Opening day is upon us! We are thrilled to have our lifts spinning again, and happy skiers and riders sliding down our slopes. Each year, our opening day and the early season looks slightly different. On most seasons, we open with a limited number of trails serviced by the Christie Peak Express lift. To help support Mother Nature during these early weeks of the year, Steamboat has installed new snow guns on our upper mountain to help open the terrain our guests love to ski the most open as early as possible. To learn more about the process our Mountain Operations teams have for opening early season terrain, I had the chance to catch up with Jake Ingle, Steamboat’s Director of Slope Maintenance. Jake is an extremely busy man, but we were able to connect via phone interview from the seat of his snowcat!

Hey Jake! How do you prioritize opening terrain at Steamboat?

“Well, we normally go for our opening egress which is Sitz, Sitz-back, Jess’ Cut Off, Vogue and Shortcut to Stampede. This year we are using our new automated snowmaking guns up in the Sunshine bowl which we’re taking advantage of colder temperatures up top if we don’t have an inversion down low. These new snowmaking guns have allowed us to take advantage of shorter snow making windows and is allowing us to make snow at the top of our mountain which we haven’t been able to do in the past. Also, these new snow making guns are automated so we can turn them off and on from our snow making control building. It makes it easier for our snowmaking crew to get them fired up and started quickly and shut down quicker when temps rise.”

Why is certain terrain easier or harder to get open?

“Well, the short answer is we have snow making on some terrain but most of the terrain here at Steamboat is dependent on natural snowfall. Our snow making system can get some acreage open, but it really just supports a lot of the natural snow trails that we have. This year we are really taking advantage of making snow at the top of the mountain with our 85 new automated snow making guns on Upper High Noon, Lower High Noon, Spike and Tomahawk.”

How does the terrain opening timeline vary year over year?

“We very consistently are able to open our opening egress trails for opening day. If we have an abundance of cold temperatures or natural snow we can open much more much quicker. An example would be two years ago we had all of our snow making done by December 11th, and the entire mountain open by Christmas. But, if it’s a warm dry fall it’s much more difficult for us to get snow making accomplished.”

Which teams play a role in decision making when opening terrain?

“Slope Maintenance works very close closely with Ski Patrol to decide which terrain we will open next. It’s a combination of what we’ve made snow on and how much natural snow we receive. In addition to this, we also take into account the lift crews and which chairs and which restaurants make the most sense to move towards next.”

What are your tips for best navigating early-season terrain?

“Really just pay attention to all the safety items that are on the mountain. The bamboo slow signs, be aware of people around you, be light on your feet if you’re skiing on natural snow trails. And have fun!”

Thanks Jake!

With snowfall in the forecast and cold temperatures imminent, snowmaking is continuing to hum along and we anticipate more terrain opening soon! You can download the Steamboat App to stay up-to-date on all terrain openings, along with events, passholder perks and a whole lot more. Happy trails, and welcome back to another winter in Steamboat!