IMAGES: During the winter, we update this blog most everyday with notes and dozens of images from our trips. The goal is to provide you with an honest, visual record of each and every powder day. Before your trip, at home or spending "quality time" at work, keep coming back here to live vicariously though the face shots and smiles from our guests and guides.
Also, review the below links from the last few years of image blog's to get an idea of what conditions to expect for your future trip:
MOVIES: Click here for a list of all 2005/06 online movies.Check out the documentary movie Boat Trippin' that Dave Genchi, our videographer, produced in 2005. The film captures the heart and soul of our winter lifestyle here in Steamboat Springs. Images from the Steamboat Ski area, ski patrol and Buffalo Pass will provide you with a great idea of the day to day adventures that we have. Boat Trippin' will get you amped. Also watch clips from Genchi's '04 movie Boat Trip.
Date
Comments and image gallery/movie links and image of the day
Dave Genchi, the man behind many of the images and all the video on this website was injured on December 21, 2006 while working on the Pass with us! Please check out the below link and keep Genchi in your prayers.
Random summer in Steamboat images: free Michael Franti & Spearhead concert, river boarding thru town with kids on the Yampa, fireworks, building, red neck style skeet, tubing, ski jumping, beetle kill, Steamboat Powdercats lunch cabin and terrain in summer...
After paddling and getting mucho adrenaline exposure in Cross Mountain earlier in the day, a trip fishing was in order to tame the evening into night.
3 friends, 2 rods, 1 boat, a case of beer and 40 fish equals a very, very good trip. Add in some quality Smallmouth bass and life couldn't get much better. Oh yea, the sunset and glass on the reservoir helped take it over the top.
Cross Mountain Canyon is Northwest Colorado's most remote and wild, whitewater bonanza. Imagine warm water, a big river, a bigger canyon and not a soul beyond but your crew on the river enjoying the thrilling adventure of Class IV rapids. Oh yea, that and even more.
On this day, Pete Scully was guiding a commercial trip for Blue Sky West, SPC's old river company, and Kent and Kelly hooked up and R2'd a raft.
Cross is being recommended by the BLM as a potential, future National Wild and Scenic River. If there ever was a river canyon that would fit into this category it would be Cross Mountain Canyon. Though there is a bunch of localized resistance due to the struggle for water and it's political power, a subscription into the W&S program would be fitting indeed.
Yes, Steamboat Springs is a nice place, but Sitka, Alaska hell yea! Seven days spent hiking, biking, boating, flying, eating, drinking and fishing, Alaska style.
A crew from Worthington, Ohio, including Kent from Powdercats, made good work of the recreational potential of Sitka. If you've never been there, you must check out the images and if you are a fisherman, you must get to Sitka before your days end.
With a perfect combination of mountains and ocean, islands and wild lands, Sitka has it all. Mike Wallisch, fellow Steamboat Springs local, has owned Alaska Adventures Unlimited Inc. since 1993 and has the tools to get you into the fish and the knowledge of the area to keep you busy when not on his boats. His captain, Jim Michener is an absolute wizard in guiding the waters of the area. Jim's uncanny nack had us in the fish when other boats were left with empty coolers. You'll have a man-crush on Jim after a couple hours watching him handle his boat, his clients and the fish.
We stayed at the Fly-In Fish Inn, a new bed and breakfast right on the bay in Sitka. Ken Bellows and his sister Dee are generous hosts and allowed us to hang out on the deck late into the night; it was getting dark at 11:00 pm with an hour long sun set. Ken has been a pilot in Alaska for decades and took us up in his customized Cessna 185 float plane. After circling over grizzly bear and mountain goats, we dropped in on a remote lake and river system where we caught wild rainbow trout and fished for the elusive steelhead. Ken isn't a fishing guide, though he could be, but he'll take you anywhere you want be it a trip like ours or to a remote Forest Service cabin, a bear hunt or a sight seeing tour.
Though we've seen peak flows in the Yampa River, though downtown, as the deepest snowpack on record continues to melt away, it hasn't happened as quickly as many would have thought. Summer just hasn't yet taken over as we've seemed to have snow and cold rain just about every week since our ski season ended.
In fact, just yesterday it snowed on us. Snow in June, oh my.
