Steamboat Nov 27

Originally posted on SnowboarderGuide.com

Opening day may have been a few days ago, but today was the first day for upper-mountain access, with the Gondola providing access to more than 130 acres. It was another gorgeous blue sky day in the boat, and while we’re definitely hurting for snow, there are some great turns to be made. With the Gondola and BC running there are now 19 trails open, including Arc, Big Foot, Boulevard, Flat Out, Preview, Right-O-Way, Stampede, Why Not, Yoo Hoo, Ego, Heavenly Daze, Jess’ Cut-Off, Lightning, Rudi’s Run, Sitz, Tower, Vogue, See Me and Lil’ Rodeo.

I got up for a few turns this morning with a few instructors to check out the new terrain. We took the Gondola up and then Rudi’s down to the BC lift. I was pretty stoked to find some calve-deep powder on the right side of Rudi’s, but lower down it got a bit rougher. From the top of BC we cruised down Tower to Heavenly Daze and made our way down to Jess’s Cut-Off, across to See Me, and on to the park. The Daze is pretty rough; there’s some slightly softer snow on the sides, but the majority is ground up ice balls.

Once you get down to the park everything changes though. The snow and grooming on lower mountain has been fantastic, and the park crew is doing a tremendous job keeping the Little Rodeo Park smooth and safe. The park is flowing great, and the features are set up perfectly. I’m super optimistic about this season’s park, if Nick can build two more parks as sweet as this one, I think we’re in for a treat.