Steamboat Magazine Ski Season 2013

Includes Complete Visitors’ Guide

Ski Season 2012/13

Celebrating

50 50th

Years of Skiing in Steamboat

Anniversary

Edition

+Influential People

50

of the Last 50 Years

Ski Season 2012/13

$5.95 Volume 34, No.4

Display through February 15, 2013

Established 1978

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA SO N 20 1 2/1 3 | 1

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2 | O N L INE AT WWW. STEAMBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

Photo: Jon Miller, Jagged Edge Telluride.

Elevation: 17,500 ft.

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Singular Thrills.

Multiple Choices.

Ski the world’s best powder and stay in Steamboat’s best accommodations.

Wyndham Vacation Rentals offers something for everyone, with 41 exceptional lodging options, complete with first class services, luxurious amenities and plenty of mountain side adventures.

800.525.5502 wvrsteamboat.com

Antlers at Christie Base Canyon Creek Chateau Chamonix Christie Club Cimarron Dulany at the Gondola Eagleridge Lodge Eagleridge Townhomes Edgemont First Tracks Kutuk La Casa Ptarmigan House Ski Inn Stonewood The Lodge At Steamboat Timber Run Trailhead Lodge Waterford Waterstone The West Yampa View

Bronze Tree Cascade Townhomes Chadwick Place Crosstimbers Clock Tower Penthouse Elk Run Evergreen Townhomes Ironwood Townhomes Meadows at EagleRidge Snow Flower Storm Meadows Club C Torian Plum Creekside Torian Plum Plaza Trappeurs: Aspen Lodge Bear Lodge Champagne Lodge Emerald Lodge Timberline Lodge Trappeurs Lodge

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA SO N 20 1 2/1 3 | 5

da ily en op m od el

Celebrates

west e h t

’s m o s t e xc i t i n g r e s o rt

the west’s most colorful town.

Expertly crafted by hand, gently worn but still sturdy, it was a pair of colorful boots that inspired the creation of One Steamboat Place, a slopeside resort as vibrant, original and colorful as its namesake town. This year we invite you to join us to celebrate the icons of Steamboat – 100 years of Winter Carnival, Billy Kidd’s 70th birthday, 50 years of skiing the resort’s legendary powder, and of course, One Steamboat Place’s 3rd year.

Located slopeside at the gondola, it’s a retreat both grand and intimate, where our Owners step out of their slippers and into their ski boots. Uniquely residential yet rich with five-star amenities there is a sensational spa, fitness and wellness center, valets for your skis, bikes and cars and fabulous slopeside dining at Truffle Pig, Steamboat’s most exciting new restaurant.

Life at One Steamboat Place is the height of luxurious – and colorful – mountain living.

Whole Ownership, Private Residence Club Interests and Social Memberships in The Summit Club are available.

Come visit our Sales Gallery slopeside at Gondola Square on the One Steamboat Place Plaza.

800.644.6423 Dancing Bear Esperanza Doonbeg The Orchard Aspen Cabo San Lucas Ireland Napa A Signature Collection of Timbers Resorts

The Rocks Scottsdale

www.onesteamboatplace.com Timbers Club Mayacama Snowmass Sonoma

Villas at Rancho Valencia One Steamboat Place Castello di Casole Botany Bay The Sebastian Southern California Steamboat Springss Tuscany U.S. Virgin Islands Vail

®

This advertisement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase to residents of any state or country where registration is required and is not yet complete. Botany Bay is not included in the Timbers Reciprocity Program.

100 Years of Amazing Winter Carnivals

50 Years Skiing on the Mountain

Celebrating Our 3rd Sensational Year Slopeside at the Gondola

Happy 70th to Billy Kidd

Table of Contents | Ski Season 2012/13

Special Commemorative Edition Celebrating the Steamboat Ski Area’s 50th Anniversary

Back In The Day

FEATURES 68 Family Ties — by Jean Wren, Rolly Wahl, Mike Clark and Skeeter Werner

Families are at the very root of the Steamboat Ski Area: families who looked up at the mountain outside of town and shared a common vision. Meet the Temples, Fetchers and the Werners, three of the founding families.

74 50 People for 50 Years — by Deborah Olsen Meet this cast of legendary characters who helped to shape the ski area as it is today.

80 Back in the Day — by Jim Mader, Marion Tolles, Mix Beauvais, Park Smalley, Scott Wither and Jasper Good From a retired ski area executive to a spokesman for the next generation of Nordic combined athletes, Steamboat skiers share their favorite memories.

86 Skiing into the Future — by Billy Kidd With Billy Kidd’s global experience in the ski world, he is uniquely positioned to consider what the next 50 years of skiing might bring. He also asked industry leaders, from ski boot designers to the CEO of Intrawest, to join the conversation.

p. 80

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Back In The Day

Visitors’ Guide

4 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 25 14 Publisher’s Note 26 Imagining the truly epic backcountry adventures of Loris Werner 29 16 Contributors 30 32 Ron Dahlquist, Billy Kidd and Greg I. Hamilton 33 20 Letters To The Editor 34 22 Genuine Steamboat Story Contest Winner 36 — by Nate Brothers & Dustin Eldridge 37 38 24 Genuine Steamboat 40 A journey through 50 years of skiing in photos and via timeline 36 Town Quirks 42 83 Humorous moments in Steamboat ski history 88

DEPARTMENTS

38 Arts Classic Steamboat ski watercolors from Cheryl Wiles, Steamboat Art Museum’s winter exhibit and the Yampa Valley Design Guild

Welcome Letter History & Trivia Map of Steamboat Springs Must See Stops Historic Walking Tour Family Fun Snowshoe Winter Carnvial Howelsen Hill Winter Traditions Nordic Skiing Wild Rides Story Behind The Mountain Adventures on Ice Nightlife Kids’ Picks Ski Area Savvy Springs & Spas On Exhibit Calendar of Events Where to Worship Parting Shot

Eight Guides to Our Town 51

Activities

63

Lodging

74 78 83 84

46 Food & Drink — by Jennie Lay 55 Dining Colorado libations

50 Home & Garden — by Katy Jones

Bat cave in the basement?

70 Outdoors

52 Wildlife — by Jennie Lay Bringing in the bats: a live encounter encourages a bat house boom

56 Sports

Steamboat Powdercats turns 30 — by Kent Vertrees A movie that moves people — by Greg I. Hamilton

62 Profile — by Ned Cremin X-Game rider Matt Ladley goes big, goes fast and goes far

94 Book Reviews — by Harriet Freiberger Three tales of adventure in the West

96 Valley View Parties and people 8 | O N L INE AT WWW. STEAMBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

Real Estate Services Wedding & Event Planning Shopping

Celebrating 50 Years of Skiing in Steamboat 50 Influential People of the Last 50 Years What Will the Next 50 Years Bring?