Powdercats guides Todd Dills and Rob Meeker got their trip of a lifetime as they took their spouses on a private trip down the Grand Canyon. With 4 rafts and only 8 people on this 2+ week trip, the gang enjoyed the Canyon mostly to themselves.
Not a bad gig these guys have with powdercat guiding in the winter and living the ultimate rafting dream of a Grand Canyon trip with their ladies and best friends.
An article, written by Kent Vertrees from Powdercats, was recently published in the Spring/Summer edition of Steamboat Magazine. This feature piece outlines the Yampa River and it's important attributes in light of a recent proposal from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The proposal identifies an opportunity to build an off channel reservoir that would divert 1/3 of the Yampa River's water; a $3-4 billion dollar proposal, one that would require the building of hundreds of miles of pipeline and tunnels, pumping water up river, under the Continental Divide and into the future homes of Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver.
The Yampa River is widely considered to be the last, large river of the entire Upper Colorado River system that still retains a natural hydrograph. Basically, because there are no large dams along the Yampa's route, the river peaks during its runoff in Spring and early Summer with huge, over bank flows, allowing for endangered fish and ecologically rare habits to exist in our modern world.
As well the Yampa River provides rafters and kayakers with a destination for overnight trips down the Yampa Canyon, in Dinosaur National Monument. With unaltered flows in the Yampa River, this world class river trip, is rare because most other rivers have already been dammed or diverted thus allowing for recreation on a truly "wild" river. View images from a rafting trips down Yampa Canyon.
With Colorado's ever increasing population living in such an arid environment, rivers like the Yampa will be sought after in the near future to satisfy the thirst for future residents.
Also, view the Yampa River Awareness Projects short film about the Yampa River. This film project's goal is to raise awareness about the Yampa River's importance and Colorado's uncertain water future. If you know of anyone able to help fund or advise the filming of a feature regarding this project, please connect with Kent.
A trip to Paradise was in order, that is the Paradise Valley in Montana for more R & R and a friends wedding.
Staying at the Chico Hot Springs, visiting Yellowstone National Park and the town of Livingston, Montana allowed a quick glimpse into the similarities of other mountain town environments and communities outside of Steamboat Springs and Colorado.
The scenic beauty of the Paradise Valley reminded us of what we have in Steamboat Springs, but the town of Livingston was a throwback of what our community must have been like 25+ years ago - i.e. no Walmart and mostly smaller mom and pop type stores but with same Western flair and heritage that we have in our Valley.
Images from a trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico along the Riviera Maya and the Yucatan Peninsula, just south of Cancun.
Kent and his wife Jules took their kids, Josephine and Sophie, along with two other Steamboat Springs families to the El Cid resort. After such a long winter, one in which Steamboat Springs received its most snow ever recorded, some beach time was clearly necessary. Sipping cocktails, lounging by the pool, chillin' on the beach, windsurfing, snorkeling, scuba diving and eating massive amounts of food from the buffet line allowed for some serious relaxation and a well deserved break from the wild and crazy season we had at Steamboat Powdercats.
Now that the ski season is over for us, we will continue to post updates and images from our escapades throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Here are some images from a Colorado Mountain College - River Orientation course that Kent and Pete teach every spring semester at the CMC Alpine Campus here in Steamboat Springs. The trip which teaches "everything river" to 12 students who voyage down the Colorado River above and below State Bridge just south of Steamboat Springs.
Pete who still works in the rafting industry and Kent who recently retired from the rafting world when Steamboat Powdercats sold off our summer operations called Blue Sky West, have a combined 25 years of guiding and paddling experience allowing a wealth of knowledge to be passed down to the students, many whom had never been in a raft before. Click here for images from this river orientation course.
Once again, we raised the bar for our company trip. This season, we decided to ski some more and headed to Utah to visit Powder Mountain and Snowbasin ski resorts. We rented a huge townhouse in Eden, Utah, and visited Powder Mountain the first day and Snowbasin the next couple. Timing was great as a storm hit the day prior to our visit.
Powder Mountain pulled out all the stops for us with 2 guides who allowed us to chase them all over their private mountain. Fresh turns all day long. The lifts basically turned on when we showed up at the bottom and shut down when we got off. They sent us on their snowcat tour up into Lightning Ridge and also took us into some of their future snowcat skiing terrain.
