Looking for a place to stay in Steamboat?
In the spirit of the guest house, we have opened our home in Steamboat to offer visitors a new and unique place to stay. We look forward to seeing you soon!Click Here To Learn More About Our House
November 13, 2008: Winter Arrives!
After flirting with us over the past several weeks, winter has finally given us that first real kiss. Its been cold and snowy for several days now. The mountain is rapidly turning white.
Town is abuzz with rumors of people already skiing up high on the mountain. We’ve been going to see all of the ski movies that are coming through town on a daily basis. Its true, ski season is almost here.
November 4, 2008: How can I afford to ski Steamboat?
I have received several emails lately from future guests and potential guests asking for my advice on being able to afford to ski Steamboat. So here is my advice…
1 - Look out the window and if it’s a nice day, but not an EPIC day, sleep in & have a nice breakfast. Then catch the 12 o’clock bus and head to the ticket office for a half day lift ticket that starts at 12:30 pm.
2 - There is still time to buy a Rocky Mountain Super Pass Plus - which is a Copper / Winter Park Season pass with 6 days at Steamboat for $439. This deal is good through November 23rd. With this pass you will also get 2 free days of skiing at Taos as well as 2 free days of skiing at Whistler/Blackcolm. Each pass holder gets 4 coupons for $50 lift tickets for friends or familiy to use. They can also typically buy a discounted lift ticket at any time throughout the season. More information available here http://www.passwagon.com/rockymountain.htm
3 - Go see this year’s Warren Miller movie in November along the front range and you will get an early or late season free lift ticket good Monday - Friday or you will get a buy one get one free voucher good throughout the season (except for during the holidays of course).
Essentially you need to plan ahead. They are calling for our first winter storm this evening and into tomorrow. We are anxiously awaiting this year’s ski season.
October 22, 2008: The first snow of the year in town
Last night was a slew of firsts. Clint started the first fire in the wood stove at the house, because the temperatures had dipped low enough to warrant it. And yes, it was also our first snow of the year. Then I began counting back and realized that our last snow of the year was in June 2008. So we had gone just 4 months without a drop of snow. This makes for a rather short growing season and nearly a constant reminder that we live in a climate that is cold and wintery more often than not.
Bookings have begun for the winter and one common questions has come up - When is the best time to ski Steamboat? Well this really depends on what you are looking for. If you only have your week at Christmas or New Years to get away, then we can certainly help you find more secluded places to ski, eat and relax.
If you want the best chances for getting epic powder, I have always had luck with the 2 weeks following New Years. For some reason, we just always seem to get amazing snow during that time of year.
If you like to ski, but don’t particularly care for the cold, then come here in March - when the likelihood of night time snow and day time sun is a real possibility.
We look forward to having some return guests from years past as well as welcoming new people into our home to enjoy spending time in a ski town with real locals. Many of us in town are getting excited for a few of the typical fall rituals which include gathering with friends to watch ski movies & getting ready to celebrate Halloween.
Be well and start planning now for your ski trip to Steamboat. Heck, even if you decide not to stay with us, feel free to send us your questions. I can guarantee that local hotels and condos managed by companies will not personally answer the questions that you have. That is what we are here for!
September 28, 2008: The leaves are changing - quickly!
It’s the end of September and we successfully made it back from our 2 1/2 week honeymoon in China! We definitely plan to post more information about that trip on this site, along with pictures. Highlights though included seeing the Olympic flame lit at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing as part of the Para-Olympics, hiking 6 miles on the Great Wall and spending over a week in the Yunnan Province in Southwest China.
Upon our return to the Yampa Valley - fall was in full swing and the aspens were looking beautiful with a cool mix of yellow, green and even some light orange in the leaves. I enjoyed a great weekend mountain biking up north and trail running with friends in town. It’s been tough getting back into the Steamboat athletic swing after a long vacation eating amazing food in China as well as getting all healed up after breaking my toe a week before the wedding.
We had a cool couple, Casey and Kevin, from Park City spend nearly a week with us. They are working on a project to create a directory of restaurants in ski towns throughout Colorado. They already have a great site up and running for Park City restaurants, but their trip to Steamboat was in order to be able to expand their site - Ski Town Restaurants http://www.skitownrestaurants.com/ You can also read more specifics about their trip around Colorado on their blog - The Fall Line http://www.skitownrestaurants.com/blog/blog.html
We are in the home stretch on our kitchen remodel and are excited to offer a completely remodeled space for our late fall and winter guests. We will definitely post before and after pictures once the project is done. Still left to do - paint the living room & kitchen and install the granite countertops. We anticipate everything being back to normal by the end of October.
We are also offering a fall discount of $75 per night for all of October and November - including Thanksgiving. So if you are on the fence about planning a Thanksgiving ski trip, you can easily come to stay with us to ski & cook an amazing Thanksgiving meal in our new kitchen. As always - send us your questions/comments and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We are excited about winter and snow is definitely in the air!