Includes Complete Visitors’ Guide

Collector’s Edition

About the Cover: The 50th Anniversary Edition

X-Gamer Matt Ladley

Steamboat native Buddy Werner was the first American alpine skier to challenge European domination of the sport. Along with his brother, Loris, and his sister, Skeeter, Buddy was an Olympian and a member of Steamboat’s “first family” of ski racing. Following his death in an avalanche in 1964, Mount Werner was named in his honor. Photo courtesy of Tread of Pioneers Museum; colorization by Steamboat Magazine art director Julia Hebard.

Go Big, Go High, Go Far

Ski Season 2012/13

Celebrating

50 50th

Years of Skiing in Steamboat

Anniversary

Edition

+Influential People

50

of the last 50 years

Ski Season 2012/13

$5.95 Volume 34, No.4

Display through February 15, 2013

Established 1978

a chair can be more than ju st a place to sit

•

Home Furnishings • interior Design • Accessories & Jewelry • Designer Clothing 402 Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Springs • 970.879.8366 • www.romicksintothewest.com

We travel the world as US Ski Team Physicians and Surgeons,

★ but we call Steamboat home

★ Vancouver BC, 2010 Winter Olympic Games ★ Val d’ isere, France ★ Chamonix, France ★ Wengen, Switzerland ★ Kitzbuhel, Austria ★ Deer Valley, Utah ★ Schladming, Austria ★ Saas Fe, Switzerland

Eric VErploEg, M.D.

★ Grindelwald, Switzerland

|

HEnry Fabian, M.D.

★ Inawashiro, Japan ★ Changchun, China ★ Schruns, Austria ★ Ruka, Finland ★ Tigne, France ★ Adelboden, Switzerland ★ Bormio, Italy ★ Hinterreit, Austria ★ Kranjke Gora, Slovenia ★ Spindleruv, Czech Republic ★ Tremblandt, Canada ★ Apex, Canada

MicHaEl SiSk, M.D.

★ Breckenridge, CO

|

anDrEaS SauErbrEy, M.D.

★ Big Mountain, Whitefish, MT ★ El Dorado, Chile ★ Panorama, British Columbia, Canada

970.879.6663 | www.orthosb.com | info@orthosb.com 940 Central Park Drive, Suite 280, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 | 785 Russell, Craig CO 81625 | 345 Cleveland, Meeker, CO 81641

Official Physicians of the US Ski Team

GERBER BEREND

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Outdoor Living...

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STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 11

Ski Season 2012/13 ~ Volume 34, Number 4

EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Deborah Olsen EDITOR

Steamboat Springs Visitors’ Guide Jennie Lay SALES EXECUTIVE

Karin Kagan Cheryl Krumrie ART DIRECTOR

Julia Hebard

DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Nate Brothers

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Corey Kopischke

Steamboat Springs High School Student Intern

Katy Jones

WEB EDITOR

Christina Freeman BOOKKEEPER & PROOFREADER

Sandy Lindsay Jacobs CONTRIBUTORS

Harriet Freiberger Bill Fetcher Ned Cremin Greg I. Hamilton Marion Kahn Billy Kidd PHOTOGRAPHERS

Aryeh Copa Ned Cremin Ron Dahlquist Rod Hanna Mical Hutson Larry Pierce

“Steamboat Magazine” is published by Ski Town Media, Inc. The Winter/Spring 2013 edition will be published in February 2013. For advertising rates and subscription information write: Steamboat Magazine, P.O. Box 880616, Steamboat Springs, CO 80488. Phone: 970-871-9413. Fax: 970-871-1922. Website: www.steamboatmagazine.com.

Single copy mailed first-class $7.50. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. © 2013 Ski Town Media, Inc. All rights reserved – ISSN 2164-4055.

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custom homes

The

additions

remodels

Difference

There’s no better place to spend your time, than in the infinite satisfaction of a Shively custom-built home.

the 30th anniversaryy off Shively Construction the 50th anniversary of the Steamboat Ski Area the 100th anniversaryy off the th Winter Carnival

Wouldn’t it be nice to call Steamboat Springs ‘ home ome’ fo for your nexxt significant anniveersary??

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Publisher’s Note

Loris & Buddy Werner

Tr acy Barnett Main Street Steamboat

Betsy Blakeslee The Nature Conservancy

Kyleigh DeMicco Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association

Rick DeVos Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

R andall Hannaway Owner/ Broker Colorado Group Realty

Rosie Kern Yampa Valley Medical Center

Caroline Lalive U.S. Olympian

Larry Mashaw Mountain Resorts

Irene Nelson Irene Nelson Interiors

Joe Roberts Retired Educator

Susan Schiesser Artist

Epic Edition

Courtesy Tread Of Pioneers Museum

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Epic! That word is spoken enthusiastically on powder days in Steamboat. My backcountry companions say it often; we can be a bit smug about our tele excursions into unofficial terrain like Way Right, Drunken Indian, Storm King and North Woods.

But the truth is, Back in the Day, Loris and Buddy Werner and their friends had truly epic ski adventures. In the 1950s, they’d drive up Rabbit Ears to the top of Hogan Park Trail… before it was a marked Forest Service route.

They’d put skins over their alpine skis and break trail all the way to what is now Morningside. That’s seven miles. Once there, they’d build a snow cave, light a fire and settle in for the night.

The next morning, they’d hike to the summit of Storm Peak and begin the long run down to the valley floor. “It was quite a deal,” Loris told me not long ago. I bet it was.

“We had first tracks all the time. Nothing was disturbed anywhere. Serenity,” he says.

“Skiing down was the easy part,” Loris recalls. “Getting back to town, working around all the fences, that was hard.” The skiers would call ahead to avoid disrupting ranch operations.

Virtually all of what is now Right of Way trail was a wagon road, leading into Bashor Bowl. “You just tried to miss the fences and stay out of the brush,” Loris recalls.

For this commemorative edition, I interviewed dozens of people. I perused the state’s historic archives, tracked down former ski area CEO Martin Hart and pored through people’s personal scrapbooks. I thought about setting up a meeting with former ski area owner Kimihito Kamori in Japan, but didn’t think I could sell our bookkeeper on the expense.

This trip down memory lane (my own Steamboat experience only goes back 30 years) brought to mind long-forgotten stories, renewed old friendships and evoked unexpected emotions. But the story that most sincerely sparked my imagination was Loris’.

“I kinda chuckle when I hear people say, ‘epic this and epic that.’ You don’t even know, and I can’t explain it,” Loris says. “It’s you and God.” I’ve tried all my adult life to adequately describe a powder experience in words. I’ve never heard it expressed better than Loris did!

We hope you will enjoy this collection of vintage Steamboat stories.

Paul Underwood Café Diva

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i n s p i r e d

.

i n n o v a t i v e

.

t i m e l e s s

notable work in . steamboat springs . aspen . vail . copper . boulder . yosemite . . por tland . big bear lake . santa fe . tahoe . calgar y .

K E L LY & S T O N E A R C H I T E C T S S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S , C O . L A K E TA H O E , C A

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 15

CONTRIBUTORS

a new look for a new season!

40 Years Building strong.

drahota.com

See what we’ve been up to lately Celebrating 40we Years! and how we got to where are now.

