Fortunate to be part of Steamboat

I got a great email a few minutes ago from clients that have become a great friends. I feel fortunate to be a part of the community in Steamboat too and was reminded of this in a big way at the service to honor James Temple who founded the Steamboat Ski Area. A lot of incredible stories were shared, qualities were highlighted and honor paid to a great man and his incredible wife.

The best part for me was the underlying theme of how what he did has made is possible for so many people to live in and visit or incredible valley that so many feel fortunate to be a part of.

Here is Phil's quote:
What an incredibly awesome day to end our season on. Those are the days that remind me how special this place is and how fortunate we are to be a part of Steamboat. Enjoy the rest of the season.
Best regards,
Phil

Steamboat is lucky to have wonderful people like Phil, his family and so many others like them. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Good Morning America comes to the Steamboat Winter Carnival

Steamboat's Winter Carnival drew national attention this year with the arrival of Good Morning America to cover the festivities. Their segment (Watch it HERE click on the plus at the bottom right to see it bigger) did a good job covering a few highlights but there is nothing like being here in person to feel the energy of the kids, spectators and the Steamboat down to earth authenticity that comes for the great people here and can't be duplicated anywhere else.

It warms my soul to be a part of it and seems to have the same effect on everyone there. My 5 yr old son did some of the skiing and night events, my 3 yr old Neve let us know she was ready to join in next year. It is worth a special trip to check it out for yourself so mark it on your calendar for February to join in on the fun yourself. Only in Steamboat...


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Pending Home Sales Rise Nationally

It is nice to see some more positive news on the housing market coming out. I frequently find good signs in more authoritative sources like Forbes and Barron's but the papers seem to look for the worst headlines. Things in Steamboat are generally quite a bit better with volumes at approximately 2006 levels and prices generally firm to up with the exception of some lower end properties.

"Some improvement is projected for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with broader gains seen by the fourth quarter as buyers take advantage of new provisions provided through the recently passed housing stimulus bill, according to the latest forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in June, rose 5.3 percent to 89.0 from a downwardly revised reading of 84.5 in May, but remains 12.3 percent below June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.

In the West: rose 4.6 percent to 101.0 in June but remains 1.7 percent below a year ago

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says sales have been in a pattern of rising and falling within a fairly narrow range.

“The vacillation of data from one month to the next indicates a housing market in transition,” he says. “The rise in pending home sales was broad-based with all four regions showing gains. This is welcome news because a rise in contract activity is necessary for an overall housing recovery. With a tax credit now available to first-time home buyers, increases in home sales could be sustained with the momentum carrying into 2009.”

Across the Region

Here's a deeper look at the index throughout the country:

• South: jumped 9.3 percent to 92.4 in June but is 16.6 percent below June 2007.
• West: rose 4.6 percent to 101.0 in June but remains 1.7 percent below a year ago.
• Northeast: increased 3.4 percent to 79.6 but is 15.4 percent below June 2007.
• Midwest: rose 1.3 percent in June to 79.6 but is 13.3 percent below a year ago."

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

The snow line is rising and that means more mountain biking

A quick shot I took on the way back home from riding the Mad Creek to Red Dirt loop and part of the hot springs trail. All of which are now open!!! Get out and ride, more is coming soon, if you look closely there is a thin line of snow showing on the top of Sleeping Giant above. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Global Warming in Steamboat?

75 degrees and sunny Sunday and now4-6 inches. I’m sure it is well over a foot up higher. We have to be close to getting 150 inches since the season closed up top and every storm the mountain gets tracked out literally top to bottom by people hiking for their turns. Truly an extraordinary snow year that just won’t stop. Don’t worry if you are thinking about moving. This is in no way shape or form normal. It is usually beautiful this time of year so it must be global warming at work :) I guess it is time to get up for some more May powder on Buffalo Pass, could be 2 feet up there.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

4 feet on top since closing day

A friend told me that as of this morning there is 4 ft of fresh light stuff on top. So much so that the snowmobiles can't get close without a cut from the snow cats. The snow cats are having to actively keep all of the upper mountain roads open so people can get around to shut things down for the summer.

Its dumping outside again now so by the time you read this there will be at least another foot up there making for about 550 inches so far. What a year!

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American Cowboy's Best Ski town to live in

Well they didn't put it exactly that way but my first thought when I saw this was to see if any ski towns ranked higher and sure enough Steamboat is the first to be both a great western town and a great ski town. Nothing we didn't already know but it is nice to see that others who don't even know how great it is in Steamboat can see it too :) The best thing is that our western image is authentic because we were a ranch town long before a ski town and that is real in more ways than just the image. The people here and the people Steamboat attracts are genuinely friendly. If you aren't friendly I don't think you would be either happy here or unfriendly for long.

From American Cowboy Magazine: Steamboat Springs, CO Its reputation as Ski Town USA is certainly a draw, but few know that Steamboat Spring’s ranching roots run deeper than any amount of champagne powder. Cradled by a fertile valley of the Yampa River, the area was once the largest exporter of cattle in the West. Today you’ll find that history alive and well at events such as Cowboys Round up Days, and the annual Hot Air Balloon Rodeo, both in July."