August 16, 2008: Clint and Emily are officially married!
First off - thanks to those of you who have been following the progress of our dating, engagement and subequent wedding date. Likely the most memorable part of our wedding weekend at 11,400 feet (at the top of Vail pass) was the factor that the weather played in the entire event.
This is the picture of the snow family that we made on Sunday morning when we awoke to 6 inches of snow. It felt more like the surprise of a snow day in Elementary school as opposed to what you envision for your August wedding.
In the end, everyone was very adaptable to the rain, sleet, hail, thunderstorms, snow and my new favorite - snunder (snow and thunder simultaneously).
We quickly decided to move our outdoor summer wedding indoors. We decorated the first floor of one of the huts with candles, pictures and wildflowers.
Surrounded by family and friends, Clint and I had a fabulous time watching people meet for the first time and enjoying a long weekend at the 10th Mountain Division Huts http://www.huts.org As are all newlyweds, we are extremely excited to be married and looking forward to our honeymoon trip to China in September. Stay tuned for new updates on how that vacation unfolds.
It was as if, even though the weather was bad, it cooperated enough for us to do everything we wanted to do during the weekend long festivities.
Fall is definitely in the air which means but one thing - winter is just around the corner!
July 13, 2008: Balloon Weekend in Steamboat
The Annual Balloon Festival was in Steamboat and since moving to their new Bald Lake location, you can easily see the balloons launch from the Guest House. I went for a walk with Molly and enjoyed watching the variety of different balloons launching from Whistler Park. Molly had fun, but I think it was the river that kept her excited as opposed to the Bear shapped balloon.
Here is the view from the end of the driveway of the Guest House
Molly is secretly eyeing the river around the corner
Molly swam in the river at least 5 or 6 times on this walk alone
June 11, 2008: The latest snow I have ever seen in Steamboat
Unless you were the one to wake this morning and look out the window to see the snow falling, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you we awoke to a few inches of fresh snow this morning. It was surreal to say the least. Fortunately we knew it was headed this way after watching the news last night. It is the same weather front that caught those day hikers out on Mt. Rainer. We just bought some new lilac bushes to put in the yard and thankfully we brought them into the garage last night.
I’ve lived here for over 10 years, and this is by far the latest I have ever seen it snow down in the valley. We all keep joking that summer is never really going to make it and that soon enough we will just dip back into winter again. Fortunately though, between rain and snow showers, the valley has completely greened up.
We have started taking reservations for next winter, so get ahead of the masses and pick your perfect weekend.
May 30, 2008: The Valley is Green and the River is Raging
We just got back into town after a few weeks away for work. Since our departure, the valley has gotten incredibly green and the river is raging through town. Tons of people are descending upon the Yampa Valley this weekend to run in the Annual Steamboat Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k running race. As a fellow runner who has run all but the marathon several times, I know what those runners are in for…hills, hills and more hills. But the scenery is amazing, which will hopefully take their minds off of the hills.
Bookings for summer are in full swing and we definitely encourage you to plan your trip to Steamboat now. There are tons of activities close to the house including hiking and mountain biking at the ski area, enjoying one of the many running races on weekends throughout the summer or just sitting by the river enjoying a drink/dinner at one of the many restaurants which now line Yampa Avenue.
May 1, 2008 - April showers bring May snowstorms?
You will likely find it hard to believe, but it is actually snowing out today in Steamboat. There are winter storm warnings and advisories for Steamboat calling for up to a foot of snow at higher elevations. I actually had to scrape snow and ice off of my car windows this morning. Earlier this week I drove over Rabbit Ears Pass for the first time since December and it looked more like March than late April or early May. My friends and I are actually considering going skiing up in North Routt this weekend, while other friends are all headed for warmer climates like Buena Vista, Grand Junction and Ft. Collins to escape the snow.
April 7, 2008 - The ski season is over and it is still snowing!
Yesterday was the last day of the ski season and as the mountain closed it was snowing. Final snow totals put us at 489 for mid-mountain and over 500 inches at the summit. The skiing was actually quite incredible on the final weekend from an epic sunny Friday afternoon (one of the few all season) to the dull roar of snow plows heard off and on all weekend.
There was much fun had by all on closing weekend from free concerts, to the “early” cardboard classic and a pond skimming finale…I think all locals left the mountain with a grin from ear to ear. There is a subtle quietness that has come over town, with many folks packing up after a long season and getting ready to head out to all corners of the earth. Others of us are getting ready to reconnect with friends in town and to enjoy a long list of meal deal specials in town. As one friend pointed out, Mud Season is the one time that she and her husband can afford some of the nicer restaurants in town thanks to the specials for locals.
To all of our guests this season - we would like to thank you for many wonderful memories. I started out this season skiing with guests and in true guest house fashion my last run of the season was with one of our guests, a 12 year ripper from the front range.
We are open for bookings year round, so once you make the switch to spring and summer thinking, keep us in mind for your next trip to the Yampa Valley.