Pass. Find out more information here.

Strengths:

Steamboat Ski Resort is a fantastic spot for riding trees. Take the Sunshine Lift or Morningside Lift for easier tree runs and the Sundown Express, Pony Express and hike-to terrain for harder runs. Steamboat is without a doubt, my favorite place in Colorado (so far) to snowboard glades.
Trademarked, champagne powder, is a lighter consistency snow (similar to resorts in Utah) and is an absolute blast to ski/ride after a big storm. I am lucky enough to have 4 powder days at Steamboat, one storm of 17 inches and let me tell you…it was heaven.

Located in northern Colorado, Steamboat Ski Resort is the only official resort in this section of the state. Therefore, when storms clip the northern mountains, generally Steamboat takes full advantage which higher snow numbers than other ski resorts in the area. The general “word on the street” in Colorado is that Wolf Creek and Steamboat trade off on “the best season” each year.
Steamboat Ski Resort is massive (almost 3,000 acres) and tends to disperse crowds very well. What’s nice about Steamboat for locals/more advanced skiiers/riders is that many of the easier trails are on the front of the mountain. Once you get to the back section and back side, you tend to avoid most people who are “pizzaing” their ass off down the mountain.
Steamboat Ski Resort offers all different kinds of terrain: glades, hike to terrain, steep rock drops, steep chutes, intermediate and beginner terrain and of course terrain parks. It really has it all!

Although its a popular vacation spot for locals and non-residents of Colorado, Steamboat Ski Resort tends to be less crowded (due to its location) than Summit County ski resorts.

Weaknesses:

Steamboat Ski Resort is rather far from DIA, so if you are flying in/out, the drive is much longer than (most) other mountains in Colorado.

When you start your day, especially on busy weekends, the lack of base area lifts can lead to a long line intially. There is a gondola and one main lift which can get backed up, but once you are up on the mountain, lift lines tend to be very tolerable.
Flat sections – Get to know the mountain, especially if you are a beginner or on a snowboard. It’s very easy to get lost or get stuck on a flat section where you wish you had a lot more speed coming into it.
Although there are some (near the Sunshine lift), wide open bowls are not a major strength of Steamboat Ski Resort.

This is a personal issue, but needs to be mentioned. If you ride the Mt Werner terrain (either front of back), the long traverse and 2 lift ride makes it a pain in the ass to do multiple runs there. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite sections of the mountain, but takes so long to repeat a run that I generally on do 1-2 on any given day.

Mick’s Tip: Terrain-wise, do yourself a favor and head to the hike-to terrain on Mt Werner. The No Names chutes, North St Pats chutes and Christmas Tree Bowl are all amazing. The back side of the mountain is great, but expect a long traverse out and at least 2 lifts to get back there, which can be a pain.

For food – check out the T-Bar at the mountain left side base – you won’t be disappointed. The place screams dive bar, but puts out some fantastic (somewhat reasonably priced) dishes.

Best Views: On a clear day, you really can’t go wrong with a number of the views at Steamboat Ski Resort. I think the best for me were on the back side of the mountain (hike to Mt Werner). But other summit areas offer great views in all directions.