Find out more about our story, where we’ve been and where we’re going.

drahota.com

Building Smart. Building Strong. Building Relationships for nearly 40 years... and counting.

Ft. Collins: 970-204-0100 Steamboat: 970-871-7823 | www.drahota.com

Helping you enjoy the view since 1974...

Ron Danner, OD | Craig Eckroth, OD |Tim Byers, MD

• Medical / General Eye Care and Testing • Vision Therapy • Sports Vision Therapy • Surgical Care, including Pre- and Post-Operative care

Sundance@Fishcreek 970-879-2020 www.eyecare-specialties.com 16 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

Greg I. Hamilton’s film writing/directing debut, “The Movement,” was selected for Sundance and 20 other festivals, winning five awards to date. His article, p. 60, shares the inspiration behind the film, a story that spans six decades. Hamilton’s writing has been published in the Huffington Post, Warren Miller’s SnoWorld magazine, Frontier Airlines’ Wild Blue Yonder and Park City Magazine. He spent 10 years with Warren Miller Films and holds an anthropology degree he says he uses every day – particularly at the bar. He lives and writes in Steamboat Springs and is currently finishing a book about “The Movement.”

Billy Kidd, who has earned an international reputation as skiing’s most well-spoken, enthusiastic ambassador, is as passionate about the future of the sport as he is in its past. His vision of skiing 50 years from now, in a world of climate change, technology and diversity, is insightful and surprising. Not only did he devote considerable energy to this project himself, but he recruited a few of his friends, including Olympians, filmmakers, CEOs and journalists. See their predictions on p. 86.

Ron Dahlquist has quite the life. After spending the 1970s and ‘80s in Steamboat Springs as the official ski area photographer, he moved to Maui, where he has become a renowned commercial, landscape and surf photographer. When we told him we were doing a retrospective edition, he graciously agreed to dig through his old slides and send them our way. They are every bit as beautiful today as they were when he shot them, and we know you’ll enjoy this edition’s “Genuine Steamboat” photo essay, which previews a coffee table book to be released in 2013 to benefit the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

Celebrat ing 16 years of Remodeling & Designing Homes

Realize your vision at Olivia’s Home Furnishings Full-service downtown design studio • 5,000 square-foot warehouse Your vision, your budget • Unparalleled customer service

442 Lincoln Ave., Unit 4 | 970-846-6640 | 970-846-3487 www.oliviashomefurnishings.com |www.fifthstreetpenthouse.com STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | WI N T E R 20 1 2/1 3 | 17

Steamboat’s Newest Luxury

• 5 luxury suites • Gourmet breakfast • Hot Tub • Pool Table • Cinema room • Aprés ski appetizers • Free wireless Internet • Elevator access to three floors • Flat screen TVs & cable in all suites • Slopeside ski, board & boot storage • Courtesy shuttle • Access to spa facilities • Nightly to weekly stays

Bed & Breakfast T H E V ICTOR I AN LU X U RY B & B Come experience the hospitality and history of a Steamboat Springs landmark that travelled 650 miles from Kansas to land on the slopes of Mt. Werner!

A distinctive property, The Victorian Bed & Breakfast sits above the ski base area under the Steamboat Gondola and has an interesting and unique story to tell its guests...

Built in 1880 in Lyons, Kansas, the original house was dismantled with a chainsaw, cut into five pieces and moved to Steamboat Springs in 1991.

It was rebuilt as a ski-town lodge and was completely restored in 2007 to provide modern amenities and finishings while preserving its Victorian charm.

The Victorian operates as a luxury bed & breakfast, serving gourmet breakfasts and après ski appetizers.

With easy shuttle access to the ski trails, the expansive property features five suites: two kings and three queens.

The master suite features an elegant bathroom with a large claw foot tub, walk-in closet and fireplace in the bedroom.

The top floor is available in its entirety, with its snug library/sitting room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and video games room. Two of the bedrooms include en-suite sitting rooms.

On the main floor, the living room exudes a homey warmth with a cozy fireplace and a window sitting area that gives a novel view of the gondola cars passing—a comfortable place to relax with a complimentary glass of wine from our exclusive Australian vineyard and appetizers after a day on the slopes.

The lower level offers a place to play a game of pool, and a home theater room with comfy couch and recliners provides movie entertainment on a nightly basis. Completing the facilities, a wet bar is available for guests to use.

A large deck at the back of the house supplies an area with an outstanding view of the Yampa valley for après ski on sunny spring afternoons. A sixperson hot tub allows guests the ultimate in relaxation.

The large dining room seats ten people and for a more intimate experience, a cozy breakfast nook offers a valley view for four or more guests.

The Victorian craftsmanship that makes this home unique is evident with its original molding, beautifully carved oak staircase, and original stained glass windows.

This distinctive Steamboat property combines Victorian charm with modern comforts.

2405 Ski Trail Lane, Steamboat Springs, CO 970-879-7781 www.TheVictorian-BedandBreakfast.com

Letters to the editor

Chris Leding Communications Director Great Outdoors Colorado

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Courtesy John Fielder

On behalf of Great Outdoors Colorado, I want to pass along how much the GOCO board and staff enjoyed Jennie Lay’s article, “How We Hit The Lottery,” discussing John Fielder’s two new books commemorating the 20th anniversary of GOCO being created by voters. The article does a great job touching on the importance of the Lottery as a funding source for outdoor projects, how local efforts benefit from GOCO funds, and what John observed through his travel for the books. Projects in Routt County have done well in the GOCO process because of the hard work of local governments, land trusts and Colorado Parks and Wildlife who have brought forward some of the best land preservation, wildlife and outdoor recreation projects in the state. Thanks Jennie and Steamboat Magazine, for doing such a good job telling that story.

John Fielder captured winter on the Rossi Ranch, the state’s first ranch conservation easement to be funded by GOCO.

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 21

Courtesy Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Genuine Steamboat Story contest | By Nate Brothers

Still the most iconic genuine Steamboat image, this vintage ski area poster was produced during the 1971-72 season. In the foreground of the old More barn are Rusty Chandler and Jo Semotan, riding through fresh snowfall. Prints are available through shop.steamboat.com

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The Genuine Steamboat Story Contest, sponsored by Steamboat Group Realty, challenged locals and visitors alike to write a short article on the topic: “Why do you think Steamboat Springs is a genuine place to live or visit?” Our community of web members voted on their favorite entries and we are pleased to announce that Dustin Eldridge is the winner. He will receive a check for $100.

Dustin is a CMC student and avid blogger; check out his work at Steamboat Livin’, his wordpress blog, and look for Eldridges’s work on the all new SteamboatMagazine.com.

By Dustin Eldridge I am part of one of Steamboat’s fastest growing demographics — CMC students. I finished my freshman year last year.

After seeing the complete cycle of seasons in Steamboat, I have fallen in love with this tightknit mountain community. The genuine spirit of Steamboat’s characters is apparent everywhere.

