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Steamboat Springs — In nearly 10 days of epic snowstorms, the snow report for the Steamboat Ski Area on Dec. 19 stands out. On "Deep Thursday," the ski area was reporting 26 inches of fresh snow at the summit of Mount Werner in the preceding 24 hours. That report shouldn't be construed to mean there was 26 inches of untracked pow when skiers got up in the morning -- some of it had been cut up the previous afternoon. Still, no one was complaining.

The report for mid-mountain on Dec. 19 also showed that one-inch shy of three feet of snow had fallen in the preceding 72 hours.

Skiers are the immediate beneficiaries of all of the recent precipitation for outdoor enthusiasts. But kayakers will be reaping the benefits in June 2003, and fly fishers will get in on the fun in July.

Snowpack data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reveals this week's precip fueled a significant uptick in the moisture stored in the snow at key sites around Steamboat Springs.

As recently as Dec. 17, the Tower measuring site on Buffalo Pass was showing 13.6 inches of moisture content, about 81 percent of average. By Dec. 20, that figure had risen to 16.1 inches of moisture, just more than 91 percent of average.

The numbers were even more impressive on Rabbit Ears Pass, where the snowpack had grown to 113 percent of average. The moisture on Rabbit Ears measured 7.3 inches on Dec. 17 and 9.5 inches on Friday.

Dry Lake Campground at the base of Buffalo Pass was also measuring above-average snowpack for this date. The measurement had grown from 5.5 to 7.7 inches of water in three days. The 7.7 inches at Dry lake is 108 percent of average.