Caleb Takes Steamboat

Colorado is crazy! After last week’s post we had a 20”-37” forecasts scattered throughout the state. We had plans to drive southwest to the San Juan Mountains to attempt to score a possible 30” pow dump. Since we have Ikon passes and it was a lot closer, but we decided instead to go to Steamboat Resort. We had high hopes and were extremely stoked. Prior to the snow falling in Steamboat, we scored some powder at Eldora then had dinner reservations with family in Denver. During our dinner, Denver received 6”-8” so the roads were extremely slick. To our surprise the storm was just getting started. We ended up sleeping on an air mattress at the family’s house we had eaten dinner with.

Once we woke, we were astonished by 10”-12” of snow layering over everything like a blanket. We left and drove west on I-70 heading to Steamboat Resort only to get stuck in traffic which burnt our time and we didn’t end up making it. Luckily, we were able to get one hour at Eldora who had reported 11” of new snow. It was a good note to end on after a letdown earlier in the day.

The next day we snowboarded at Arapahoe Basin.  Taylor and I found some great powder off Lenawee Mountain Lift and enjoyed riding some steeper terrain as well as dropping off some fun rock bands and cliffs. We ended the day stoked and planned on making it to Steamboat with our camper. We woke up before the sun and began our routine to hook up and get ready to drive our rig to park at a friend’s house. I went outside and was surprised by ankle deep snow and it was coming down hard! About an hour later when the snow had stopped, we were off, directions in hand, and trailer in tow. It wasn’t ten minutes later when a man pulled by us with his hazard lights on honking his truck at us. He told us, “One of your trailer tires are dragging! It looks like your tire is locked.” Taylor and I slowly traversed into the shoulder with our hazards on to assess the damage. We could tell that the wheel was locked because our tire had rubbed bald in one spot. Thankfully, a nice guy pulled over and helped me jack the camper, remove the wheel, adjust the trailer brake, and put our spare tire on to replace the damaged one. In the meantime, Taylor was above us in the shoulder trying to slow traffic since we were around a blind corner replacing our damaged tire. Cold, wet, greasy, and frustrated we finished the task and were back on the road after an hour and a half. We called our friend who was generously offering a spot for us at their home outside of Steamboat only to be told terrible new. The powder we were seeking had made their driveway impossible for our truck and trailer in tow to get up. After driving over Loveland Pass and heading north, we found a campsite in Kremmling, Colorado.

That same night my family was arriving to spend a few days riding Arapahoe Basin with Taylor and I. We ended a crazy day with a spaghetti dinner with my family and powder in the forecast. The anticipation was building for the new year and powder turns. We woke up early, parked the Sequoia, booted up, walked to the lift as the mountain staff at Arapahoe was busily working to open the terrain. We were the sixth chair. After unloading Black Mountain Express, we went to a tree run that is one of our go-to powder stashes. Throughout the day we made it to the Beavers Lift which had the deepest snow of the all the runs we had shredded!

What an amazing start to 2023, m we riding powder with family at such a beautiful mountain! We are so stoked to be able to partner with Peterglenn.com and share our adventures with everyone. If you want to fallow Taylor and I more closely, follow us on Instagram @cebthebeast and @taylorasselbury or listen to The Flakes Podcast for a short discussion of our week!