More information - Steamboat - USA

Steamboat, nicknamed "Ski Town USA" offers a large ski area, great off-the-slopes activities and a huge variety of terrain. The modern Steamboat resort slopeside ski development is three miles from the old cowboy town, which maintains a genuine feel whilst full to the brim with modern thriving shops (and a few old ones). In terms of après-ski pricing this is a very high value resort, thanks to the competition between businesses and the lack of pretentiousness, used as an excuse for higher prices at some other top Colorado resorts. Steamboat resort was purchased from previous Japanese owners in November 1997 by the American Skiing Company. Steamboat has one of the longest histories in North American and indeed world skiing history and it's picked up many additional attributes along the way. Top of the list for many is the excellent powder snow that falls in abundance here, the resort that invented the term "champagne powder". Skiing started here back in 1913 when a young Norwegian, Carl Howelsen, introduced the sport to the local Yampa Valley Community. He could never have realised the impact he would have on this small northwest Colorado community nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Today, the oldest ski area in Colorado, located in downtown Steamboat Springs, still bears his name Howelsen Hill. On this same mountain, five year olds train towards their Olympic dreams and World Cup competitors fulfill theirs. Today, most of the town's 43 past and present Olympians (that's more than any other town in North America) still call Steamboat Springs home.