In the early 1960s, a couple of dreamers in a small Northwest Colorado ranching town called Steamboat Springs started a ski area. More than 50 years later, Steamboat Ski Resort is an international skiing destination known for its Western heritage and ranching history. It's come a long way from the early days of tractors grooming the slopes to having 2,965 skiable acres with 165 trails. The official January 1963 opening date of what was then Storm Mountain comes from when the original Christe double chairlift started spinning. In 1965, the ski area was renamed Mt. Werner. The mountain got more recognition with its first gondola in 1970, but it was the eight-passenger gondola installed in 1986 that was a world's first. High-speed lifts replaced aging chairs throughout the 1990s, and Morningside area was opened in 1996. Check out Steamboat Ski Resort's old trail maps to see how it has changed over the years.
Here's Mt. Werner, as the ski area was then known, in 1968. (click to expand)
By 1980, the ski area had adopted its now familiar name and logo as well as increased its size and number of lifts. (click to expand)
The trail map in 1982. (click to expand)
This is the mountain in 1987 after the new gondola was added. (click to expand)
Here's what the mountain looked like in 1988. (click to expand)
This is the mountain in 1990. (click to expand)
By 1997, the Morningside area was open. (click to expand)
Here's what it looked like in 2002. (click to expand)
Here's what the mountain looks like more recently with the newly added night skiing. (click to expand)
· Steamboat Ski Resort [Official site]
· SkiMap.org [Official site]
· The 18 Hot Spots for Eating & Drinking in Steamboat Springs [Curbed Ski]
· Walt Disney's Granddaughter Buys Historic Ranch in Steamboat [Curbed Ski]
· See How Jackson Hole Has Changed From 1969 to Today [Curbed Ski]
· All Powder from the Past coverage [Curbed Ski]