Powder Mountain is a throwback, though they have grand plans for future development, today visiting the area it's like going back a decade where the lodges are basic, the skiing is pure and the people are the friendliest ever.
We didn't get into their James Peak terrain as it was a cloudy day, so the majority of terrain we hit up was of a similar pitch to ours on Buffalo Pass, mostly gentle, intermediate to advanced gladed and treed goods with pockets of steep. When we go back, we will go straight to that James Peak area as it is a big mountain with some nice pitches and fresh powder for what would seem to be days after a storm.
Snowbasin also pulled out all the stops for us, providing guides and access into some of their out back terrain. We met great people here as well and they sent us into their steepest areas. This place rocks if you like steep, lift accessed terrain. We were chomping at the bit for the steepest they had and definitely got what we were looking for here with lots of technical chutes and money lines.
Snowbasin is like a European resort, with the fanciest of everything, from their gondolas, high speed lifts and gondolas, their lodges were over the top and the food was super yummy. The people here were great and the skiing was exactly what we were looking for.
We definitely recommend heading to this area and skiing both of these resorts for what is a classic one-two punch of off the path ski resorts.
Game over folks! After today, we are closed for the season. What a phenomenal season we've had; a season where we had the most snow ever recorded in Steamboat and the most guests ever taken by Steamboat Powdercats.
Today was similar to yesterday, where the snow was spring like. We are now tucking our tails and running for warmer climates. Check out the images for Mar 26.
Please keep an eye on this blog as we have some fun adventures to come including a company ski trip to Utah (Powder Mountain and Snowbasin) next week and many rafting, fishing and other adventures to keep you interested during the summer.
Thank you to everyone who supported us this season. Without you, we wouldn't be here and all that snow on Buffalo Pass would be left untracked. Keeping it fresh since 1983, your friends at Steamboat Powdercats.
If you are interested in seeing images from the 07/08 season or other seasons in the past, click on below archived links. We have also placed in the rows below some of the deepest days of the 07/08 season which was our deepest snow season ever recorded in Steamboat Springs.
MOVIES: Click here for a list of all 2005/06 online movies.Check out the documentary movie Boat Trippin' that Dave Genchi, our videographer, produced in 2005. The film captures the heart and soul of our winter lifestyle here in Steamboat Springs. Images from the Steamboat Ski area, ski patrol and Buffalo Pass will provide you with a great idea of the day to day adventures that we have. Boat Trippin' will get you amped. Also watch clips from Genchi's '04 movie Boat Trip.
Mar 23
We were all dreaming of flying in this A-Star and whisking off to some 4,000 foot unclaimed, powder laden peak. Our hopes were shattered when after 20-min of logistics training from the Flight For Life heli team at St. Anthony Hospital, the heli crew had to quickly head off to Copper Mountain to save another life.
Because of the heli training, we didn't have any guests along with us. It was guides and a special filming crew, friends of Dave Genchi's, ripping some new lines in the terrain. No explanation needed as to the fun that was had.
We were filming for a future online video inspired by Genchi. More to come on the project here later in the Spring.
The perfect season continues as 6" of bubbly, over our heads, pure triple A, Brut, top shelf, yummy, luscious POWDER BABY fell again last night.
The jet stream is set up perfectly for us, bringing freezing temps and super dry snow down to Colorado. When the jet lines up like it is, dropping straight down from the North, our snow, turns to pure, liquid gold. To get this type of snow in March, is a true blessing and another reason to say that this season is our best ever!
We got pounded again. It snowed all day at rates of an inch and hour. 8" new on the stake. This storm looks solid and if forecasts come true, it will hammer us with another fat layer of snow.
Here is a trusted snow report from our friend, the Stormchaser:
A very powerful storm is just now entering the Northwest with heavy snow and winds. This will reach UT on Thursday (12 Noon) and provide 3 inch per hour snowfalls and blizzard like conditions for several hours. Late Thursday and Friday will be deep days however the winds may affect lift operations on Thursday! Friday may be the better of the 2 days? I would expect 9-14 inches minimum and perhaps greater amounts by late Thursday night.
