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Steamboat Springs

jerpo1

Member
I am in mid Missouri looking to fly into Steamboat Springs to go skiing for a couple of days. I have an RV10 and portable oxygen. IFR panel but not IFR rated yet. Anyone have an experience they would like to share? Tips, suggestions, warnings, etc. Any advice is appreciated. My number one goal is to get in and out of there safely.

Thanks!

Jerry
 
Steamboat

Getting over steamboat is fairly easy. Use good mountain flying rules of thumb and do it on a nice day and it will be a fun trip. Dont plan to refuel in walden!

You can get over there without oxygen. A friendlier terrain route would be to follow hwy 287 northwest out of fort collins and then head west north of red feathers lakes to walden (v33) then over rabbit ears pass ( hwy 14) then into ksbs.

No scud running. That terrain slopes up and can put you in the clouds if you arent careful.

The folks at the airport are friendly and the fellow on the unicom will keep you abreast of the traffic.

Bring a camera because the scenery is spectacular

Cm
 
Years ago we flew to Steamboat in our B55 Baron. We chose to land at KHDN, Yampa Valley, rather than the closer downtown airport. Turned out to be a wise choice.
 
Just be sure of the weather as we are in for some snow and high winds later this week. To cross the mountains do it early with clear sky's. if the winds are over 30 knots you should worry about getting kicked around. The Rocky mountain national park has some high peaks so if it is clear on the east side it may not be on the west side. You probably want to fly into KSBS so get their info for parking etc.. And check on COVID-19 Haven't heard too much about that from Steamboat but other ski area's have a lot of restrictions. With the RV10 you shouldn't have any problems and if clear sky's and no wind just get your camera out. Have a good time Steamboat is having more snow than some others this year and that is one of the best ski areas.
 
Steamboat won’t be a problem for an RV-10. I was just up there on Sunday with my niece in my Glasair 1RG. The Glasair is a runway hog compared to RVs and it still got off in less than 1/2 the available runway.

Normal mountain/high altitude procedures apply. Fly the airspeed, not the ground speed you’re seeing out the window. The most common runway for landing is 32. It’s not real obvious on approach, but the airport is elevated from the highway/valley below. The natural tendency is to get low on base leg and then end up eye to eye with the runway when you turn final. To guard against this, I find that it helps to have milestones to meet in terms of altitude... 500’ above field elevation for my base leg is a reasonable rule of thumb. Do what works for your pattern size and go around if it’s not right. Bad things happen when pilots won’t swallow their pride and end up pushing a bad situation.

Stacey is the airport manager and she’s pretty good about taking care of people. She mentioned that Steamboat was going to COVID “red” status as of yesterday (Monday, the 1st). It would probably be worth checking what this means for restaurant seating and the ski area.

For dining, check out Winona’s, Creekside, Backdoor Grill, Big House Burgers, and Beau Jo’s pizza.

My family has been going to Steamboat since before I was born. I’ve always loved it because it feels a little more like a normal mountain town compared to the Summit County, I70 type resorts. My nieces used to play softball up there in the summer and my brother’s wife plays tennis in the summer, too.

Have fun! You’ll love it!
 

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I must have missed you if you flew in on Sunday. I departed in a Cirrus just before 11am. I am sure I would have tracked a Glasair coming into SBS as I also own a Glasair S-II. It was an awesome flying day on Sunday.



Steamboat won’t be a problem for an RV-10. I was just up there on Sunday with my niece in my Glasair 1RG. The Glasair is a runway hog compared to RVs and it still got off in less than 1/2 the available runway.

Normal mountain/high altitude procedures apply. Fly the airspeed, not the ground speed you’re seeing out the window. The most common runway for landing is 32. It’s not real obvious on approach, but the airport is elevated from the highway/valley below. The natural tendency is to get low on base leg and then end up eye to eye with the runway when you turn final. To guard against this, I find that it helps to have milestones to meet in terms of altitude... 500’ above field elevation for my base leg is a reasonable rule of thumb. Do what works for your pattern size and go around if it’s not right. Bad things happen when pilots won’t swallow their pride and end up pushing a bad situation.

Stacey is the airport manager and she’s pretty good about taking care of people. She mentioned that Steamboat was going to COVID “red” status as of yesterday (Monday, the 1st). It would probably be worth checking what this means for restaurant seating and the ski area.

For dining, check out Winona’s, Creekside, Backdoor Grill, Big House Burgers, and Beau Jo’s pizza.

My family has been going to Steamboat since before I was born. I’ve always loved it because it feels a little more like a normal mountain town compared to the Summit County, I70 type resorts. My nieces used to play softball up there in the summer and my brother’s wife plays tennis in the summer, too.

Have fun! You’ll love it!
 
covid corral....

Wish I could get a screen shot of the webcam at the gondola on weekends posted here. No such thing as social distanceing. Their numbers are out of hand! Google steamboat webcams go live on a weekend. Packed and what good does a knit mask do? Should be advertising as, " Skiing to die for."
Not a good winter for snow either.
 
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I must have missed you if you flew in on Sunday. I departed in a Cirrus just before 11am. I am sure I would have tracked a Glasair coming into SBS as I also own a Glasair S-II. It was an awesome flying day on Sunday.

We blew the doors off a Cirrus 22T on the way to Steamboat from Boulder. He was up around 14,500-15,000 and I was at 12,500. He must’ve been at reduced power or in a bigger headwind because I was only making about 180 knots across the ground and the ADSB showed him around 170 knots.

We landed at around 12:00 noon. One of the nicest flying days I can remember. Just a few light bumps near Eldora west of Boulder, but otherwise glass smooth.
 
Steamboat

My brother in law lives in Steamboat. Slopes are all open. Restaurants some 25% some 50%, getting food is hard. Hotels very difficult, B and Bs are good. Make sure you have a place to stay and can make meals where you stay.
 
I want to thank everyone who chimed in here. It has been a huge help in gathering information. Love this forum!

Jerry
 
try google

Google: ski magazine steamboat lift lines. Their weekend lift tickets are over $200.00 a day! In years past you could get 5 runs an hour if you were fast and could ski non stop. Now your talking 5-6 runs a day. My RV9A will fly a lot of hours on $200.00 guess where my money will be spent!
 
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