Steamboat off-piste & powder guide

Colorado, USA · 2103m to 3220m · 4 documented zones

Finding powder at Steamboat

Steamboat is a tree skiing mountain first and foremost. The aspens and firs are spaced almost perfectly, the pitch is right, and the canopy shelters the snow so well that it is common to find light, dry snow days after a storm has passed. On a powder day the glades here are rated by many as the best in Colorado.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 4 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Shadows and Closets

Storm Peak sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

The two most popular glades on the mountain, reached by heading skier's right from the top of the lift. Around 1,900 vertical feet through firs and aspens, and widely called the best tree skiing in Colorado on a powder day.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Sundown Express or Storm Peak Express
Walk in
No hiking — Head skier's right from the top of the lift into the trees.
Getting back
The glades run out into the main Steamboat trail network.
Known hazards
  • Tree wells
  • Navigation in dense glades

Twilight Glades

Storm Peak sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

Reached simply by popping into the trees on skier's right, and a quieter alternative once Shadows and Closets have been found.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Storm Peak Express
Walk in
No hiking — Drop into the trees on skier's right.
Getting back
Rejoins the main trail network.
Known hazards
  • Tree wells
  • Variable spacing between trees

Christmas Tree Bowl

Storm Peak sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

The steepest tree skiing on the mountain, and the place to go once the gentler glades stop feeling like enough.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Storm Peak Express
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Descends back into the Steamboat trail network.
Known hazards
  • Steep terrain in dense trees
  • Tree wells

Sunshine Peak aspens

Sunshine Peak sector

Inbounds - patrolledIntermediate

Widely spaced aspens on Sunshine Peak, and the gentlest introduction to tree skiing here. The right place to learn what glades feel like before taking on Shadows.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Sunshine Express or Priest Creek
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Sunshine Express or Priest Creek chairs.
Getting back
Rejoins the Sunshine Peak trail network.
Known hazards
  • Tree wells, even in open glades

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Steamboat snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in USA