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Colorado Moderate Tree Skiing - Does anywhere compare to Steamboat?
You've skied Northstar and Steamboat, both.
Do they compare?
I have skied Northstar a ton but never Steamboat, but the images of their tree lines look very different.
Andesite mt area at big sky has really good tree skiing.
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- Dec 20, 2015
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IMO, Steamboat is ego tree skiing at its best.
Not too steep, not too tight, just right........
We have a wide variety of tree skiing! But the OP knows, there's no place like the Boat for trees. Come on' Home 
Most folks just don't know where to find the best trees but we have plenty of very tight and steep trees if that's what you like, we also have a lot of moderate angle, more dense trees like @Doug Briggs posted pics of. Pony, for instance has some very tight, steep lines as do the trees off of rolex and Broadway in addtition to the top of the Ridge area including chute 2, No names, Christmas tree bowl, Weasel Trees, Why Not trees and others.
personally, I like a flowy line better than bushwacking or trees that are more mountaineering than skiing.
@TonyPlush you’ll like targhee trees, not a great picture but there’s a bunch of intermediate gladed terrain
And theres plenty youll like in Jackson, everything under the rendez vous lodge (woolsey woods might be steeper than what you want, I’d go for Sundance area but there’s a lot to explore), and this picture is somewhere around St Johns on a stormy day, that whole area of aprez vous is intermediate, well spaced trees —
Theres also fun mellow trees below Laramie bowl and lander bowl, also around gros Ventre. Do u ever go East? Awesome trees @
Jay & Stowe .....
And theres plenty youll like in Jackson, everything under the rendez vous lodge (woolsey woods might be steeper than what you want, I’d go for Sundance area but there’s a lot to explore), and this picture is somewhere around St Johns on a stormy day, that whole area of aprez vous is intermediate, well spaced trees —
Theres also fun mellow trees below Laramie bowl and lander bowl, also around gros Ventre. Do u ever go East? Awesome trees @
Jay & Stowe .....
There are some very mellow treed runs at Brighton, just out of bounds. It starts out as a fairly steep open mogul run then branches into several gentle ski through the woods runs leading to a trail back to the resort. The area is accessed from the Great Western chair.
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Over decades have been tree skiing fresh snow in the Tahoe region including stormy days, well as long as winds are modest. There is more tree skiing at many of those resorts than even most experienced skiers realize. Advanced skiers in particular tend to be unfamiliar with lower gradient tree runs especially if such terrain is off green and blue lifts as they may rarely explore those areas. Many may also expect skiing lower gradient fresh snow is not as fun, especially if they are heavier and tend to ski powder fast with less turns. As a light turny skier with a relaxed bouncy powder style, I love the lower gradient areas too and often long after the obvious areas have been tracked out find shorter sections of untracked snow.
Generally tree skiing becomes more difficult with increasing tree density, increasing slope gradient, and snow water content. The lower gradient slopes are especially fun after a cold storm with low water content snow. In the Tahoe region, higher resort elevations tend to be more open alpine without trees while lower wind protected and avalanche free zones are more likely to have forest. Sierra timberline forests tend to be less dense than many Rockies areas without thinning while conversely the lower elevations mean one may not find such areas worth skiing depending on snow levels thus water content.
A key of mine to locating obscure fresh untracked areas in trees is studying ski resort trail maps, topographic maps, and satellite maps that can show slope gradient and tree density. The following example below is an online map of Dodge Ridge. Below it, a section of the right most area in Satellite mode that shows where trees are dense and where they are not. By studying the lift layout with a topo map, one can predict areas skiers and in this era snowboarders are less likely to venture into. Sometimes one will ski along a ski run cut through forest with dense trees at trail borders that discourage entry but find after traversing through the dense areas, relatively open lenses of less dense trees. The more difficult it is to reach a particular line in trees, the more likely it will be untracked. Thus topo map areas below rocky steep cliffs or areas guarded by awkward to traverse across ravines, or lines below flats where one may get trapped at, lines below small terrain bumps requiring some climbing, and especially trees off green runs.
The below is a more zoomed in view of Heavenly Olympic chair top terminal with Crossover Road near center right. It looks like skiers might quickly track out those well-spaced tree slopes but such is not the case if one looks at the topo map because one cannot otherwise see the terrain bumps that deflect skiers away and below the road people speeding along the road don't pay attention to what drops off to the side.