On a bus anywhere else, various screens occupy most riders, who are busy avoiding human interaction. In Steamboat, friendly conversation is the norm. It’s difficult to find a place where a bus trip is a treat, but Steamboat is just that place.

Riding my mountain bike down Spring Creek last summer, I popped a tire and had to walk a good distance back to the car. On the way down, almost every person I passed asked if I needed help or an extra tube.

Steamboat’s genuine nature also comes from what it’s not. Anywhere in town, it’s obvious that mountains dominate the landscape. It’s nice living in one of the few places where nature still reigns supreme over civilization.

Because nature is still in charge around here, Steamboat is an excellent place for a genuine adventure. From the slopes of Mount Werner to the winding Yampa, North Routt, Rabbit Ears and Buff Pass, Steamboat exudes opportunities for adventure. And these aren’t your touristtailored babysitting trips. You had better be prepared when you step foot out your door in Steamboat, because you can never tell what your day will bring.

I was certainly not expecting that we would need three extra bike tubes just to defeat the 26-mile Dumont trail, or that my short winter split-board tour out to North Walton Peak would leave me lost for hours. I hadn’t planned to lose three lures in three consecutive days of trolling on the Yampa.

Steamboat doesn’t give out its secrets easily.

Through real-life experiences, I’ve learned to love my summers; full with fishing, mountain biking, summits and kayaking. I’ve learned patience waiting for the resort to open, tying lures onto fishing line, and facing the constant challenge of mountain bike maintenance.

My appreciation for Steamboat was paid for with sweat equity and grows with each new stream, lake, mountaintop and bear sighting.

Steamboat is genuine, because you have to live it to know it. n

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 23

Genuine Steamboat | By Deborah Olsen, based partially on the research of Bill Fetcher

+

50

years

At the Steamboat Ski Area Steamboat Ski Area started in 1955 with one man’s dream. Rancher Jim Temple looked up at Storm Mountain, looming over the tiny town, and dreamt that one day it would become a ski area of international renown.

Through tough financial times, drought and the early death of Steamboat’s favorite son, Buddy Werner, the ski area and the community around it has stood fast. Today, more than 50 years after Temple first opened Storm Mountain Ski Area, his vision has not only been realized, but surpassed.

1963

Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher

Ski area co-founder John Fetcher and famed ski coach Gordy Wren at the base of what was then called Storm Mountain Ski Area.

1955 “The Dream” includes plans for a gondola from the base to the summit of Storm Mountain

1958 Groundbreaking; first trails cut on Christie, then called Bearclaw

1959 First ski races held on Christie; access via snowcat

1961 First lift, the Cubclaw Poma lift

1962 A-Frame warming hut

1963 Official opening of the ski area

Sitz, Yoo Hoo, See Me, Voo Doo, Vogue, Main Drag, Swinger and Right-O-Way runs

1964 Hometown Olympian Buddy Werner dies in an avalanche in Switzerland

1965 Mount Werner named in Buddy’s honor 1968 Four Points double chairlift “Weather front” runs: Cyclone, Tornado, Twister, Hurricane and Rainbow Thunderhead Restaurant built

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© Ron Dahlquist

Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher

Above 1970

1969 Burgess Creek and Headwall double chairlifts

Ski coach Gordy Wren (right) hosts Colorado Governor John Love (center) on a visit to Steamboat.

WJW and Bar UE double chairlifts Big Meadow, Crow Track, Flying Z, Triangle Three and Drop Out runs cut

Stagecoach 6-passenger gondola built.

Chute One opens

Summit Poma lift added, opening the face of Storm Peak and Buddy’s Run

Ethel Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Olympian Bruce Jenner attend Inaugural International Winter Special Olympics

1972 Priest Creek — first lift planted by helicopter

1974 Bashor, double chairlift opens Bashor Bowl for beginners

Left 1966

1977 Snow drought, area closes; reopens March 5

White Out, Norther and Blizzard runs

1970 Billy Kidd becomes director of skiing

Priest Creek area opens with Closet, Shadows, Twilight, High Noon, One, Two and Three O’clock

The Stagecoach six-passenger gondola featured a 3,300-foot span between Tower 1 (near Ptarmigan Inn), and Tower 2 (top of Christie. At the time, it was the world’s longest. The height above Heavenly Daze between Towers 2 and 3 was 252 feet.

1979 Southface and Christie III and Arrowhead triple chairlifts open

Ted’s Ridge cut STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA SO N 20 1 2/1 3 | 25

Genuine Steamboat

1982

Long time local Tom Ross strides across a snowfield.

1985

©Ron Dahlquist

©Ron Dahlquist

Paco Ward, an early freestyle skier whose images graced the cover of numerous magazines – including the first edition of Steamboat Magazine — explodes through the powder.

1980/81 Another snow drought; snowmaking installed 1983 Storm Peak and Sundown triple chairlifts installed.

Storm Peak lift crosses over Four Points lift at the top of Twister

1984 Jean-Claude Killy and Billy Kidd make the first “official” run down Rolex Sunshine Bowl (“Wally World”) — Tomahawk, Quickdraw and Flintlock runs open South Peak triple chairlift installed Rendezvous Saddle and Ragnar’s restaurant open

1985 Sunshine triple chairlift opens Rudi’s Run named in honor of Rudi Schnackenberg

1986 Silver Bullet 8-passenger gondola and Hazie’s restaurant open Valley View run cut Direct ski flights to Yampa Valley Regional Airport

1989 Snowboarding permitted Steamboat hosts two women’s downhill and giant slalom World Cups: one in February and the next in December Rough Rider Basin and Broadway run open

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1987

Damien Sanders catches air on Rabbit Ears pass with Tom Burt and Kevin Kopischke.

1986

©Ron Dahlquist

©Ron Dahlquist

Olympian dreams are still just that for 10-year-old Todd Lodwick.

1990 Mountain trails open in summer.

Chutes Two, Three and Christmas Tree Bowl open

1993 President Gerald Ford drops in to Hazie Werner’s home (unannounced) for lunch Mother Nature run created by a mudslide

1991 Billy Kidd statue installed 1992 Storm Peak Express and Sundown Express open

Four Points Hut built

1996 Morningside Park expansion

Nelson’s Run, named in honor of Olympian Nelson Carmichael.

1997 Pioneer Ridge trails cleared

The “Toutes” (East Face) brought within ski area boundary

1998 Pony Express chairlift installed

Typhoon, a gladed area between Cyclone and Tornado, developed

1999 The Park Smalley Freestyle Complex is dedicated; includes Voo Doo and adjacent aerial jumps

Steamboat hosts two women’s World Cup races STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 27

©Ron Dahlquist

Genuine Steamboat

1995

Banana George celebrates his 80th birthday.

1998

Aryeh Copa

Catching air on the freestyle course.

