Night Skiing Comes Out West
This season Steamboat Resorts in Steamboat Springs, CO just installed a new light system which allows skiing on five runs from 5:30pm to 8:30pm Friday through Sunday (Times change depending on the time of the season). As someone who has gone out about 7 times so far, I have to admit it is an awesome experience. As a working professional, I work very hard during my days and night skiing has allowed my wife and I to get some fresh air, exercise and of course quality time doing the sport we love so much. But, night skiing isn’t just for the locals to enjoy. It is a huge attraction for the visitors who vacation in Steamboat during the ski season.
Close your eyes and picture this: you have been driving up from Denver to Steamboat and its about 6pm on a Friday night. You and your family have been dreaming about your annual ski vacation for months. When you pull over Rabbit Ears Pass and are driving into town, usually the town is a blanket of snow and you can only see the top of the gondola lit up. This year something is different…you can see Sitz, Vogue, See Me/See Ya, Stampede, Lil’ Rodeo and PEOPLE SKIING?!? The excitement you get when you can actually see the runs from a distance when it is dark out is almost overwhelming and all you want to do is ski!
One of the best parts of Steamboats night skiing is that they close the 5 runs down at the end of the normal ski day and then groom the runs to reopen for night skiing! This has proven to be some of the best groomed runs I have ever taken and that says a lot coming from a kid who grew up skiing Deer Valley’s world famous grooming. If you get out right when they open for the night, you get the place to yourself for about 45 minutes. After that, the lift line starts to grow a little bit, but it’s still worth it!
All in all, if you have access to night skiing, just do it. The kids LOVE it, couples get to cuddle on the chair lift, and the day workers can get their turns in. I hope we get so see more and more resorts take advantage of night skiing, as it has been a bonus for the people in Steamboat and I know I will be taking advantage of it as much as possible.
Want more info on Night Skiing?
http://skiing.about.com/od/downhillskiing/a/nightskiing.htm
http://www.steamboat.com/tickets-and-passes/night-skiing.aspx9 
