Make the most of your lift ticket as you ski and ride the Steamboat Ski Area. Try specialty clinics, early access to fresh snow, guided tours and even a quick turn down a race course. Advice from Olympians is practically everywhere.

Make first tracks.
Be the first to catch the fresh snow. First Tracks lets you board the gondola at 8 a.m. to access terrain from the Sundown Express, Sunshine and South Peak lifts before anyone else.

Ski with Billy.
Join 1964 Olympic Silver Medalist and World Champion Billy Kidd for some free pointers and a run down Heavenly Daze. Check the sign at the top of the gondola to see if he is skiing today, and join him in front of the BK sign at the top of Why Not at 1 p.m.

Learn the lay of the land.
The ski area’s Ambassadors offer free mountain ski tours every day at 10:30 a.m. from the top of Vagabond trail. Tours last about an hour and a half for intermediate and above skiers and riders.

Ski better bumps.
When moguls debuted in the Olympics in Albertville, France, Steamboat’s own Nelson Carmichael brought home a bronze medal. Drop in on select Sundays for a free bump tour with the medalist on his namesake run. Check the grooming report or signs at the top of the gondola to verify he is on the mountain. Then head to Four Points Hut at 1 p.m.

Race faster.
Three-day Billy Kidd Race Camps are designed to improve racing techniques and the perfect carve while skiing with Steamboat’s best coaches – all of whom are handpicked by the silver medalist himself.

Stick with the women.
Olympic Gold medalist Deb Armstrong and three-time Olympian Caroline Lalive host Steamboat's Women's Ski Camps, helping women fine-tune their skills during three-day clinics that include daily lunch, First Tracks sessions, gear talks and an après ski party. If you can’t make the three-day clinic, try Women’s Wednesdays, where you ski with the top female pros and other intermediate and advanced female skiers, 8 a.m.-noon.

Free your heel.
Group telemark lessons are offered from December to March from 8 a.m. to noon on Fridays. Many of Steamboat’s finest instructors freed their heels long ago and live to share the love.

Get big air.
Snowboarders and skiers attend the Mavericks Freestyle Park & Pipe Clinic to perfect terrain park skills and learn new jumps, tricks and spins on the 18-foot walls. Clinics are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (for age first grade and up and levels 6-8 skiers and snowboarders), and helmets are required.

Run the course.
Go fast. Race the NASTAR course at Bashor, 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m., from Dec. 12- April 1.

Want more details about these programs, lessons and more?
970-879-6111 | www.steamboat.com