2000 Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel opens 2001 Mavericks Superpipe opens

2006 Sunshine high-speed quad opens 2007 Headwall regraded Christie Peak Express and Wildhorse gondola are installed

2010 Steamboat Springs becomes Bike Town USA® Nordic Combined “Moment of Glory” with 7 Olympic medals 28 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

2011 Base area promenade opens Permanent stage built next to Gondola Square Specialized downhill trails open in summer

2012 Steamboat Ski Area celebrates its 50th anniversary 2013 Billy Kidd turns 70

Photo by Jackie Owen

©Ron Dahlquist

Corey Kopischke drops in on the Daze with an iron cross muley.

What makes you smile?

Offering our clients a new Mobile App for your convenience, makes us smile!

• Book appointments • Receive notifications on specials • Offer discounts • Educate our clients about products and services Please call for your appointment.

James WW McCreight DDS, Wendy M McCreight DDS

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STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 29

Genuine Steamboat

2011

Taking turns in the Chutes.

Aryeh Copa

Opening the treasure chest This edition of Genuine Steamboat is a sampling of things to come. Look for Steamboat Magazine’s coffeetable book of the first 100 years of skiing. This keepsake piece will be released in 2013 as a fundraiser for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, in honor of its 100th anniversary.

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STEAMBOAT MAGA Z INE | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 31

Everything you would expect from Steamboat’s leader in

luxury real estate

Presenting the Distinctive Properties of the Yampa Valley

SteamboatWildflower.com

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3 Peaks at Priest Creek

Luxurious Estate on 155 acres. Over 10,000 Massive price reduction! Elegant gated property Epic 6 bdrm home w/huge views, wine cellar, sq ft with a 6 car auto-plaza, private lake, water on 53 acres w/privacy & views. 7 bdrms, theatre, 2-story library and water feature w/bridge. Barn rights, tennis court and endless activities. caretaker, indoor pool and 8,000 sf of patios. has full bar, living area and equestrian facilities.

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The Acanthus Estate

#131690 Offered at $6,600,000

TrailsEndSteamboat.com

#133757

TheMoonshadowRanch.com

Exquisite golf Estate on the 11th fairway at Magnificent home on 119 acres surrounded by Amazing South Valley ranch with 7,746 sq ft Catamount Ranch. Enjoy 9,792 sf including rolling fields, hiking trails and a pond. 7 bdrms, luxury home, over-the-top barn and huge views. wine cellar, theatre, elevator and an infinity spa. gym, game room, offices, guest apt, barn & more. Adjacent to 1000’s of acres of open space.

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#123272 Reduced to $5,900,000

116AcresElkRiver.com

#133894 Reduced to $5,900,000

Catamount Ranch Luxury

Bordering Nat’l Forest with ½ mile of Elk River Luxurious amenities, views, finishes from this frontage. Private bridge to this 7,700 sf Estate elegant golf course home overlooking the 6th w/main floor master, wine rm, 2-story glass spa. green with almost 7,000 sq ft of living space.

Reduced to $3,995,000

#131598 Reduced to $3,950,000

#131486

FalconheadSteamboat.com Multi-generational home with unmatched views.

Newly competed with 5 bdrms, 2 kitchens and bar. Great rental income or corporate retreat.

#126499 Starting at $2,900,000

#133639, #133640

SteamboatEstates.com

Pam Vanatta

970.291.8100

pvanatta@cmn.net

steamboat springs

LUXURY COLLECTION

Ultimate Ski-In/Ski-Out

Rustic Sanctuary Elegance

Breathtaking Dakota Ridge

Offered at $3,200,000

#134076 Reduced to $2,700,000

Old World Sanctuary Elegant home on the 10th fairway. Abundant space with 5 bdrms, a grand living room, huge windows, and full theatre. Private & peaceful.

Offered at $2,195,000

Chadwick Estate

#133039 Reduced to $2,300,000

Elegant Sanctuary Home

#132062

Strawberry Park Serenity

European-style masterpiece w/easy to maintain 6,000 sf home w/expansive views and luxurious and elegant stone exterior. 4 bdrms, 3 car garage, finishes. Peaceful setting on 6.7 acres, giant and multiple patios overlooking the golf course. stamped concrete patio, heated shop and gym.

#130223 Reduced to $2,100,000

#128672 Offered at $2,050,000

Dakota Ridge Splendor

#134649

Christie Club Full Ownership

Great neighborhood, amenities and a short walk Ideal mtn home w/unique floorplan & gracious Rare 4 bdrm whole ownership at the base of to skiing. 4,771 sf home with huge views, gym, living spaces. Private setting, beautiful windows, the ski area. Ski-in/ski-out with slope side pool, office, multiple decks, and beautiful landscaping. 4 bdrms, office, 5 fireplaces and a great patio. hot tubs, shuttle, owner’s lounge and more.

Reduced to $1,925,000

#132999 Offered at $1,799,000

#131872 Offered at $1,595,000

SteamboatEstates.com 970.291.8100 Pam Vanatta pvanatta@cmn.net

#133246

View all luxury properties online at: www.SteamboatCollection.com

The best ski-in/ski-out location in Steamboat. Beautiful 7,742 sf home bordering Fish Creek Unbelievable views from this beautiful 5 bdrm Adjacent to Thunderhead lift, Nat’l Forest and w/golf and x-country skiing out your door. Great home w/amazing landscaping on almost 3 acres. ski trails. Great rental income or corporate retreat. rm, wine cellar, bar, huge patio, main level master. Huge decks, hot tub, water feature, lush gardens.

Everything you would expect from Steamboat’s leader in

luxury real estate

Presenting the Distinctive Properties of the Yampa Valley

36851TreeHausDrive.com 5,446 sf, 5 bdrms/6 baths, all the bells & whistles of a luxury home at the top of Tree Haus with access to Emerald Mtn and the best views in Steamboat! Dual Master suites, 3 fireplaces, 2 kitchens, 2 family rooms and 2 laundries.

Offered at $1,795,000

Luxury at The Highmark 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, sophisticated decor, gourmet kitchen, lavishly furnished. Stunning south valley views from large covered patio.

Excellent amenities, attentive staff. Perfect location at base of ski area. Great rental potential.

#134238 Offered at $945,000

Michelle Garner 970.819.7017 Michelle@GarnerSteamboatRealty.com

#135131

Colleen de Jong 970.846.5569 Colleen@PruSteamboat.com

Country Roads Take Me Home This 4 bdrm, 35 acre ranch has the best of all bells and whistles: great location close to town, gorgeous views, excellent for horses, beautifully landscaped, great outbuildings and room for all your toys! Well designed and maintained.

Offered at $1,600,000

#134607

Karen Hughes 846.4841 Vicky Hanna 846.1725 Karenh@PruSteamboat.com

Prestigeous EagleRidge

LastResortSteamboat.com

Luxury Home, Great Location

Fantastic location, great ski area views, 4 bdrms, 3.5 baths, furnished in warm mtn tradition, floor to ceiling stone fireplace in LR, hickory floors, log accents throughout EagleRidge amenities, pool, 3 hot tubs, fitness, and shuttle. Walk to base.

Look no more! Quintessential mountain retreat with top-of-the-world views of Stagecoach Lake, Mt.Werner and the surrounding vistas. Main home features 5,500+ sf of interior living, 4,000 sf of outdoor living and attention to detail.

