This ski season in Steamboat Springs has been affected by La Nina quite a bit. We have seen big dry spells throughout Colorado. This isn’t very common. The weather seemed like Autumn would never end. If I recall, December 12th was my last frisbee golf game. Then it snowed enough and got cold enough that I thought Winter had arrived.
I was wrong. The snow and cold held, with beautiful blue skies dominating our days. We all began to stress because tourists were coming in, but there was very little snowpack. Steamboat Ski Resort’s snowmaking crews worked constantly to fill in a runs. The resort opened November 22nd, and we had our typical single run to get our ski legs on.
The skiing was good, but we needed fresh snow. With Christmas a few days away, the weather changed.
A series of fronts moved through leaving new snow every day for three days. It changed our snowpack to soft packed powder and the resort was able to open up an abundant amount of territory for all of us to get fresh tracks.
It also allowed for visitors to Steamboat Springs enjoy what level of skier they are. Earlier season trails definitely lend themselves to more experienced skiers. With new territory, and great snow, we were able to enjoy top to bottom skiing, and terrain for families and kids were open and friendly.
It’s nice to wake up in the morning and grab a 9” or 7” of fresh snow. It puts smiles on everyone’s faces in this town!
What fascinates me every time we get storms like this, is how snow clean up crews care for real estate around town. Of course roads are cared for first, yet this activity leaves large berms of snow for HOA’s to clean up. Private snow crews come through early and make sure residents can get to where to they need to go.
Private crews also come back a second, or third, time to clean up undone areas. These areas are commonly detail work. Crews in large front end loaders, road graders, trucks of all sizes, and skidsters consolidate snow into areas that are meant for big piles of snow. (Later in the season, when piles reach 16+ feet tall, they are removed by loaders and dump trucks.) The second time through is when private residences are detailed as well.
It is common for snow crews to work very long days and sleep little.
It’s good to have some excellent snow for the Holidays!