With ski season traditionally running from November to April depending on how much and how early snow falls in a given year, there are a number of seasonal routes that airlines fly only when there are enough travelers coming in for the slopes.
Delta Air Lines runs seasonal flights to Vail in Colorado and Montana’s Bozeman from New York’s JFK and LaGuardia (LGA) while United Airlines flies to Jackson Hole in Wyoming from Washington Dulles (IAD).
While the 2026-2027 skiing season can still feel like it is a lifetime away for those who are currently dealing with summer heat waves, airlines have started tuning out their route networks for the year ahead. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines just announced a new route that will run to a town that over the decades has earned first the nickname and later the registered trademark “Ski Town, USA.”
Alaska Airlines to launch ski flight to Steamboat Springs in February 2027
The flight between Portland International Airport (PDX) to Yampa Valley Regional Airport (HDN) in Colorado’s Steamboat Springs will fly for a very short run between Feb. 11 and March 28, 2027.
The route will run twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays on an Embraer 175. Alaska is presenting the seasonal flight as “giving Oregon travelers an easier way to reach Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for skiing, hot springs and long-weekend winter getaways.”
Related: Here is where you should go for those last days of ski season
Located approximately 150 miles northwest of Denver, Steamboat Springs began as a small settlement of 19th-century hunters and trappers that could only be reached by skis due to its high elevation in the Rocky Mountains.
Natural hot springs started attracting tourists to the area while, in 1963, local ranchers Jim Temple and John Fetcher constructed a small ski resort that they called Storm Mountain. Steamboat Springs was eventually developed into a major ski town that over the last few decades has served as a training ground for many Team USA Olympic athletes. Recreational skiers pay for lift tickets that start at $121 for a day on the slopes.
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Alaska Airlines wants to be known as the airline flying you to swim, ski and do sports
Alaska already flies to Yampa Valley Regional from Seattle and San Diego while the new addition was chosen based on market research showing that many travelers from Oregon were driving down to Seattle for the flights in past seasons.
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As part of its efforts to position itself as the airline flying to smaller destinations popular among those who like sports (since its 2024 merger with Hawaiian Airlines this also means surfing in the Aloha State), Alaska Airlines has in 2025 tweaked its baggage policy to allow snowboards and surfboards to be transported without having to pay an oversize baggage fee so long as they do not surpass 50 pounds.
As long as the weight limit is respected, the new policy also allows travelers to pack multiple boards in a single transport case measuring up to 10 feet and five inches.
Related: You can buy an abandoned plane for €10 (yes, really)