Fabulous 5 bdrm, 3,400 sq ft log home minutes from the ski area. Tucked in a grove of Aspens with great landscaping and patios. Perfect for entertaining with stone fireplace, large deck, gourmet kitchen, large garage and caretaker.

Offered at $844,900 Michael Buckley 970.846.5761 Buckley@PruSteamboat.com

#133626 Offered at $5,525,000 Kim Kreissig 970.846.4250 KreissigHomes.com

#132801 Offered at $999,999

#135135

Molly Hibbard 970.846.8536 MollyH2@Earthlink.net

SteamboatCollection.com | 970.879.8100

steamboat springs

LUXURY COLLECTION

SkiInSteamboat.com

StrawberryParkEstate.com

Step Rock Ranch

Offered at $7,995,000

#126992

Mountain Oasis

Offered at $6,500,000

#134346

SanctuaryInTheForest.com

Offered at $4,395,000

#134693

DazzlingDakotaRidge.com

16.5 acres perched high above the valley in Stunning 4 bdrm home backed to a greenbelt. 6 bdrms and 5,000 sf amongst more than 8 acres of privacy! Grand spiraling staircase, ski Dakota Ridge. Stunning double sided fireplace, Timber trusses, vaulted ceilings, main floor breakfast nook, dining rm, gorgeous stonework. master, formal office, & spectacular great room. area views, cathedral ceilings, picture windows.

Offered at $2,995,000

#134633 Offered at $2,795,000

Luxurious Mtn Duplex Short walk to skiing, biking, and hiking with views of the slopes. Featuring 3 bdrms, main floor master, office, game room with wet bar.

Offered at $1,850,000

#133031 Offered at $1,950,000

Creek Ranch Luxury

#131703

BigValleyRanchHome.com

3 bdrms, 10.14 acres, and 2,400+ acres of 4 bdrms on a private 35-acre site, panoramic deeded ground. Soaring arched ceilings, stunning views, and over 5,700 sq ft. Remodeled kitchen, kitchen/great room, and main floor master. media room, and huge recreation room.

#134538 Offered at $1,095,000

#134821 Offered at $1,650,000

SteamboatAgent.com

Cam Boyd

970.846.8100

camboyd@cmn.net

#130231

View all luxury properties online at: www.SteamboatCollection.com

The ultimate ski-in/ski-out property. 10,000 sf 6 bdrm home overlooking Soda Creek w/2 ponds, 30 miles from Stmbt along the banks of Trout mtn contemporary home in the edge of ski runs. babbling brook, picturesque barn, and 13.24 Creek. 3,402 sf home on 809 acres w/exceptional Extravagant finishes, huge proven rental income. acres. Outdoor grilling station, rec room, office. water rights and hunting. Borders Nat’l forest.

Town QUirks

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Share Your Scrapbook

Steamboat Ski Area’s 50-year scrapbook contains moments of hilarity and zaniness.

©Ron Dahlquist

online at

Chris Ward

Courtesy Ruth McClelland

©Ron Dahlquist

36 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

©Ron Dahlquist

Johnny Wisch

Thundermug Race 1969

©Ron Dahlquist

©Ron Dahlquist

Central Park Run

©Ron Dahlquist

©Ron Dahlquist

Courtesy Ruth McClelland

Park Smalley

Courtesy Park Smalley

Ronni Connelly, Carol Jarcow and Loris Werner.

Thundermug Race 1969

©Ron Dahlquist

Courtesy Ruth McClelland

Tom & Allison Barr

Wayne Ritter

Back: Rudi Schnackberg, Vern Greco, Don Oakland, Darlene Kuntz, Michael Hoy, Judy Wachob, Al King, Bob Dapper, Tyler Gooding, Nancy Gray. Front: Barbi Wither, Suzy Good, Ruth McClelland, Heather DeVos

©Ron Dahlquist

©Ron Dahlquist

Jeremy Allen

STEAMBOAT MAGA Z INE | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 37

Arts

The Iconic Imagery of Cheryl Wiles

Courtesy Cheryl Wiles

Watercolor artist immortalized Steamboat moments

Original watercolor commemorating Steamboat’s 1992 Women’s World Cup downhill race.

When Your Favorite Destination is Right Out Your Back Door

BEST DEAL IN LUXURY MARKET

• 6.21 acres privately overlooking the 13th green at Catamount Ranch and Golf Club • Quintessential Colorado home with 7,700+ sq. ft. of luxurious indoor/ outdoor entertaining areas and 6 spacious bedrooms •

• Surrounded by legendary views, golf and world class skiing for $4,100,000

Darlinda Maxwell Baldinger Ch Loe Lawrence

darlinda@steamboatvillagebrokers.com chloe@steamboatvillagebrokers.com 970-879-7800 ext. 104 800-464-7795 • 970-846-7192

www.MiravalAtCatamount.com 38 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

Courtesy Cheryl Wiles

The fastest women in the ski world came to town in 1989, when the Steamboat Ski Area hosted downhill and super-G World Cup races in February and again in December.

The whole town was abuzz with excitement. Busboys doubled as racecourse volunteers, the party scene came alive, and CEO Martin Hart identified the races as one of the reasons Kamori Kanko decided to purchase the Steamboat Ski Area.

“It was such a big deal,” recalls artist Cheryl Wiles, who created posters and limited edition watercolor prints for the events. At the time, Wiles was living in Steamboat Springs, where she was pursuing an active outdoor lifestyle and putting her energy into the Steamboat Springs Arts Council.

“Over a glass of wine with (former Ski Corp. president) Gary Mielke, the idea of creating a unique piece of art for the Steamboat Ski Area’s first World Cup race was born,” Wiles recalls. “It was a marvelous experience because I got to be involved in a special way with the races and festivities.”

Wiles visited Ski Magazine and Spyder skiwear headquarters in Boulder to conduct research for the series. She also did a bit of “powder research” on Mount Werner.

By the time Wiles left the area in 1991 with her husband, she had designed a series of prints, many of which still hang on the walls of the ski area’s administration offices.

She also created Christmas cards depicting local scenes like the Steamboat barn, llama trekking and elk feeding.

Today Wiles is a tele skier who lives in Nederland. She is a professional photographer, whose work can be seen at artistiphotography. com. She still has prints for sale from her Steamboat days.

Artwork for the 1989 Women’s World Cup downhill race at Steamboat Ski Area.

The Perfect Mountain Lifestyle Awaits You!

• Exquisite custom home with 8,337 finished sq. ft.