Colorado will see heavy mountain snows Thursday night and Friday with the Northern Mountains favored (8-11 inches). Steamboat, Vail will continue to do well into Friday evening.
Sunday/Monday may see a small Southern storm brush into CO and there is a hint of a another large storm for Wednesday/Thursday next week. The Wet Pattern is expected to continue!
Can you believe this season? We got hammered again with 16" inches. It's as deep as it gets for us.
Today, our cats were filled with lots of return guests who have been with us on many, many occasions. Last year, many of them were here when we were several days into drought, where we are skiing old powder under super sunny skies. We'll today it wasn't sunny and the powder wasn't boot depth. It was dumping and the snow was over your head.
Most everyone agreed that it was the deepest day of their lives.
With 13" more today, we are now convinced that there is something very special about this winter. Storm after storm, after storm after storm keep rolling in and blowing away all expectations.
When you book a trip here at Steamboat Powdercats, it's typically months before your day becomes a reality. Your mind races in wonder and your heart pumps just a little bit harder in hopes for a storm to roll in just prior to or on that day up in the backcountry. You've now pulled the trigger and launched that bullet in hopes for the bottomless bulls eye of a powder day.
For most everyone during this season, that dream day has become their reality.
Today was no different, super special and heavenly. The sun tried to poke through the clouds, offering up some nice back light runs for us in the morning, but by mid day, it was dumping again and we are forecasted for heavy snow for several days.
Another wave has hit us. The powder faucet is now on full blast and 22" of snow fell overnight at our mid-mountain stake. But, there were pockets of neck deep all over the place and no wind made for life altering conditions.
Hitting a 20"+ inch day only occurs once or twice in a season if we are lucky. So, everyone who came today were blown away by the amount of snow. Where the pitch was perfect your body would become fully engulfed in a rolling mass of snow. As you bounced up with your turn, you'd be lucky to not only see where you were now going but to try and catch a breath before the snow choked you down again.
13" of "super hero snow "graced us today. We had 3 groups out and everyone was blown away with the quality, the feather like consistency of this powder. We tore up all the favorite runs like Sweetness, Success and lapped up South Soda. The sun was out for most of the day and it was heaven on earth. Check here for images from Jan 23
Jan 22
Our 2008 Adaptive Ski Day went off without a hitch. It was a truly optimal day for this group as 6" of champagne fell down from the heavens; the sun came out and everyone had a ball. Now in it's 4th year, this day is overly special to us with what happened to Dave Genchi, our photographer, last year.
Huge smiles, great memories, amazing face shots and a day spent loving and living life...nothing short of amazing.
This storm keeps producing for us. Today we got our deepest single day total for this season with 25" on the snow stake and for the first time all season, we broke the infamous 100" total depth mark. Since the short sucker hole we had on Thursday, where the sun poked out for the morning only, we've had a constant pounding of snowfall for nearly 50 straight hours.
Today was a very, very, very deep and amazing day for us. With an overnight total of 17” of ultra, premium fluff on the stake, our running total for the past 4 days of storm is now at 45”; truly an abundance of powder, making for the best conditions of your life.
As you will soon see by the images in our photo gallery, we had blue skies in the morning, no wind and just the dreamiest day you could imagine. If you have a flexible schedule, check out our calendar as we have space from Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We can't guarantee that those days will be like the past few, but all signs are pointing to continued epic conditions.
Oh my! Today was, by far, our deepest day of this season as 24" lay wait on the snow stake at our mid-mountain cabin. It was a nuclear winter with huge flakes falling all morning. The vibe at our office was electric as 24 guests were chomping at the bit to get after potentially the deepest skiing and riding of their lives.
Once into the terrain, the skiing was just that, a lifetime experience. It was epic, over the head, choking type powder. The snow would roll up body, splash into your face and only your hands and helmet could be seen from below; it was truly a lifetime of powder for some of today's lucky guests.
But in an instant, it all changed as 60+ mph winds started blowing and the powder that lay there waiting was picked up, slammed around and compacted into a wind slab mess. There were moments of complete white out while our guides did their best to navigate the cats, the groups and locate the best skiing under the conditions.
It's amazing at how quickly conditions can change, from epic fresh to nasty wind pack and a reminder that you should enjoy every turn for what it is as the next one may completely change, 180 degrees.
