Resort now has 11 lifts open, after Four Points started turning on Friday.
The second leg of Steamboat Resort’s Wild Blue Gondola is still on pace to open later this month, though there are still no official plans to announce.
“We always said it would be mid to late December and we’re on track,” said Loryn Duke, communications director for Steamboat Springs Ski and Resort Corp. “We’re going through the testing phases and getting all of our tram certifications. … We don’t have a date ready to announce officially quite yet, but we’re getting very close.”
The lower leg of Wild Blue has been most of the season providing access to Greenhorn Ranch, one of 11 lifts the resort now has open after Four Points started turning on Friday morning. In total, Steamboat has 375 acres of terrain open. Duke said opening more terrain is dependent on weather, but that they are working to open as much terrain and lifts as possible.
“It’s kind of that middle band of the resort that we are working,” Duke said. “Obviously we have a lot of good snow that people can see at the top of the mountain, but it’s making that connectivity.”
The resort reported 11 inches of new snow at mid-mountain overnight, bringing the season total to 83 inches. The National Weather Service is calling for more snow through the day today, on Sunday and on Monday.
The resort’s new Mahogany Ridge terrain could be some of the last to open, Duke said, as they are relying fully on Mother Nature, as they do with Pony Express.
“It needs to be maintained a little bit more than the rest of our terrain, so similar to Pony, it’s usually going to be some of our last terrain to open up,” Duke said. “It’s really important to note, whether it’s Mahogany Ridge or other areas of the resort, closures are closure and people need to respect all closed trails.”
Top Photo Caption: The upper leg of the Wild Blue Gondola has been running, but isn't yet open to the public. That is expected to change sometime this month. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)