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Tom Ross

Tom Ross' column appears Tuesdays and Sundays in Steamboat Today. Contact him at 970-871-4205 or tross@SteamboatToday.com.

A pair of bald spots opened up on the brow of Storm Peak on Monday, setting up an interesting test for one of Steamboat's enduring urban legends.

Scores of local paddlers and skiers swear that when the two bare spots on the snowy peak link up each spring, the Yampa River has hit its peak annual flow where it roars through downtown Steamboat.

Following the record snowfall of 489 inches at Steamboat Ski Area during the winter of 2007-08, the Yampa River peaked at 3,850 cubic feet per second at the Fifth Street Bridge. The last time the river surpassed the 7-foot flood stage was in 2003, when the peak streamflow was 5,190 cfs. Total snowfall at the ski area that year was 344 inches.

Officials at the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said Monday that this year's peak could come as soon as Wednesday or Thursday. If that proves to be the case, the two insignificant bald spots that emerged like sooty smudges on Storm Peak's glistening face this week have some growing to do.

I have a difficult time believing that the river is on the verge of peaking when remote sensors maintained by the Natural Resources Conservation Service reflect that 102 inches of snow remain on Buffalo Pass. But those government hydrologists know their business, and the net result may be that we settle in for a long steady runoff that keeps kayakers happy through July.

Historical records teach us that 400-inch snowfall winters like the one just passed (405 inches) don't always result in record streamflows. It all depends on how much snow falls above 9,000 feet in May (hardly any this spring) and how quickly the weather heats up.

I've always been skeptical about this notion that there is a correlation between the bald spot on Storm Peak's furrowed brow and the annual peak of the river's flow. I think it's because those blemishes on the peak occur within two broad swaths where the Steamboat Ski Area grooms the snow to erase the moguls. One of the groomed stripes is on skier's left and the other is on skier's right, under the Storm Peak Express Chairlift.

Many of us can recall that it's only been in recent history that the ski area has groomed Storm Peak. In fact, some large spruce trees originally had to be removed to make it feasible to groom skier's left.

However, even among veteran whitewater paddlers, there are different views on the Storm Peak Bald Spot urban legend.

None other than noted paddling author and publisher/editor-in-chief of Paddling Life, Eugene Buchanan, is a believer.

"It has usually held pretty true to form all the years I've lived here," Buchanan said.

You can ask him about it at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Olympian Hall when he presents a slideshow about his participation in the dramatic first descent down Peru's upper Colca Canyon and the Cruz de Condor.

On the other side of the debate, former Grand Canyon guide and proprietor of Mountain Sports Kayak School Barry Smith sees it my way.

"That used to hold pretty true, but they scrape so much snow when they groom late in the year, it might be less than 12 inches deep there," Smith said.

There you have it.

There are two kinds of snowpack river nerds in Steamboat. Which are you?

- To reach Tom Ross, call 871-4205

or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com