Rocking the ‘Boat at Night
It’s been 2 years since I last night skied, and the base area is officially rocking again!
Night skiing is open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays to Mondays through March 9 and 6 to 9 p.m. from March 10 to 26. You can check out all the details at Steamboat Night Skiing.
My wife planned an awesome surprise date night (no kids, woo-hoo) at the base area Friday. She bought the Coca-Cola Night Adventure Four Pack, which includes night skiing, two coaster rides each, and the best dessert in the history of the world: root-beer floats at Gondola Joe’s. We kicked it off with dinner at Gondola Pub & Grill, and when we walked out of the restaurant after eating, there was a balloon glow happening at the base.
Music was bumping, and the party was just getting started as more and more people with big smiles showed up for the evening’s events.
The groomers had just made their laps on the night skiing area, and we quickly boarded the Christie lift to take a couple of laps for fresh corduroy and to see the beautiful sunset. The freshly groomed snow was super soft from all the snow we’ve had this past week: more than 2 feet, the most snow in all of Colorado! The more laps we did, the prettier the sunset became.
After taking a handful of sunset runs, we headed over to the Outlaw Mountain Coaster.
I’ll admit it doesn’t look like a big adrenaline rush from the base, but to our surprise, it was an absolute blast. My wife asked me at the top before we started our decent if the coaster car was attached to the rails or if we could roll off the tracks. Me being the jokester I am, I of course told her they’re not attached to tracks and yes we could roll off if we go too fast. (That is 100% not true. The coaster car is safely attached to the tracks.) By the end of our first ride, my ears were ringing as my wife was frantically screaming the entire way down before I innocently asked at the bottom, “Why you screaming? It’s just like a roller coaster. We’re attached to the rails!”
After two rides on the coaster, we headed back up the mountain for a couple more laps on Christie lift.
We took a handful more runs down See Me and Vogue as the sunset faded.
We then raced back up the lift with the rest of the night skiers and down to the top of See Me to enjoy the main event: fireworks! They did not disappoint. You’re literally looking down on the town with awesome fireworks right in front of you. It was a view I’ll never forget.
After the fireworks, we took a couple more runs and headed back to the car. My wife and I both mentioned this was one of the best date nights we’ve had in a very long time. Not sure how I’m going to top this one: night skiing, hot air balloons, fireworks and root-beer floats!
Hope to see you on the mountain tonight!
Byron Carney, Alpine skier
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