BOAT BITES

Steamboat News Round Up

Paramount Expansion?

No, contrary to rumors circulated this spring, Steamboat’s beloved base area bar didn’t expand into an insta-lodge next to T-Bar in March. The pop-up pub, complete with fake logs and fireplace, was a promotion for Paramount+, making its final stop on a three-city tour including Mammoth and Austin. Designed to bring “the ultimate ‘mountain lodge’ experience to its fans,” the promotion touched upon such franchises as Star Trek, 1923, Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies, Fatal Attraction, and Top Gun: Maverick, letting fans engage through cocktails, photo-ops (like with the helmet from Maverick, the Vince Lombardi Trophy and “Rydell High bleachers”) and more. And the free cocktails were pouring, including Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and Tequila Spritzers. “Steamboat was the ultimate last stop for this lodgethemed experience,” says a Paramount+ spokesperson. “We’re incredibly excited by the reaction and hope to do more.” Still, many a local was heard to exclaim, “Whoa, did you see that Paramount expanded?”

Sunlight April Fools

The marketing department at Sunlight Mountain Resort outside Glenwood Springs got the last laugh this spring when they published an April Fool’s Day post with photoshopped picture of bears awakening from their hibernation early and roaming the ski slopes alongside skiers and riders. The post was shared thousands of times by those thinking Yogi and Smokey were rubbing the sand out of their eyes on the slopes. The post read, “Due to early wake up from hibernation this year there has been an influx of bears on the mountain. Today will be our official closing day in order to keep the public safe. While you’re out riding today be extra loud to alert the bears of your presence. The safest way to ski around bears, is with a group while all singing in unison. Stay frosty!”

What’s Up with The Boathouse?

It went from Sake 2U to a rambunctious bar called the Boathouse. Now, the riverside building near 6th and Yampa is back open and accepting reservations. Except it’s not a bar or restaurant anymore. The newly renovated property is now accommodations, offering modern living spaces, amenities, picturesque gathering area, and awesome-sauce views. Its owners are targeting it as a venue perfect for bridal weekends, rehearsals, ceremonies, receptions, brunches, and more, with the first-floor featuring a private event space with a river frontage deck space to extend the party outdoors; the second-floor residence boasting two bedrooms and baths, with panoramic views from the living area, a full chef’s kitchen, and an additional deck and hot tub perched above the Yampa. A private suite on the third-floor features one bedroom and one bathroom with a secluded deck and hot tub.

Reality Town USA

Did You Know? Tuborama

Steamboat allows three licensed commercial tubing outfitters to take 49,000 total tubes down the river over a three-month period in the summer (about half of those are utilized). That’s a lot of rubber.

Steamboat’s Newest Beach Bar: The Fox

“Let’s go surfing now, everybody’s learning how…” You might be humming that little ditty more this summer at Steamboat’s newest “beach” bar, located behind Orange Peel at 1136 Yampa St. in the former home of Bingham Built Bikes. The Fox Bar is owned and operated by John Fransella, a former graphic designer from Miami who also spins under the DJ name TEAK, along with manager Steven Tomaszewski (DJ Whoski). Fox’s includes a sand-filled courtyard to create a beach atmosphere just a rock skip from the Yampa. “It will totally have a chill beach vibe, with hammocks, chairs and even a VIP area,” says Tomaszewski. “It should be a pretty sweet scene.” For drinks, look for beers, wines and cocktails, including CBD drinks and the perfect-for-summer White Rabbit, made with white rum, mint leaves, lime juice and simple syrup and topped with a cotton candy ball. For vittles, dive into such hors de oeuvres as caviar, cheese and crackers and a “caviar corndog” straight from Trail’s End next door.

Bravo in the ‘Boat

Seems like life’s pretty real here as it is. But Reality TV came to our fair hamlet this winter when Bravo TV’s Winter House set its sights on Steamboat. Under the tagline “When the temperature drops, the drama heats up,” the show picks up on Bravo’s Summer House and Southern Charm franchises, following a group of 20- and 30-somethings as they spend two weeks together on a winter vacation in rental home, this one in Strawberry Park, for season three of the series. During the day, the stars hit the slopes and, at night, they partied and dealt with drama. The cast includes stars from Southern Charm and Summer House, and several new additions, including Tom Schwartz (in water as hot as our hot springs for having prior knowledge of Tom Sandoval’s affair), Family Karma’s Brian Benni and returning cast member Kory Keefer. As well as hitting the slopes (and their heads from the usual roommate drama), they reportedly dined at Timber & Torch, O’Neil’s and bopped into Steamboat Meat & Seafood Co. “They all had a great time,” says O’Neil’s GM Gabriel Sanchez-Diaz. “They were entertained by the staff, ordered a lot of tequila soda and chicken sliders and the filming went great. It’s awesome they wanted to film here.”