This storm took us back to last year where on Feb 15th we had over the head powder then on Feb 16th, gale force winds rocked our world and made for one of the hardest powder days we've had in years.
Dec. 21
A priceless day here at Steamboat Powdercats. Today marks the one year anniversary of our photographer Dave Genchi getting injured while working on the pass (learn more here). To surprise our staff, Dave returned to Steamboat today and for the first time since leaving us a year ago. We got to spend quality time, all together, as a crew once again.
With 11" of new snow overnight, we celebrated in fine style as the deepest day of our season just happened to coincide with Genchi's return. In between face shots and some relentless, hammering snows, we spent time honoring the occasion with lots of laughter, good vibes and great friends.
Dave got to take some shots of the guides, once again capturing the story of our days at Steamboat Powdercats.
In the end, the clouds parted from above and blue skies opened up the most incredible views of Soda Mountain and the Yampa Valley, all backlit from a full moon high above us.
Dave now will return to California where he is enrolled in Project Walk, a rehabilitation center for folks with spinal cord injuries. He has been there for more than a month and he is extremely motivated to work hard in the intense exercise-based recovery program. Check out this video of Dave imitating Lance Armstrong at the center.
We are driving another round of fundraising in hopes to help Dave stay at Project walk for as long as possible. We have a matching sponsor so anyone interested in donating to Dave's recovery fund, your amount will be doubled. See here for details about the Dave Genchi Recovery Fund.
Dec 15
Today was an extra special day for us at Steamboat Powdercats. This past summer a close friend to the Steamboat Powdercats family was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So today, we hosted a group of friends and family who were here to make a wish come true for a very special person in a very difficult situation.
We celebrated today with close friends, family and our guides, deep in the powder paradise that is Buffalo Pass. The sun came out for most of the day and the cold temperature kept the snow at a premium quality so life was as good as it could be.
Speaking of premium quality snow, the Steamboat Pilot reported yesterday that the snow we've been getting has a special name, that of "wild snow". Art Judson, a local and highly respected avalanche expert was interviewed in the article (read it here). According to Art, when there is low water content in snow crystals, below 4% or .04 grams per centimeter, the American Meteorological Society classifies the snow as "wild snow". This past Wednesday the powder that fell on us was recorded at 2.4 percent water. Because of this, our first days at Steamboat Powdercats have been a dream come true in some of the lightest snow in the world.
Check out the image link for today and send positive vibes to our special friend as he battles his illness. View Images Here.
Dec. 14 am
With guide training now over, we are focused in on the next 108 days of snowcat skiing. From today till the 1st of April, we will be here lapping up the goods.
Today marks the beginning of our season and guess what, it's snowing! With freezing temps, this snow is premium quality, grade A, super fluff. We've got 1 cat out and once images come in, we will post them up. In the meantime, here is an image link to our guide training from the past 10-days. Lot's of fun staff images working the preseason magic that is our world.
Oct. 26
There has been much hype in Steamboat Springs recently about the "epic winter" that many are predicting for us for the coming season. Oh yea!
The Steamboat Pilot and Today ran an article recently (read it here) about how forecasters are predicting a La Niña winter, the step sister of El Niño, which has set up Northern Colorado with some deep early season snows in the past.
La Niña impacts the early part of the winter, December and January typically, with above average precipitation in the Pacific Northwest (including Wyoming and Northwest Colorado) and below average precipitation in the Southwest, including parts of Colorado. There is an increased chance of above average temperatures over all of the Intermountain West.
The Climate Prediction Center, a NOAA based group, has several maps and fun things to review, including the drought forecast image you see here.
The Post Independent from Glenwood Springs, CO also details the prediction saying that "...winter snow forecast could come as good news for skiers in Steamboat Springs..." and that "the threat of a very dry year (in Steamboat Springs) is limited" read it here.
Now, with all the hype, you know that we at Powdercats never rely on predictions. Of course we are weather junkies like you, but we never really trust the satellites, radar, jet stream images and other crazy gizmos and gadgets that weather people come up with. The only truth we have is if it is snowing right now, the moment when we look out the window, and today folks it's not snowing. But here is an image of the mountain from the storm this we had a few weekends ago...it's all looking good!
