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 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]
Mountain statistics
Elevation
Base: 6,900 feet (2,103 m)
Summit: 10,568 feet (3,221 m)
Vertical Rise: 3,668 feet (1,118 m)
Trails
Area: 3,741 acres (5.8 sq mi; 15.1 km2)
Trails: 182 total (~12% beginner, 40% intermediate, 48% advanced)
Average Annual Snowfall: 400 inches (33.3 ft; 10.2 m)[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.
Has a mid-unload turn station, and is open for night skiing. Lower segment was realigned in 2022 to make room for Wild Blue Gondola Stage I.
Storm Peak Express
High Speed Quad
Doppelmayr
1992
2159
6885
Former bubble lift
Sundown Express
High Speed Quad
Doppelmayr
1992
1936
5418
Former bubble lift. Provides access to "Shadows" off skiers right. Shadows is widely renowned as the most difficult glade skiing in the continental United States
Operated from 1997 to 2006 as the Tombstone Express at Canyons Resort
Elkhead Express
High Speed Quad
Doppelmayr
2016
726
2411
Four Points
Triple
Yan
1983
1361
4012
Originally known as Storm Peak from 1983 to 1992 and ran to the summit of Storm Peak. The lift was shortened in 1992 to end at Four Points Hut, with the Storm Peak Express replacing the upper section of the lift. Later retrofitted with Doppelmayr sheaves and chairs.
South Peak
Triple
Yan
1984
305
1700
Retrofitted with Doppelmayr chairs from the former Sunshine triple
Morningside
Triple
Garaventa CTEC
1996
545
2685
Main lift outside of the Morningside bowl.
Burgess Creek
Triple
Leitner-Poma
2004
939
3490
Bashor
Double
Yan
1974
305
1505
Oldest lift on the mountain, and dedicated terrain park and race training lift.
Bar-UE
Double
Yan
1977
1352
4820
Wildhorse Gondola
Pulse Gondola 6
Leitner-Poma
2009
104
1942
Does not serve any skiable terrain, built to connect Wildhorse Meadows (Housing development) to the base area.
Wild Blue Gondola
10 passenger gondola
Doppelmayr
2022 (stage 1) 2023 (stage 2)
590 (stage 1) 2782 (stage 2)
4267 (stage 1) 12243 (stage 2)
Two-stage gondola running from the base area to the summit of Sunshine Peak, with a midway turn station serving the Greenhorn Ranch. Constructed over a two year period, the lower stage opened in 2022 and the upper stage opened in 2023.
Greenhorn Ranch Express
High speed quad
Doppelmayr
2022
230
1206
Learning lift, with auto-locking safety bars
Mahogany Ridge Express
High speed quad
Leitner-Poma
2023
1868
6329
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]
The $220 million Steamboat improvement project "Full Steam Ahead" constructed new amenities, lifts, and terrain to better the resort experience for skiers and riders.
Phase I
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]
Phase II
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]
Phase III
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]