• 7 bedrooms and 7.5 baths – plus separate guest home • 1200+sq. ft. of decks and patios with beautiful outdoor fireplace and kitchen area overlooking the South Valley and Lake Catamount • 52+ acres of walking paths with lake access, stone patios, and dock overlooking Lake Catamount, Colorado’s largest private lake

$6,350,000 #133373 www.LakeCatamountEstate.com

Darlinda Maxwell Baldinger Ch Loe Lawrence darlinda@steamboatvillagebrokers.com chloe@steamboatvillagebrokers.com 970-879-7800 ext. 104 • 800-464-7795 • 970-846-7192 1855 Ski Time Square Drive, Steamboat Springs

STEAMBOAT MAGA Z INE | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 39

Arts

Good Design Makes Life Better

Courtesy Yampa Valley Design Guild

Graphic artists donate talent to community

Designers gather from throughout the country for Yampa Valley Design Guild’s summer workshop.

The best intentions, the smallest budgets. Nonprofit board members know that marketing and public relations are crucial, but their budgets just won’t support their efforts.

Yampa Valley Design Guild, Steamboat’s professional graphic design group, wanted to help. Guild members sent out requests for proposals to local nonprofits and selected one recipient to be the beneficiary of last summer’s premiere Steamboat Design Camp. Nine graphic designers from the East Coast, Midwest and even Alaska gathered in Steamboat Springs for this weeklong, intense collaborative design experience.

The campers worked with Yampa Valley Data Partners, which gathers and distributes data for decision-making and community collaboration in the Yampa Valley, western Colorado and at the state level. Working with YVDP executive director Kate Nowak, the campers produced print materials, redesigned the logo and provided a fresh look for YVDP’s most well-known pieces, the Community Indicators Project and the Economic Forecast Newsletter.

“I loved working with people from all across the U.S. I would definitely try to keep this up in the years to come. It worked out so well that none of us knew each other. It allowed us to bond so much more. And now we all have so many more touch points across the country,” says Lisa Hoeynck of Denver.

The designers were fairly split in terms of experience.

About half were seniors in college or recent college grads and half were working professionals with several years of graphic design experience.

“The work we were doing wasn’t just for a client, but for a town and its community and businesses. Being nestled within the micro-culture for which we were designing felt unique and energizing, yet completely normal and foundational to what

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we do as designers,” says Jacob DeGeal of Normal, Ill. In the end, campers contributed more than $30,000 of design work to YVDP. “We won the lottery. The campers were a complete joy to work with on this project. If it weren’t for the Steamboat Design Camp, we would not have had this wonderful opportunity,” Nowak says.

Lest the name “camp” mislead you, it wasn’t all work and no play — and no one had to sleep in a tent. Housed on the ski mountain with trails outside the front door, the campers had opportunities for hikes, the rodeo and a gondola ride. Campers also spent an afternoon of drawing and fine art exploration with local artist Gregory Block. They cooked in their gourmet kitchen with fresh local produce from the Farmer’s Market, and they sampled the dining and entertainment hotspots in downtown Steamboat.

At camp’s end, not only did YVDP have a new look, but nine campers and several Design Guild members had a renewed understanding of how good design can add value to daily life and the community. They appreciated the chance to collaborate and make new friends. “After camp, I could go into other collaborative efforts with more confidence,” says Adele Wiejaczka of Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Yampa Valley Design Guild is planning another Steamboat Design Camp next summer. For more information, visit www.yvdg.org

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lunch dinner sundayaya daily happy hour CARLSTAVERN com brunch reservations accepted STEAMBOAT'SS NEWEST TRADITION 700 YAMPA AVE, STEAMBOAT SPRINGS , COLORADO 80487 | PHONE: 970.761 .2060 STEAMBOAT MAGA Z INE | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 41

Arts | By Marion Kahn

Two Steamboat Legends Art Museum retrospective features Jean Perry, Curtis Zabel

If you ask Jean Perry or Curtis Zabel what it means to have a retrospective show, they’ll both laugh and say: “Old!” But they’re not old. They’re accomplished, Perry as a plein air painter and Zabel as a wildlife sculptor.

“They’re Steamboat legends. They are nationally recognized, successful artists,” says Shirley Stocks, president of the Steamboat Art Museum board.

SAM hosts the Perry/Zabel retrospective from Friday, Dec. 21, through Saturday, April 13. The show represents the lifetime achievements of two award-winning artists and includes Yampa Valley works as well as those from other locales.

The French phrase en plein air refers to the act of painting outdoors.

Because of changing outdoor conditions, the painter must be adept at selecting her subject, composing it, analyzing the light and working out the details.

I’ve had the privilege and irritation of painting with Perry. I’m only irritated because I’m not nearly as good as she is. She sees so quickly. I might be standing near her, quickly (in my mind) working on my composition and color palette. If I look over at her canvas, she has bolted past me with a beautiful, dramatic composition using the fewest of brush strokes and color.

She paints with intention. Every brush stroke and every line of color are on the canvas for a reason.

“You mix the color, hold it up (against the object being painted) and see if it works. You may have to take it out. It’s like sculpting. There is a wonderful sense of movement and pushing the paint around. It’s very sensual. If you do

T i m e l e s s m e n ’ s A p pA r e l

Howelsen Place | 7TH and lincoln | sTeamboaT sPrings, co | (970) 871-1137 | www. ZirkelTrading.com 42 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

“The Intimidator,” bronze sculpture by Curtis Zabel

STEAMBOAT MAGA Z INE | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 43

Courtesy Steamboat Art Museum

it and look at it, it’s probably perfect. If you go back later, you may ruin it. Put the paint on and leave it.”

Why does Perry subject herself to long hikes to a painting spot when rain or wind may interfere? “Outside, you’re standing there witnessing things,” she explains. “The excitement comes out of your brain, down your arm and onto the canvas.”

She sums it up when she says, “It’s really just a kick in the pants to do it. Even if someone didn’t buy it, I’d still do it. Lucky us.”

The two artists have been showing together for 30 years, since Zabel invited Perry to be in one of his shows. For that start she is still grateful.

Zabel is a warm, shy man, preferring raw nature and his studio to a crowd of adoring collectors. His exhibit will contain upwards of 50 pieces, including his first, an elk, cast in 1972.

Put that original piece next to a recent one, and it’s evident how much he has grown, not just as an artist but also in his understanding of the fastidious work that makes a sculpture great.

In his 40-year career, Zabel has sculpted 160 originals, with 3,0004,000 being cast in limited edition series, as well as one-of-a-kind monumental sculptures like “Autumn Majesty,” the 17-foot bronze bull elk in Lincoln Park at the west entrance to town.

Raised on a farm, Zabel loves animals, especially horses. “If I’m working on the leg of a horse, I’ve felt them so much that I just think about how it should feel.” His understanding of animals comes from

Courtesy Jean Perry

years of ranching and observing animals in their habitat. His sculptures’ names reflect that wisdom.

Some people are puzzled by the sculpture of a cowboy in a snowstorm named “90 Degrees in Phoenix.” Again Zabel laughs. “The cowboy is thinking, ‘It’s 90 degrees in Phoenix.’”

One of his favorites is “Beware.” A horse is hobbled. His ears are back and his nostrils are flared.

He is saddled and ready to be ridden. Zabel explains the title: “If you get on me, I’ll throw you off.”

