Steamboat
Epic! That word is spoken enthusiastically on powder days in Steamboat. My backcountry companions say it often; we can be a bit smug about our tele excursions into unofficial terrain like Way Right, Drunken Indian, Storm King and North Woods. But the truth is, Back in the Day, Loris and Buddy Werner and their friends had truly epic ski adventures. In the 1950s, they’d drive up Rabbit Ears to the top of Hogan Park Trail… before it was a marked Forest Service route. They’d put skins over their alpine skis and break trail all the way to what is now Morningside. That’s seven miles. Once there, they’d build a snow cave, light a fire and settle in for the night.
Epic! That word is spoken enthusiastically on powder days in Steamboat. My backcountry companions say it often; we can be a bit smug about our tele excursions into unofficial terrain like Way Right, Drunken Indian, Storm King and North Woods. But the truth is, Back in the Day, Loris and Buddy Werner and their friends had truly epic ski adventures. In the 1950s, they’d drive up Rabbit Ears to the top of Hogan Park Trail… before it was a marked Forest Service route. They’d put skins over their alpine skis and break trail all the way to what is now Morningside. That’s seven miles. Once there, they’d build a snow cave, light a fire and settle in for the night.
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© Ron Dahlquist<br />
1969 Burgess Creek and Headwall double chairlifts<br />
White Out, Norther and Blizzard runs<br />
1970 Billy Kidd becomes director of skiing<br />
Stagecoach 6-passenger gondola built.<br />
Summit Poma lift added, opening the face of Storm<br />
Peak and Buddy’s Run<br />
1972 Priest Creek — first lift planted by helicopter<br />
Priest Creek area opens with Closet, Shadows, Twilight,<br />
High Noon, One, Two and Three O’clock<br />
1974 Bashor, double chairlift opens Bashor Bowl for beginners<br />
Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher<br />
Above 1970<br />
The Stagecoach six-passenger gondola featured a<br />
3,300-foot span between Tower 1 (near Ptarmigan<br />
Inn), and Tower 2 (top of Christie. At the time, it was<br />
the world’s longest. The height above Heavenly Daze<br />
between Towers 2 and 3 was 252 feet.<br />
Left 1966<br />
Ski coach Gordy Wren (right) hosts Colorado Governor<br />
John Love (center) on a visit to <strong>Steamboat</strong>.<br />
1977 Snow drought, area closes; reopens March 5<br />
WJW and Bar UE double chairlifts<br />
Big Meadow, Crow Track, Flying Z, Triangle Three and<br />
Drop Out runs cut<br />
Chute One opens<br />
Ethel Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Olympian<br />
Bruce Jenner attend Inaugural International Winter<br />
Special Olympics<br />
1979 Southface and Christie III and Arrowhead triple<br />
chairlifts open<br />
Ted’s Ridge cut<br />
STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI SEASON 2012/13 | 25
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