While it has been a dry start to the season, crews at Steamboat Resort are working to make more snow for Opening Day.
While they haven’t gotten much help from Mother Nature, Steamboat Resort will indeed open for the season tomorrow with 25 acres of terrain and seven trails accessed via the Christie Peak Express Lift.
Trails available for opening day include Jess’ Cut Off, Sitz, Sitz Back, Vogue, lower Short Cut, and Stampede as well as terrain in the Lil’ Rodeo terrain park.
“We’re eager to kick off another incredible season at Steamboat and applaud our operations teams in their efforts to get the resort open,” said Dave Hunter, vice president of resort operations and resort lead for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. “This preseason has been dryer than usual, but we’ve maximized snowmaking opportunities and will continue to take advantage of cold temperatures and natural snow to open more terrain. We can’t wait to see what this winter has in store for us.”
Anyone who has looked at the mountain in recent days likely isn’t impressed with the snow. Still, cold weather in the Yampa Valley currently is favorable for snowmaking, with the resort noting in a press release on Monday that they may be able to make more snow around the clock before the season officially kicks off. The next focus for snowmaking is Heavenly Daze, Greenhorn Ranch and Right-O-Way.
Opening Day events start at 7:30 a.m., an hour prior to Christie Peak Express starting to turn with mimosas and Champagne powder donuts. Free Ohana-designed custom t-shirts will be passed out to the first 100 skiers and riders in line. Skiers and Riders can participate in the resort’s Instagram scavenger hunt to follow clues and find prizes on the mountain throughout the day. Prizes include Ohana Opening Day shirts, Smartwool socks and WinterWonderGrass tickets. Festivities continue Saturday with the Steamboat Season Launch Party and a free concert from The Motet. All event information is available at steamboat.com/events.
Local Meteorologist Mike Weissbluth, who runs the forecasting website SnowAlarm.com, says today and tomorrow will have plenty of sun, allowing daytime temps in town to stay in the low 40s. Opening Day could be warmer, with temps approaching 50 degrees as a high-pressure ridge quickly moves through the area ahead of a storm bringing snow chances on Thanksgiving Day and Friday.
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