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Simply Incredible Season

With 8 inches new yesterday, 10 inches today by 5am, still snowing and forecast for more all week we are not getting in much "spring" skiing this year but we keep adding to our record breaking season.

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2-3 ft on Buffalo Pass above Steamboat Springs

Today we found 8 inches of beautiful whipped cream hero snow in the trees and had fun skiing a lot of aspects and lines we hadn't skied in a while. Then I got a call that there was 2-3 ft on Buffalo Pass which is to the left of Mt. Werner as you look at the ski area from town. Buffalo Pass is known for receiving quite a bit more snow that the Steamboat Ski area and some people say it receives as much snow as anywhere in the state making it a playground for locals with snowmobiles and clients of our local cat skiing operation which maintains the roads so it is possible to get up there. There were quite a few times this year that there was 8ft of Champagne powder up there making it nearly impossible to ride even the longest track most powerful mountain snowmobile off trail.

Today wasn't that deep but there was 2-3ft of relatively light powder on many aspects making for an incredible day to ski and snowmobile up on Buff Pass as most locals refer to it. It is surreal in some ways to ski that much powder just a few days before ski season ends when people are thinking spring, the bike shops are full and many are already venturing out to Fruita, Moab and Vernal to get the mountain biking season going. Another solid storm has been hitting for the past several hours tonight so lets see what tomorrow brings... See you at the Gondy in the morning.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Seasonal change always brings mixed feelings

UPDATE: We have also been getting an incredible amount of rain over the past 6 weeks(for Steamboat). Last year was a big jump up from any of the last 5 or 6 years and it was followed by a fantastic winter. Here's a Champagne Powder toast to a repeat of last years incredible snow conditions. It snowed 70 out of 100 days last season from the Sunday after Thanksgiving and you could often find knee deep powder in the trees on a 4 inch over-night snow report. While my sentiments haven't changed I am much more excited for skiing than when I first wrote this at the beginning of the month.

The fields in the valley and the ski runs on Mt Werner are starting to show some brown, the raspberries up on some of my favorite mountain biking trails are getting ripe, the breezes are a little cooler, and animals start to prepare of winter.

This is the time of the year that I realize there are only about 3 months of good mountain biking left, 2 months to camp with the kids, less than a month before Alden starts school again and less than 4 months left until ski season. The change of seasons here always brings out a bit of dissonance in my mind. Summer is absolutely fantastic but it always hurts a bit to let spring skiing slip away. Fall beckons with it's perfect weather, beautiful vistas, great fly-fishing and the first snow in September that reminds us we are in a ski town. It always feels like summer has gone by too fast and we need more time to get in all of our favorite things.

In the fall I am still trying to finish all of the summer basics that you need to get in each year as a local here. At the same time winter occupies more and more of my thoughts. Fall is so special that I can't forget to get out for hiking, biking & photo ops in the endless large and small vistas of the changing aspen leaves. Fall is also the time of anticipation in a ski town where locals look to an infinite variety of signs for clues to what the coming winter holds. One of my personal favorites is overhearing the 80 year old ranchers who are closest to the land talking about how they haven't seen X, Y & Z since 1977 and it's going to be a ... winter just like then. Last fall they talked about a big winter and they were right. I can't wait to hear what they have to say this year.

Winter is the reason I first came to Steamboat Springs, a time that my young son bursts in to wake me up saying "Daddy, its a POWDER DAY". I hope that he never stops doing that. He is already talking about skiing this year with me and how he won't need the harness. It is a time that I can fly down the slopes on a magic carpet of powder through my favorite frosted columns of aspens holding up the deep blue sky or providing the contrast I need to see when it is dumping snow. It is a time to decide which skis would be perfect that day, get the kids out on bluebird days with candy in your pockets and the irrepressible hope that they will love skiing as much as you. You meet people on the lifts from here and there and always seem to have something in common or a good friend from there. Talk on the lifts with other locals/friends focuses on comparing notes, speculating which of the many exposures, subtle folds or breaks in the trees on the mountain holds the best snow based on infinite weather variables, time of day, skier traffic and other important factors I'm not prepared to share until I know you better ;) You give enough to establish credibility but always hold back your best secrets. If they have the right look you casually follow to see where they are skiing in case there is something you have missed by habit, hubris or omission. You can never let you ego keep you from finding even more great powder stashes you know.

The days start to get longer and spring skiing is now at hand. The winter has shaped your legs and the soft snow makes you feel like a hero in the bumps but the end of the season is coming fast so you make an extra effort to get out on the slopes into the backcountry before the winter goodness is gone. A good dose of POWDER DAYS thrown in the to warming mix of spring lets you get that indescribable mix of adrenaline and absolute content that only a powder day at the end of the season can provide. Next comes spring which is right after the extra season we have here which is spring skiing in case you thought I was talking about spring above. Skiing on Mt Werner has ended but many people keep hiking or snowmobiling to their favorite runs. Even in a big snow year the valley has mostly melted and the fields glimmer with a layer of snowmelt coming down from above.

This is about the only time I long to get out of town, usually for a mountain bike trip that I have been thinking about since our extra season, spring skiing. Life in Steamboat has come full circle.

The picture above was taken by a good friend Eddie Byrne last fall after most of the leaves had dropped. We were mountain biking up the Valley View trail to the top of Thunderhead.