Friday, March 1, 2013

Ice Castles, Steamboat Springs


Last year when I was in Vegas, I stumbled upon a Pinterest pin of the Ice Castles that were located in Colorado....of course.  I pinned it as a photography bucket list item, never thinking that I'd be moving right back to Colorado after just a year in Vegas.  

Winter rolled around and I was so excited to see that the Ice Castles were in Colorado again this year.  They moved from last year's location in Silverthorne all the way up to Steamboat Springs.  Not to be deterred by a little winter road trip, I rounded up one of my photography buddies and we headed up to Steamboat...one of my favorite mountain ski towns. 

We were lucky enough to have that uber blue Colorado sky and bright sunshine on the entire drive up and had quite a difficult time not stopping every few miles just to snap shots.  He was just as happy to jump out of the car with his camera as I was...yep, that's why you have photography buddies. 




Rabbit Ears pass is one the most beautiful areas--usually filled with tons of snowmobilers and snowshoers.  It's worth the 2-3 hours it takes just to drive through Rabbit Ears. 


We did eventually make it to Steamboat which was of course in full ski mode.

I've lived in Colorado the majority of my life and the blue sky still leaves me in awe sometimes.


We found the Ice Castles right in Ski Times Square....I was surprised by it's central location.  Once inside though, the town and even most of the slopes disappeared as we were transported into a wintery maze of ice.  We visited right around dusk which was the PERFECT time to get both day and sunset photos as well as night photos.  The ice castles have lights frozen right inside and they light up after dark. 

Seriously a stunning place and  it was so much fun to photograph. I'd definitely recommend a visit if you are in town.  There's also another site up at Mall of America if Colorado happens to be a bit far, but what's a few hundred or thousand miles to see this kind of beauty? :)











11 comments:

Lila said...

ooooh, so beautiful! I wish I lived closer because that would be incredible to see!

Lila said...

OMG it's like a fantasy land! Love these pictures! WE live just a few hours from Mall of America so I'm going to try and tet there before the season is over. I never knew this even existed!

Lila said...

Absolutely gorgeous! We love Colorado and we try to get to Steamboat into our ski vacation rotations. Wish we'd gone there this year to see this!

sophia said...

So pretty and so magical! We went to Steamboat last year for the first time and it was so beautiful. We loved the skiing and the town was just so charming. Wish this had been there!

Lila said...

Super looking place! I am hopeful to pack up the kids and take them up before this closes down. I think they'd get a kick out of it and we bought them each a digital camera for christmas so they think they are photographers. ;)

Anonymous said...

Sooooooo pretty and it's a very cool idea! I wish we had one in our town or near us. The kids would love this!

Bonjour! said...

,,,way cool! love the snow, plus the blue sky, plus the sunshine the 3 are perfection,,,

Lila said...

Love, love, love, love! I love Colorado and wish we could get there more often. Gorgeous pics!

Bonjour! said...

,,,beautiful photos!,,,

Melody said...

i guess I could have just read your blog instead of chat on the phone :) didn't realize you'd updated with pix from the ice castles trip :) Looks amazing!

Roberthussy said...

There’s nothing quite like a castle located at the foot of a snowy mountain — especially when it’s an Ice Castle. This year, Colorado’s only Ice Castle sits at the base of Steamboat Ski Resort. Surrounded by powdery ski runs and snow-covered evergreen and aspen trees, this year’s Colorado Ice Castle is in a striking location that will give visitors a feel as though they’ve happened upon an enchanted castle in one of the world’s most loved ski towns.




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