Skip to main content

Steamboat Magazine

Steamboat Premiers New Night Skiing and Riding on December 20th

12/17/2013 01:24PM ● By Grant Johnson

Thumb_nightskiingNight Skiing and Snowboarding at Steamboat Resort 
Friday, December 20, 2013 | 05:30PM - 08:30PM 
It's the inaugural year of lighted runs at Steamboat Ski & Resort, and we've got the schedule. Read More

 

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, December 17, 2013-Everyone has their own night skiing and riding story and on Friday, December 20th, Steamboat will start adding to those wonderful memories when it premieres its new night skiing and riding experience under state-of-the-art Ultra-Tech™ Lighting on the lower mountain across Christie Peak.

“As a resort known for family activities, night skiing provides an excellent opportunity to enhance the guest experience,” said Chris Diamond, president and chief operating officer for the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. “Steamboat has one of the most recognizable brands in the business; and, night skiing will only further enrich the overall mountain experience while continuing to differentiate Steamboat by offering another and very unique reason to vacation here.”

Steamboat will light up the night in celebration of this milestone by flipping a giant light switch to officially begin a new era on the mountain. The Opening Ceremonies include music from the Red Bull MXT Truck, FREE hot chocolate and glow stick necklaces, a torchlight parade and fireworks, the unveiling of the new Go Pro Lil’ Rodeo terrain park feature and the final countdown to turn the lights on. The opening evening festivities begin at 5:00pm on Friday, December 20th with night skiing and riding officially getting underway around 5:30pm.

On the inaugural night, qualifying Steamboat season pass holders who have not purchased the night add-on pass upgrade will enjoy free night skiing by simply presenting their season pass at the ticket office for a complimentary Friday evening lift ticket. Night skiing tickets may be purchased seven days in advance for a discount or at the ticket windows during evening operations.

When the lifts start turning Friday night and guests enjoy their first turns on the slopes under the lights, Steamboat joins a select group of resorts offering this unique experience.  Roughly 1,100 vertical feet of terrain is expected to be available on five trails including Sitz, See Me, Vogue, Stampede and Lil’ Rodeo Terrain Park. 

“This has been a team effort of very talented and skilled individuals from across the Steamboat community ranging from local contractors to the resort team working on this project and Opening Night will be a celebration of their work” commented Doug Allen, vice president of mountain operations. “Night skiing has come a long way with technology advancements and the new Snow-Bright lighting along with the entire night experience is going to wow guests.”

Since night skiing first emerged on the scene, lighting technology has made dramatic advancements. Steamboat Ski Area is utilizing Snow-Bright, a new technology developed by Ultra-Tech™ Lighting, which significantly improves the night skiing experience. Spread across 85 light towers with more than 375 full-color spectrum lights, the system employs a comprehensive line of magnetic induction lighting (MIL) specifically tailored to address the complexities and unique requirements of illuminating snow in all its varieties while minimizing glare and reflected light.  

The resort worked with Go Pro to custom design a new intermediate level stair-step feature with multiple rails for the Lil’ Rodeo Terrain Park, which rounds out the park experience for a wider skill group during the evening.  Dave Reilly, Steamboat’s Park Manager, along with park professional, Nick Roma, member of the build team at the 2010 and upcoming 2014 Olympics, designed and built the new feature which debuts this evening. The new Go Pro Terrain Park feature will be available for riding during both day and night operations in Lil’ Rodeo.  

The resort will operate on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for three hours from 5:30pm to 8:30pm from Dec. 20 through Feb. 21; and, then from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in the spring from Feb. 22 through March 30. Over the holidays, the resort will provide night skiing and riding nightly from December 26th through January 5th.  In addition, hours of operation and dates may change or move to include additional nights during other holidays and special event periods such as Wednesday, Jan. 22nd during the NSAA Winter Conference.

- Happy Trails®-