Steamboat Resort is a major ski area in the western United States, located in northwestern Colorado at Steamboat Springs. Operated by the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, it is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the Routt National Forest. Originally named Storm Mountain ski area, it opened on January 12, 1963.[1][2]
The ski area has 297 named trails spread over 2,965 acres (4.6 sq mi; 12.0 km2). Of those, 14% are classified as beginner-level, 42% as intermediate, and 44% as advanced. It also contains the Mavericks Superpipe, one of the premier[according to whom?] half-pipes in North America. Limited trails available for night skiing began to be offered in the 2013–14 season.
In honor of local Olympian Buddy Werner (1936–1964), Storm Mountain was renamed Mount Werner in 1965,[3] and the ski area's name was changed as well.[4] Dallas-based conglomerate LTV purchased Mount Werner ski area in the fall of 1969,[5] rebranded it as "Steamboat" the following summer,[6] and hired world champion and Olympic silver medalist Billy Kidd as director of skiing.[7][8][9]
In 2017, Steamboat Ski Resort was purchased by Alterra Mountain Company from Intrawest, a Canadian resort management company. Steamboat was one of the seven resorts owned by Intrawest.[10] Prior to Intrawest's ownership, Steamboat was owned by the American Skiing Company. Intrawest purchased the resort at the end of the 2006–07 season.[1]
The four lower mountain lifts (the Steamboat Gondola, the lower portion of the Wild Blue Gondola, Thunderhead Express, and Christie Peak Express) service most of the green runs, which include the long Why Not trail from Thunderhead. Blue trails can be found mostly off of these same lifts, plus the two high speed quads on Sunshine Peak, although more funnel to the Sunshine Express lift. A couple of blue runs can also be found from the Four Points, BAR-UE, and Storm Peak Express lifts, as are a few in Morningside Park.
The blue-black runs are scattered about the mountain, but most of them are located off the Pony Express lift in Pioneer Ridge. Black runs can be found off of all eight high-speed quads except Greenhorn Ranch Express, the highest concentrations are on north Sunshine Peak, most of Storm Peak, Pioneer Ridge, and Morningside Park. The double-black runs are only located directly around the peak of Mt. Werner and in Fish Creek Canyon off of Mahogany Ridge Express.
According to steamboat.com, plans are in the works to place a high-speed six-pack along the Thunderhead lift line.
The $15 million gondola replacement project lasted through the summer of 2019. Some of the helicopter-enabled tower replacements were streamed online, and the lift was extensively tested under load. It opened with fanfare on November 23, 2019, at the start of the winter 2019-2020 season, but broke the next day on November 24,[12] when a main driveshaft sheared (possibly due to unexpected stress during transit from Austria). The manufacturer (Doppelmayr) sent a team from Austria to help with the situation, and the Steamboat lift Ops worked together around the clock to build, ship, and install the replacement part(s). The gondola reopened on December 5, almost 12 days later.[13]
Steamboat has hosted the NCAA Skiing Championships nine times (1968, 1969, 1979, 1993, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2018,2024).
The $220 million Steamboat improvement project "Full Steam Ahead" constructed new amenities, lifts, and terrain to better the resort experience for skiers and riders.
In June 2021, the first phase of the mountain project "Full Steam Ahead" broke ground with the removal of the Steamboat Gondola building and slight improvements of the base including escalators, moving the gondola terminal closer to the mountain, and a new ski lessons building for small children.[14]
Beginning in summer of 2022, phase II marked the complete redesign of the base area. Construction began on an ice skating rink and restaurant to dramatically improve the feel and flow of the base area. Also, the Greenhorn Ranch learning area and the first segment of the heavily anticipated Wild Blue Gondola were built, providing swift and direct transport for beginners to a dedicated, low-mountain learning area.[15]
The final phase of Full Steam Ahead focused solely on the on-mountain experience for the 2023-2024 ski season: a new snowmaking system for the popular Sunshine Bowl, finishing construction of the record-breaking[16] top-to-bottom gondola, and a 650 acre expert terrain expansion. The 655 new acres in Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon would be serviced by a new high-speed quad-pack chair.[17] Full Steam Ahead concluded on January 15th, 2024 with the complete opening of the Fish Creek Canyon area.[18]