Sneak Peak : New Website

Long overdue and much anticipated is the launch of our new website which will happen sometime in late November. Familiar visitors to our website will probably liken this experience to time when your local supermarket decides to rearrange the store layout, but we hope that the new features will overcome any early frustrations.

Features will include:

• New improved navigational architecture
• Larger format photo galleries
• Properties will be searchable by type, availability and amenities
• improved layout of quote request form
• weather and ski conditions report
• live blog feed
• Read and post reviews

We look forward to your feedback!

Moving to Steamboat

We asked our two new reservations staff, Jeff and Melissa, who both moved here in the last year, to reflect on their first few months here and share a little of their experiences of life in Steamboat...

Both Jeff and Melissa agreed on a common theme - Steamboat is a great place to live because it has such a great climate.

"Moving to a ski town like Steamboat makes you appreciate the simple pleasures of wonderful weather and great outdoor opportunities to do just about anything you would like to experience. With an average of 250 sunny days per year it makes Steamboat that much more enjoyable than the climate we left behind in the Mid-West."

Jeff moved from Flagstaff, AZ where it only snows around 150 inches a year, to Steamboat where this past year was a record snowfall of 489 inches. It was quite an adjustment. Of course in a ski town there can never be "too much snow", but having to scrape off 2 - 6 inches of snow daily from the car took some getting used to.

"I quickly learned to appreciate having a remote car starter and the finer points of what defines a good snow scraper!"

Jeff is no stranger to change and acted on instinct to pursue a dream of living in the mountains.

"I was raised just outside Tahoe until I turned 12 when we moved to St. Louis for my High School years. Moving to Steamboat from Flagstaff, where I had just graduated college, was blind luck. With less than $2,000 to my name, a van full of belongings and a quest for powder I hoped for the best winter of my life. Looking back over the last nine months, Steamboat has given me the great experience that I was looking for. If you ever have a chance to do the same, take advantage of it and experience life in the mountains."

Melissa grew up in Madison, Wisconsin where "activities" included eating out, going downtown, shopping at the many malls Madison had to offer; it was fun, but she needed a change.

"Steamboat has offered me many things in the few months I've been here. It has already exceeded all expectations. Yes, Steamboat is a small town, but what separates it from other small towns is that it's such an active town. There's so much to do here that I was never really interested in or able to do back home: hiking, snowshoeing, biking, etc. Something about this town has made me explore my options, test out new horizons."

"I've visited Steamboat many times on vacations and loved it, but I wasn't sure if I could handle living here. Now I wonder what I was worried about. It already feels like home and the new norms of my life in the mountains are healthier and helping me to appreciate everything about living in Ski Town USA."

Overall, they are both very excited for the upcoming winter.

"Moving Mountains incorporates hard work with fun in the work place and we are looking forwards to meeting the many guests whose vacations we have been planning. Steamboat is a very special place and we hope when you do visit that you try and experience as much as you can while you are here."

Be a Fan on Facebook!

Another place that you can keep updated with goings on with Moving Mountains is through our Facebook page.

MOVING MOUNTAINS on FACEBOOK : CLICK HERE

Here you can get the latest updates on our news feed, you can write and read reviews from past guests and sahre pictures and video.

Most important of all you join our "community" by becoming a Fan of Moving Mountains!

New Moving Mountains Office

October 2008 ushered in a new era as we moved to a new office suite in the Fish Creek Building at the base of the ski mountain area.

This new location provides a front desk area where we can check in and meet arriving guests. We also now have a small guest lounge area where you can relax before check in, check your email or plan any additional activities for your stay.

Our new address is:

PO Box 880346,
Fish Creek Building: First Floor
155 Anglers Drive,
Steamboat Springs,
CO 80488

Website: www.MovingMountains.com

Email : info@movingmountains.com

Winter is coming!

The days are counting down to another epic ski season in Steamboat.

Last winter was a record setter with 489" of champagne powder falling before closing day. We were reminded yesterday morning of what is to come when we woke up to the first snowstorm signalling that fall is over and we are heading into winter.

This is the time of year that we put the skis in for a service and wax and shop for ski gear. We also have to pull out the snow tires, find our snow shovels, winterize irrigation systems and make the last check in the back yard for anything we might need before spring.

Ski season has already started in Colorado. Loveland at 10,600' opened on October 14th and is currently reporting an 18" base. Steamboat is less than 40 days from opening day and the mountain is turning white as snow-making operations roll into action and mother nature is helping out already.