After paddling and getting mucho adrenaline exposure in Cross Mountain earlier in the day, a trip fishing was in order to tame the evening into night. 
On this day, Pete Scully was guiding a commercial trip for Blue Sky West, SPC's old river company, and Kent and Kelly hooked up and R2'd a raft.
Yes, Steamboat Springs is a nice place, but 
With a perfect combination of mountains and ocean, islands and wild lands, Sitka has it all. 
We stayed at the 
trout and fished for the elusive steelhead. Ken isn't a fishing guide, though he could be, but he'll take you anywhere you want be it a trip like ours or to a remote 
Summer in Steamboat Springs? Not! 
Powdercats guides 
The Yampa River is 
Dinosaur National Monument. With unaltered flows in the Yampa River, this world class river trip, is rare because most other rivers have already been dammed or diverted thus allowing for recreation on a truly "wild" river. 
Also, view the 
Staying at the 
Kent and his wife Jules took their kids, Josephine and Sophie, along with two other Steamboat Springs families to the 
Now that the ski season is over for us, we will continue to post updates and images from our escapades throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Powder Mountain pulled out all the stops for us with 2 guides who allowed us to chase them all over their private mountain. Fresh turns all day long. The lifts basically turned on when we showed up at the bottom and shut down when we got off. They sent us on their snowcat tour up into Lightning Ridge and also took us into some of their future snowcat skiing terrain.
Game over folks! After today, we are closed for the season. What a phenomenal season we've had; a season where we had the most snow ever recorded in Steamboat and the most guests ever taken by Steamboat Powdercats. 
We were all dreaming of flying in this A-Star and whisking off to some 4,000 foot unclaimed, powder laden peak. Our hopes were shattered when after 20-min of logistics training from the 
, bringing freezing temps and super dry snow down to Colorado. When the jet lines up like it is, dropping straight down from the North, our snow, turns to pure, liquid gold. To get this type of snow in March, is a true blessing and another reason to say that this season is our best ever!
We got pounded again. It snowed all day at rates of an inch and hour. 8" new on the stake. This 
lift operations on Thursday! Friday may be the better of the 2 days? I would expect 9-14 inches minimum and perhaps greater amounts by late Thursday night.
Can you believe this season? We got hammered again with 16" inches. It's as deep as it gets for us.
Another wave has hit us. The powder faucet is now on full blast and 22" of snow fell overnight at our mid-mountain stake. But, there were pockets of neck deep all over the place and no wind made for life altering conditions. 
Our 
This storm keeps producing for us. Today we got our deepest single day total for this season with 25" on the snow stake and for the first time all season, we broke the infamous 100" total depth mark. Since the short sucker hole we had on Thursday, where the sun poked out for the morning only, we've had a constant pounding of snowfall for nearly 50 straight hours. 
Today was a very, very, very deep and amazing day for us. With an overnight total of 17” of ultra, premium fluff on the stake, our running total for the past 4 days of storm is now at 45”; truly an abundance of powder, making for the best conditions of your life. 
Oh my! Today was, by far, our deepest day of this season as 24" lay wait on the snow stake at our mid-mountain cabin. It was a nuclear winter with huge flakes falling all morning. The vibe at our office was electric as 24 guests were chomping at the bit to get after potentially the deepest skiing and riding of their lives.
and only your hands and helmet could be seen from below; it was truly a lifetime of powder for some of today's lucky guests. 
navigate the cats, the groups and locate the best skiing under the conditions. 
A priceless day here at Steamboat Powdercats. Today marks the one year anniversary of our photographer Dave Genchi getting injured while working on the pass 
Today was an extra special day for us at Steamboat Powdercats. This past summer a close friend to the Steamboat Powdercats family was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So today, we hosted a group of friends and family who were here to make a wish come true for a very special person in a very difficult situation. 
Speaking of premium quality snow, the Steamboat Pilot reported yesterday that the snow we've been getting has a special name, that of "wild snow". Art Judson, a local and highly respected avalanche expert was interviewed in the article 
With guide training now over, we are focused in on the next 108 days of snowcat skiing. From today till the 1st of April, we will be here lapping up the goods. 
Now, with all the hype, you know that we at Powdercats never rely on predictions. Of course we are weather junkies like you, but we never really trust the 
