Steamboat’s Long-Held Local’s Only Side Country is Now Open to the Public

All Photos: Courtesy of Steamboat Resort

For anyone unfamiliar with Colorado's Front Range skiing landscape, Steamboat Springs sits 160 miles northwest of Denver, typically a three-ish hour drive, and a drive that has gained in popularity over the years because it’s far removed from I-70, and you've got a couple different options to get there, yet it remains slightly off the beaten path. I was drawn there myself as a young aspiring ski bum, and lived there full time for about four years in the late '90s.

Crossing Berthoud Pass, Cameron Pass or Loveland Pass (Eisenhower Tunnel) and ultimately Rabbit Ears Pass to get there has always been the town's blessing and curse—north enough to avoid some I-70 weekend chaos, and remote enough that many Front Rangers don't make the trek; although the Ikon Pass has changed that. Back in my day, the Boat had 8,000 residents, the base area hadn't been touched since 1974. The resort was Colorado's fifth largest, which felt about right, big enough to spread out on powder days, small enough to know everybody. The vibe was unique: ranchers and ski bums coexisting on the mountain, at the Tugboat Saloon, on the Yampa River, united by their understanding that this wasn't Vail or Aspen. Steamboat has also sent more Olympians to the Winter Games than any other town in America—100 and counting—a testament to the serious ski culture that's always existed here.

Steamboat was known more as a family-friendly destination mountain. The sidecountry Fish Creek terrain off Pony Express and beyond held some of Colorado's best tree skiing and steeps, but it required a bobsled run down the frozen creek and a hike to get back in bounds, usually reserved for a last run of the day.

Now, two seasons after Alterra Mountain Company invested $200 million over three years on its "Full Steam Ahead" project, Steamboat is still finding its equilibrium between massive infrastructure improvements, increased visitation, a passionate local user base, and how people can best utilize the expanded mountain and base area.

Before the expansion, Steamboat covered 2,965 acres with 165 trails and 18 lifts. After Full Steam Ahead wrapped up, the 650 new acres brought the total to over 3,600 acres with 181 trails and 23 lifts, making it Colorado's second-largest behind Vail.

Previous Terrain Evolution

While the Full Steam Ahead expansion represents Steamboat's most dramatic transformation, the resort had been steadily evolving its terrain footprint since my time in the 90s. The decade began by bringing Christmas Tree Bowl and Chutes 2 and 3 within the ski area boundary in 1990, finally giving the resort some legitimate expert terrain off Mount Werner's summit. Morningside Park opened in 1996, adding 179 acres and a triple chairlift to access some of the backside powder stashes that locals had been poaching for years. The following year, American Skiing Company developed 260 acres in Pioneer Ridge for hike-to access, installing the Pony Express high-speed quad in 1998 to service what would become some of the mountain's most popular tree skiing. These incremental expansions helped, but none fundamentally changed Steamboat's position in Colorado's ski hierarchy. The 650-acre Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon addition represents the resort's first significant terrain expansion in more than 20 years, and finally delivers the steep, technical terrain that had been missing from Steamboat's otherwise well-rounded persona.

The Infrastructure Learning Curve

The Full Steam Ahead project ran from 2021 to 2024 and represents Alterra's biggest investment in any single resort, although Deer Valley’s expansion is set to exceed it. The new Wild Blue Gondola, North America's longest at 3.16 miles, moves 10,000 skiers per hour from base to Sunshine Peak in 13 minutes. "We're seeing interesting traffic patterns we didn't fully anticipate," says Laura Kuczkowski, Steamboat's PR manager. "Some people don't realize Wild Blue goes to a different summit area than the original Gondola. Others don't know about the mid-station at Greenhorn Ranch."

The base area got its first renovation since 1974, and boy what a renovation it was, adding The Range Food & Drink Hall, Skeeter's ice rink, escalators, automated ticket counters, and more. The Gondola Transit Center was designed to improve drop-offs and pickups, but over the years increased development on-mountain also eliminated a lot of parking that locals loved, but they’ve added other options.

Three new lifts—Wild Blue, Mahogany Ridge Express, and Greenhorn Ranch Express—have made it easier and faster to ski more of the mountain.

Mahogany Ridge: Still a Local's Spot Two Years Later

The big news for freeskiers however was the 650 acres of new expert terrain in Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon, which bumped Steamboat from fifth to second largest in Colorado. Mahogany Ridge covers 355 acres accessed by a new high-speed quad. The terrain was largely untouched except for the lift line and Edge of the World trail that runs along Fish Creek Canyon rim. These are the same trees locals have been skiing for decades, just now with avalanche control and patrol.

"First season, nobody could find it," says Robbie Tesar, who's been on patrol here for 15 years. He took me through the zones in March 2024. "You had to know to take a left off Pony Express, and we've improved the signage, but it's still pretty quiet back there."

