This small town in the West keeps very sweet snow slopes
A SNOWFLAKE UNDER PATENT PROTECTION
steamship has managed to patent its type of snow under the name of Champagne Powder . They are very fine flakes, with ice crystals that border on perfection and that have been created by mother nature.
This quality of the Colorado season is unique to the American Rockies. No other facility on the ridge can compete with that Champagne Powder. . That is why it is very common for the teams that participate in the Alpine Ski World Cup to stop at Steamboat for their training.
Champagne Powder, Steamboat's patented ice cream
THE CABLEWAY WITH VIEWS TO THE WHITE PARADISE
There is a fundamental itinerary to cover the numerous tracks of the station: the Mount Werner area , true central axis of this resort and without which Steamboat could not exist. That mountain marks the day to day of the long winters in this corner of Colorado.
To access the skiable area you have to use a mechanical means, the Steamboat Gondola , a ski lift gondola lift with capacity for eight people completely glazed that with blue skies allows us to decide which track will be our bet.
In any case, this cable car deposits us in the middle area of the station known as Thunderhead , where snow accumulations already beat impossible records . The smartest option will be to take another mechanical means to reach the highest point: Storm Peak.
The snow gondola
And now yes, we put on the boards, ideal the fat type, and we began to descend through the forests that cross the slopes. Champagne Powder snow is all around us. The marks left by our skis make it clear that floating is possible and at high speeds.
For something the descents are similar to riding a horse . And it is that Steamboat is the closest thing to a rodeo . What's more, it is a station and a town also dedicated to the world of the Far West, to that Far West starring Robert Redford in The Adventures of Jeremiah Johnson.
By the way, a must-see before skiing are the shops that sell smoked and dehydrated meat. Bison in thin strips , which can be taken with us to regain strength. And much more authentic than the everlasting energy bars.
Skiing on Champagne Powder
HOT WATER AT MANY DEGREES
On any day of clear skies, the approach by car to Steamboat reveals dozens of springs of thermal water at many degrees centigrade . It is a completely snowy landscape in which stand steam columns fruit of the geothermal activity that exists in the subsoil of the American Rocky Mountains.
A geothermal activity that its inhabitants take advantage of. Because of that there are hotels, apartment buildings and even private homes that they enjoy natural pools with water from the interior of the earth at temperatures that never fall below 40 ºC.
It needs to be cooled down and that is why our recommendation is to spend an afternoon-night après-ski in the natural pools of the Strawberry Hot Springs Park less than ten kilometers from the ski resort.
A perfect experience for après ski
After a short ride in a van, crossing a dense coniferous forest where the snow covers everything, this wonderful and paradoxical place appears. The outside temperature will always be negative, we will tread the snow barefoot for a few meters to dive into some ponds located on steps allow the temperature of the water to be left around the 26 or 27 degrees . Sweet and transparent water.
There is no such feeling. Our face notices the cold, our submerged body will believe that it rests in the Caribbean Sea . You cannot leave Steamboat without having enjoyed this unique and electrifying experience.
Upon returning, and after having dressed again, a feeling of sleep and maximum relaxation will send us straight to the hotel bed.
The good rest between conifers and in a cabin
*The journalist Alfonso Ojea is the Director of the program of Chain BE specializing in snow, white tracks , which has been on the air for 20 years.
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Nothing like a good day of skiing, cowboy