Generally tree skiing becomes more difficult with increasing tree density, increasing slope gradient, and snow water content. The lower gradient slopes are especially fun after a cold storm with low water content snow. In the Tahoe region, higher resort elevations tend to be more open alpine without trees while lower wind protected and avalanche free zones are more likely to have forest. Sierra timberline forests tend to be less dense than many Rockies areas without thinning while conversely the lower elevations mean one may not find such areas worth skiing depending on snow levels thus water content.
A key of mine to locating obscure fresh untracked areas in trees is studying ski resort trail maps, topographic maps, and satellite maps that can show slope gradient and tree density. The following example below is an online map of Dodge Ridge. Below it, a section of the right most area in Satellite mode that shows where trees are dense and where they are not. By studying the lift layout with a topo map, one can predict areas skiers and in this era snowboarders are less likely to venture into. Sometimes one will ski along a ski run cut through forest with dense trees at trail borders that discourage entry but find after traversing through the dense areas, relatively open lenses of less dense trees. The more difficult it is to reach a particular line in trees, the more likely it will be untracked. Thus topo map areas below rocky steep cliffs or areas guarded by awkward to traverse across ravines, or lines below flats where one may get trapped at, lines below small terrain bumps requiring some climbing, and especially trees off green runs.
The below is a more zoomed in view of Heavenly Olympic chair top terminal with Crossover Road near center right. It looks like skiers might quickly track out those well-spaced tree slopes but such is not the case if one looks at the topo map because one cannot otherwise see the terrain bumps that deflect skiers away and below the road people speeding along the road don't pay attention to what drops off to the side.
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As others mentioned, for what you like Steamboat is the best at it. I really liked it too...made me feel like a half-way competent tree skier.
At Winter Park, the trees to the skier's left of the Panoramic chair are definitely nicely spaced. Stay closer to the lift line for tighter and steeper...venture skier's left for more spacing and a less steep slope.
At Winter Park, the trees to the skier's left of the Panoramic chair are definitely nicely spaced. Stay closer to the lift line for tighter and steeper...venture skier's left for more spacing and a less steep slope.
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Glad to see Targhee is expanding their tree zone with a pole planting program. Spring might be a better time for planting though.
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@James @epic whats funny about that picture is that we were there for a race and it had snowed a bunch the night before, so there was too much snow to set a course, so the coaches parents etc tried to pack the snow down, and they set the course but it kept on snowing so the whole thing unfolded over the course of the day, packing the snow etc, snowing, and the race never happened but the kids spent the whole day bootskiing on a course they made with poles (thats what you see in the picture). Targhee problems! And, I swear, there's really nice mellow tree skiing, right to the left of where those bored powder-crazy kids are
Boot skiing! now that's a fun thing that is going away with all these WTR, gripwalk, and touring souled boots out there.. They don't slide so well.
The trees around here are close together and we don't get enough snow till the end of the season to cover all the downed trees and brush in the woods. The glades and tree runs that do exist get the underbrush trimmed out during the summer by hand and then the snowboarders scrape the rest off during the first couple months of the season. Around March, they get pretty darn skiable with some nice runs along that face. Best example of what I get at my local area is actually a video I did last year of a single run on a rare powder day.
The trees around here are close together and we don't get enough snow till the end of the season to cover all the downed trees and brush in the woods. The glades and tree runs that do exist get the underbrush trimmed out during the summer by hand and then the snowboarders scrape the rest off during the first couple months of the season. Around March, they get pretty darn skiable with some nice runs along that face. Best example of what I get at my local area is actually a video I did last year of a single run on a rare powder day.
glad to see you got the big day! You should have pinged me. Happy birthday
Did someone say boot skiing?
And as someone who has yet to make more than a few turns in trees, I'm still not sure that I can turn accurately enough to not hit them. One of these days I'll find out I guess.
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- May 15, 2017
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Sunshine Village has a decent amount of terrain that fits the bill, especially in Goats Eye area and Wawa chair. I loved the tree skiing there for the same reasons you loved steamboat. Then you can easily ramp up the pitch but stay in areas where trees are fairly dispersed.
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