Steamboat

The powder in Steamboat is sweet. Christine and I left Fort Collins on Thursday night for a long weekend in Steamboat and we were treated to a bunch of new snow. The resort had gotten quite a bit of snow on Wednesday and Thursday, and there was plenty of it left for us on Friday. I hadn't done a double black in a while, but I had a helluva time ripping down the Christmas Tree Bowl thigh deep in powder.

After soaking up as much powder as we could, we went up to Strawberry Hot Springs and soaked in the warm water. The warm water was just what our sore muscles needed and it was pretty cool hanging out in the hot springs as some more snow gently fell.

Instead of staying at the resort, we stayed in downtown Steamboat Springs at the Hotel Bristol. Our room had 3 or 4 windows that looked out on main street, which was pretty nice until a squadron of snow clearing machines started doing their thing out there at 1AM. Wow those things were loud.

I only skied on Friday. More on that when I get the chance to write up what I did with the rest of my time. :)

Steamboat dining rundown:

• Riggio's Fine Italian was really good. They were full the night we went there so we just ate at the bar and chatted it up with the bartender (who also happened to be the manager).


• We had bagels from Bagel Works (1117 Lincoln) every morning. Good bagels if you're into that sort of thing in the morning (and I am). The owner is a CSU grad and used to run a bagel shop in Fort Collins


• Tugboat Grill & Pub was okay for apres ski, but I think next time I'll check out the Slopeside Grill. Their food looked better, but I don't know if it tasted any better.


• The one brewpub in Steamboat, the Mahogany Ridge Brewery & Grill, has terrible beer. It tastes watered down, and I was pretty turned off that they poured into a plastic cup.


• Brooklynn's sells good pizza by the slice, but leave your credit card at home because they only accept cash or check.