Does anyone actually dislike skiing?

I remember that year pretty clearly. I went to Steamboat first, and later visited Snowbird / Alta / Brighton. I liked all of them, but if I had to recommend only one ski resort in the U.S., I would probably choose Steamboat.

Why Steamboat?

Pros:

1. The elevation is relatively low.
   Anyone who has skied the high-altitude resorts in Colorado probably understands this. Places like Copper and A-Basin are really high. Every time I go there, the first day usually requires some adjustment: a bit of altitude sickness, headache, no appetite, and an overall feeling that my body is not quite online yet. Steamboat is much friendlier in that regard.

2. The snow is good.
   Steamboat has its trademarked “Champagne Powder” snow, and honestly, it does feel dry and fluffy. The total snowfall may not be crazier than every other mountain, but because of the elevation, mountain geography, and local climate, the snow quality holds up really well. The air is also relatively dry when it snows, which makes skiing there feel very comfortable.

3. The runs are wide and well-designed.
   Like many Colorado resorts, Steamboat has wide trails that give you that open, big-mountain cruising feeling. The mountain also has a pretty even gradient, and the trail layout feels very reasonable. Compared with more intense and steeper Salt Lake City resorts like Snowbird / Solitude, Steamboat is definitely more beginner- and intermediate-friendly.

Cons:

1. It is expensive.
   That said, it is probably still cheaper than Aspen. And, to be even more fair, this might just be a me problem.

2. Food options are limited.
   Salt Lake City has so much good food. Steamboat, at the end of the day, is still a ski town, so the food choices are more limited.

That trip was with Masen and Kexin. The plan was to spend three days skiing at Steamboat. One of us came from California, one from New York, and one from Chicago. We met up in Denver, picked up the rental car, and drove straight toward the mountain.

The drive from Denver to Steamboat takes about three hours. At the time, we were trying to move fast enough to catch night skiing on the first day.

Off to the mountains.

Also, I really like the winter vegetation in Colorado. Layers of pine trees covered in snow, clean and quiet, looking exactly the way winter should look.

Honestly, hahaha, I no longer remember which specific trail or which part of the mountain these photos were taken on. So this post may inevitably turn into a fragmented travel diary.

But I do remember very clearly that the weather was beautiful that day.

This photo was taken right before nightfall. I think this is the most beautiful moment of the day: the sunset turned the whole mountain pink, and the atmosphere was just perfect.

Of course, from a physics perspective, this happens because red light has a longer wavelength and is less easily scattered by the atmosphere.
Classic straight-man engineer behavior.

I have always felt that American ski towns are actually great places to visit around Christmas. Snow, lights, cabins, people walking around in winter jackets — it really has that winter holiday feeling.

Days two and three were when the real ski battle began.

As for exactly where we skied, I honestly cannot tell anymore. All I remember is that the three of us had a great time. I feel like most skiers are the same: you remember that it was fun, but you completely forget what exactly made it fun. I have to say, this white powdery stuff is kind of addictive.

Let me insert a funny photo here.

The three of us each bought a DJI Action camera, then skied around the resort with one mounted on each of our heads.
Very subtle. Not noticeable at all.

At one point, someone saw the three of us lying on the ground, took a photo of us, and AirDropped it to us. I was dying.

There was another ridiculous moment.

I told Masen that my camera had an active tracking mode. So I said, “You ski in front of me, and I’ll turn on tracking mode to follow you.”

Then we found a big blue run and skied for maybe two minutes.

That night, when I checked the footage, I realized the camera had not been tracking Masen.

It had been tracking my shadow.

Thank you so much, DJI.

I still think the skis I bought before that season looked pretty good.

Oh right, one more intermission.

Because this very white ski town did not have many food options, we eventually decided to get Indian food. To be fair, it tasted pretty good. But the result was that if you were our neighbor that night, you might have thought a symphony orchestra had moved in next door.

I genuinely love this feeling of wandering through the mountains.

For me, skiing is a sport that is both challenging and deeply fulfilling and freeing.

Every time I feel myself improving little by little, I am genuinely happy. My technique becomes more stable, my line choices become bolder, and I slowly start challenging more difficult runs.

When I am skiing through the trees, along the ridgelines, or down winding mountain trails, that mix of speed and control is incredibly relaxing. As long as I am on the mountain, a lot of the usual worries suddenly feel much smaller.

Coming up next: Snowbird — one of the most majestic and challenging ski resorts in America.