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!