We are pleased to report that despite the economic turmoil and the distractions of the election it seems that few people are willing to give up on their ski vacation plans. Our bookings are keeping pace with last year and since our feature in SKI magazine last year many more people are realizing that our full-service catered package is the way to go. So the message here is - don't wait until the last minute - because we are starting to fill up on busy weeks.

With some new properties just coming on line, a new website due to be launched in the next month, new staff members in our office and chalets teams and changes all around us in Steamboat, there is much more to bring to you. So keep coming back and we'll keep you in the loop!

Steamboat Ranked 8th Overall (No.1 Family Resort) by SKI Magazine Readers

Steamboat climbs one position in SKI Magazine's annual readers survey with the expectation that with developments that are now underway a top 5 position in the future is within reach.

This idea is reinforced by the readers who expressed frustration with the resort’s “aging base area” which is now being comprehensively addressed by a unprecedented amount of tear-down and redevelopment.

“If it were a day resort or a throwback mountain, Steamboat’s aging base area — which one reader describes as being ‘stuck in a 1970s time warp’ — might be tolerated,” SKI’s October issue reads, citing feedback from its annual Reader Resort Survey. “But the resort’s relative isolation in northern Colorado, while keeping it crowd-free, makes it dependent on destination travelers, who want more than great snow and small-town character.

Steamboat’s No. 8 ranking is a slight improvement compared with the previous two years, when it ranked ninth. This is the third year in a row Steamboat has garnered a top-10 ranking. It was ranked 11th by SKI readers in 2005. Steamboat was sandwiched between Aspen Mountain in seventh and Breckenridge in ninth. Longstanding programs such as “Kids Ski Free” and “Kids Fly Free” made Steamboat SKI’s No. 1 family resort in the West.

With the demolition of Ski Time Square and Thunderhead Lodge, Steamboat doesn’t look to gain any ground in the upcoming ski season with those annoyed either by the lack of nightlife or the high level of construction. Moving Mountains has a great solution to this dilemma as most of it's exclusive rental properties are away from the base area and avoid the construction impacts completely, while still providing great access to the skiing.

Access to Steamboat has improved significantly in recent years and the resort will look to gain ground in this area of future surveys because this year’s nonstop flight program will be Steamboat’s largest ever, with the recently announced addition of Frontier Airlines flights from Denver.

Night life is also improving this winter with the opening of the Ghost Ranch Saloon at Seventh and Yampa streets which could play a major role if it opens on schedule this winter. Co-owner Amy Garris told the Steamboat Pilot & Today last week that she plans to have live music seven nights a week during the winter and summer tourism seasons.

SKI typically polls about 6,000 readers each year to get their perceptions of ski areas in 18 categories. They include overall satisfaction, access, après ski, dining, family programs, grooming, lifts, lodging, off-hill activities, on-mountain food, scenery, service, snow terrain/challenge, terrain variety, terrain parks, value and weather.

Ski area spokesmen could not point to one specific area of improvement that may have explained Steamboat’s move from No. 9 to No. 8, but they did cite the multimillion-dollar capital improvements that have accompanied Intrawest’s purchase of Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. from American Skiing Co. in 2007.

“I think it’s kind of the overall appeal of Steamboat that people keep discovering and enjoying, and the overall level of service they receive throughout the community,” Lane said.

We could not agree more as we know that our services are what sets us apart from the competition both in Steamboat and across the Rocky Mountains.

Frontier Lands in Steamboat this Winter

Frontier Airlines has added ski season flights from Denver to Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden, the airline announced last week. The service will run from December 18th to April 22nd on Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

Frontier will operate three flights a day to and from Denver International Airport, the news release stated. The turboprop Q400s contain 74 seats, four of which will be removed to add space for luggage and ski gear.

For skiers hoping the visit Steamboat this winter this is very good news as flyers are once again about to discover that the price of your flight has more to do with competition in the marketplace than the price of a barrel of oil. Not only does this provide more capacity to meet the ever increasing popularity of Steamboat, it also places every other airline flying into Steamboat/Hayden under pressure to price airfares more competitively to meet the challenge of Frontier - one of the top low-cost carriers in the US.


First indications are that this is exactly what is happening and some fares into Hayden on Orbitz.com have already dropped by over $100. We are watching airfares everyday and expect more discounted opportunities while availability still exists. if you are contemplating a trip to Steamboat this winter this is a great incentive to check your best travel dates and shop for airfare.