After shredding my face off with a complimentary Early Ups pass, I met Tesar at the patrol shack on top of Sundown for egg sandwiches from their outdoor grill, got a glimpse of morning patrol meeting, then we traversed from Pony over to Hog Hut and Mahogany Ridge. From there, Fish Creek Canyon is really the stuff of local lore, a 295-acre zone of expert terrain, including quite a few cliff drops (some un-skiable), tight trees, and real consequences. The resort warns that it's a 30-45 minute hike out, but it’s really more like 20 minutes of sidestepping and traversing if you know the route. "We thought we'd have major traffic in Fish Creek," Tesar says. "But the hike-out really deters people. Keeps it less crowded for those who know, but it also means we invested heavily in terrain that's underutilized."

Before this, Steamboat's expert terrain was basically Christmas Tree Bowl's three chutes plus whatever you wanted to hike to: North St. Pat's, Wake Up Call, East Face off Morningside. Good stuff, but maybe only about 5% of the mountain.

The Ikon Integration

Another big change is Steamboat ditching its own individual season pass for Ikon only, plus day passes.

Ikon Pass holders from all over can now indulge Steamboat as another stop on their seasonal tour, and the resort told me that locals don’t seem to mind purchasing the Ikon pass because it gives them more value and opens up neighboring Winter Park if the snow isn’t great in the Boat, as well as Jackson Hole and now Arapahoe Basin, among others. 

Alterra says they strive to preserve individual resort identities, and I’ve found that to be true. The Shack still serves the same breakfast and cowboys still drink next to hippies at Creekside, hell sometimes they’re the same person, but the economic model has changed.

The newly created  Mountain Safety Team patrols high-traffic areas for speed and general stupidity. They can't pull passes but their presence is obvious, especially where beginners and experts converge on the way down the mountain. "It's about enhancing the guest experience," the resort says, managing the chaos of increased crowds on peak days.

The Steamboat Grand reopened (which in my day was the “new hotel”) with The Crooked Antler restaurant replacing The Cabin. They're pushing "comfort food at reasonable prices,” daily brunch, and happy hour. 

They're capitalizing on Olympic cache as well: Debuting this season, Steamboat will offer the experience of a lifetime with the Ski with Olympian program. Guests can book a full day guided tour with a Steamboat Olympian to explore the resort. Also new this year, guests can enjoy dinner with an Olympian in its “Dine with an Olympian” program, where 4-8 people have a shared table experience in an intimate setting in The Steamboat Grand’s reenvisioned The Crooked Antler, where they can hear personal experiences from Steamboat’s Olympians over the decades.

The Visa Big Air World Cup returns December 13 as an Olympic qualifier for Milano Cortina 2026. Para World Cup follows in February and both are free to spectate. The traditional Olympic Send-Off happens at the end of January with a parade of nations, cauldron lighting, and more.

Greenhorn Ranch, the new beginner area at Wild Blue's mid-station, successfully pulled beginners off the front lower main mountain. Four magic carpets and progressive terrain graded up to 15 percent is probably the best learning configuration I’ve seen in Colorado. New snowmaking on Sunshine Peak uses low-energy guns that save water and power.

Local Adaptation

Even though the legendary Fish Creek is now open to the public, the vibe at the Boat felt as solid as ever. "We've had really good feedback from locals," Tesar told me. "You can lap it now, you can just stay in that zone; but it’s not just a hit-it-once at the end of the day kind of thing.” And, she says, there's peace of mind with it being patrolled.

The concern, as with any new opening like this, is seeing people in Fish Creek who have no business in that terrain, but the cliffs are quite well marked and it is swept by patrol each night. 

Gondola Transit Center construction started this past summer which will add another gondola from the Meadows lot to the base, potentially improving a morning parking and drop-off mess. The city and resort are exploring geothermal for snowmelt systems, drilling 440 feet into Stampede Trail in October to test underground heat storage. If geothermal works, it could power snowmelt across 120,000 square feet of the new transit center and plaza. The resort's also rolling out better wayfinding for the 2025-26 season, starting November 23, including digital trail maps, better signs, and "mountain hosts" to help even further.

The Verdict

Standing at the top of Fish Creek on a Thursday afternoon, looking at untracked lines that used to require bootpacking and rope ducking, the transformation makes sense. The terrain was always here; the snow was always legendary champagne pow; the aspens perfectly spaced. For me coming back to Steamboat after years away, Full Steam Ahead didn’t give me that yucky feeling in my gut when I hear the word “expansion.” And let’s face it, in a ski industry long plagued by gate keeping and price gauging, a little bit more accessibility is a good thing. 

What's impressive is how they pulled off a massive expansion that works for everyone…a beautiful new 171-cabin gondola, Greenhorn Ranch for ski school and beginners, fantastic uphill skiing access, and the base area remodel and expansion, while different, was necessary, with 650 acres of epic sidecountry terrain that's still empty most days. Steamboat invested in what was already special and made it work without losing its character.