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Steamboat Ski Area’s 50th anniversary season to come to a snowy close

Nicole Inglis
The annual Cardboard Classic race — which features crafts constructed with cardboard, tape, glue and string — is at 11 a.m. Saturday at the base of Steamboat Ski Area.
Courtesy Photo

Springalicious schedule

Saturday

11 a.m. Cardboard Classic

1 p.m. Billy Kidd's 70th birthday

3 p.m. Missed the Boat on the Steamboat Stage

Sunday

1 p.m. Splashdown Pond Skim

2:30 p.m. Head for the Hills on the Steamboat Stage

4 p.m. Leftover Salmon on the Steamboat Stage





The annual Cardboard Classic race — which features crafts constructed with cardboard, tape, glue and string — is at 11 a.m. Saturday at the base of Steamboat Ski Area.

— The slow-to-start 2012-13 winter could be going out with a powder day Sunday.

Mike Weissbluth, a local forecaster with http://www.snowalarm.com, anticipates as much as a foot of fresh powder by Sunday morning, the final day of lift-serviced skiing at Steamboat Ski Area.

Don’t let the potentially sunny Saturday morning fool you.



“Showers begin late in the day (Saturday) as another cold storm digs southward just inland of the West Coast,” Weissbluth wrote Friday in his email forecast. “Showers may become heavy by Saturday night and into Sunday morning as a front stalls over the area. I expect 6 to 12 inches by the end of the day Sunday.”

There won’t be any tan lines or bikinis this closing weekend.



Well, there still might be some bikinis as Steamboat Ski Area’s Springalicious events will celebrate closing weekend through the sun and snow.

The 33rd annual Cardboard Classic race takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday featuring homemade crafts careening down a snowy slope. And this year, the snow won’t have to be trucked in from other locations like it was last April.

At 1 p.m., Billy Kidd celebrates his 70th birthday with cake in Gondola Square, followed by a 3 p.m. free concert from local jam-grass band Missed the Boat.

On Sunday, the Splashdown Pond Skim begins at 1 p.m. with live music with nationally renowned bluegrass acts Head for the Hills at 2:30 p.m. and Leftover Salmon at 4 p.m. in Gondola Square.

According to a news release from Steamboat Ski Area, the mountain will close lifts early beginning with Morningside at 2:30 p.m.; Burgess Creek, Four Points, Storm Peak Express, Sundown Express and Sunshine Express at 3 p.m.; and Christie Peak Express, Bashor, Thunderhead Express and the gondola at 3:30 p.m.

Ski patrol director John Kohnke encourages a theme of safety among the celebrations.

“The resort’s mantra this spring remains ‘respect the sport, respect each other,'” Kohnke said in a news release. “Let’s work together to make sure that our final weekend is a fun and safe event, and remember to be respectful and responsible for your actions and behaviors.”

After the lifts stop turning, there still will be some powdery turns to be had. You just might have to earn them.

“Any breaks in precipitation will be short-lived as waves continue to pass over the area Thursday and Friday and possibly into (April 20) in cool and moist northwest flow, continuing to bolster the snowpack,” Weissbluth wrote.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center currently ranks the Steamboat zone avalanche danger as low in the local backcountry but added that snow and wind from the incoming system could increase the danger.

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction forecasts highs in the 40s in town but low 30s at Steamboat Ski Area throughout the weekend.

To reach Nicole Inglis, call 970-871-4204 or email ninglis@ExploreSteamboat.com


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