A new piece, “Hideaway” depicts a cowboy approaching a cow whose calf is hidden behind her in the bushes. You’d have to know ranching life to execute these pieces with such humor and drama.

You can be outside in the Yampa Valley and sense something akin to what an artist sees. But if the weather is bad, you can also look at a Jean Perry painting or a Curtis Zabel sculpture and feel that same connection. n

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Jean Perry’s “September’s Song”

A.B.s B.c.B.G. Betsey Johnson chAn Luu custo dA-nAnG desiGuAL dieseL free PeoPLe Genetic denim GyPsy Joe’s JeAns Johnny WAs LeiGh & LucA me & ro nAnette LePore PoLeci siLver JeAns three dots veLvet WiLdfox younG fAB & Broke

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Create a lasting family legacy

eight miles from the Gondola. The ranch encompasses over 1,700 acres with two miles of outhosts an unrivaled range of amenities and services unmatched anywhere in the west. Nestle timber framed lodge along the Elk River, or head out with one of Marabou’s Master Guides and Olympians.

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Food & Drink | Story/Photography By Jennie Lay |

Drink Local Bottoms up. These spirits are distilled in Colorado – and they’re delicious.

Steamboat-made Daniela’s Cowboy Bourbon Pecans are glazed with Breckenridge Distillery’s Bourbon Whiskey.

Relax, Locavores. Après ski with genuine local flair has moved beyond microbrews. Booze is earning its mountain cred as craft distilleries are piling up across Colorado like snowflakes on a powder day.

Late this fall, a motley crew of local 40-somethings gathered around a raging bonfire to sample an array of spirits hailing from nine distilleries located in the state. Debating and tastetesting ran into the wee hours of the morning while our critical drinkers sought to distinguish the impacts of locally harvested ingredients and pure mountain springs.

Each bottle was sipped straight-up, then blended with various mixes to see what stood out. Comment cards, submitted blindly, grew a tad bit blearier as the evening wore on. In the end, here’s what our swarthy volunteers liked best.

Top honor goes to Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey from Denver. The tasters decreed it “the best. A really good sipping whiskey. I would never mix a cocktail with it – that would probably be sacrilege.” Another admirer said, “It doesn’t even need an ice cube. Smooth and traditional. Straight up sippable.”

Colorado bourbons left everyone grinning. In fact, our

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diehard bourbon fans agreed they wouldn’t be remotely disappointed to receive any of these bottles in their Christmas stockings. Breckenridge Distillery’s Special Release Bourbon Whiskey was the favorite pick. They said, “killer with ginger ale. Best bourbon we’ve had in years,” and downright “sippable but mixable.” (Bourbon bonus: Steamboat’s own Daniela’s Chocolates and Sweets glazes the spicy Cowboy Pecans with Breckenridge bourbon too. They are delicious and addicting.)

Boulder Distillery’s 303 Whiskey, with a remarkable deep caramel color, got high marks for its “yummy smoke flavor” and being “very smooth, very oaky, good stuff.” Peach Street Distillers’ Colorado Straight Bourbon Whiskey from Palisade gets a thumbs up for being “heavier on the palette in a good way,” due in no small part to being 92 proof, which is heavy on the alcohol compared to its contenders. Colorado Gold Distillery’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey from Cedaredge got high marks as a “soft sipping bourbon” that’s “smooth and oaky with nice charcoal.”

Believe it: They’re distilling rum in Crested Butte. And it rocks. Montanya Distillers makes Oro High Mountain Rum

RUMOR design + re-design steamboat springs, co

remodels bathrooms kitchens furniture upholstery bedding lighting windows artwork accessories

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photo by Sunshine Divas

(gold) that is a tad bit sweeter and ideal for sipping or “solid in a dark and stormy.” Their Platano High Mountain Rum (silver) makes “a perfect mojito. Clean crisp, just the right bit of sweet.” Smooth flavors in both the Oro and Platano earned raves of “fantastic” and, “five stars. Very yummy, I would buy this.”

Mexico may have exclusive naming rights to “tequila,” but Palisade and Cedaredge have plunked Colorado on the must-try map for agave spirits. Peach Street Distillers’ dAgavé Gold and Colorado Gold Distillery’s Agave Spirits are, “sipping tequilas, not lime-chasing shooters.” They both use 100% blue agave from Mexico, and our tasters warn, “Don’t ruin them with sweet and sour.” Raving about the dAgavé, our admirers said, “Love it! Smooth baby! Five star,” “Smokey, sharp tequila,” and “Smooooooth. Real nice on ice!”

When you’re considering what logically might come out of the top of the watershed, cold clear vodka feels closest to home. Mix artisan spring water with honey from the eastern plains and you’ve got our slam-dunk favorite: Spring 44’s Honey Vodka from Loveland “looks different, smells different, is different. Just plain awesome.” This is what flavored vodka should taste like – not too much taste. Our unanimous fans complimented everything from the “essence of vanilla and almond,” to a “beautiful tinge of maple that smells like breakfast.” It has “just the right sweet and it smells amazing.

Perfect on ice with a splash of soda. A great bottle to keep on hand in your freezer.”

Venturing out of the “flavored” realm, Spring 44’s straight vodka got high marks for its “signature spice and nice tang. This is a Bloody Mary beauty.” Boulder Distillery’s 303 Vodka made with Colorado potatoes gained admirers for touting its Colorado crop and a “yummy earthy sweetness.” Breckenridge Distillery’s vodka makes a “clean, crisp, really nice cocktail.”

Anyone who has ventured in the western part of our state knows juniper is in no short supply – nor is the variety of gin that’s being distilled here. Peach Street Distillers’ Jackelope Gin is the “smoothest. If you were going to have to sip gin, this would be it.” Still, we ultimately opted for tonic to enjoy this gin that was “a tiny bit sweet, smooth and tangy – perfect G&T for a winter bonfire. Five star. Yummy smooth. Had seconds.” Close contenders were the gins from Boulder’s Roundhouse Spirits and Spring 44.

Working our way through the Colorado harvest, we came upon the corn whiskeys. The

STE AM B O AT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 47

crew decreed these bottles have a more limited appreciation – corn whiskey just smelled and tasted different to the uninitiated. Colorado Gold Distillery’s Colorado’s Own Corn Whiskey has “a light color and evaporates quickly off the palette.” Black Canyon Distillery’s Colorado Sour Mash Corn Whiskey from Longmont offers up a stiff drink, preferably with Coke.

After dinner, Roundhouse Spirits’ Corretto coffee liqueur is “so light and yummy on ice. No need for cream, but it would make an awesome white Russian.” For something lighter, Peach Street Distillers Jack and Jenny Eau-de-vie Pear Brandy “smells so nice! It’s a nice sipper with your sweet dessert.” And their Peach Brandy “smells like peach cobbler,” and “tasted great in a hot toddy garnished with nutmeg.”

Savor these spirits like fine wines. They’re worthy top-shelf purchases – beautiful and tasty bottles for under the tree this season (or special occasions like your BFF’s birthday, all year long). The tastetesting crew agreed unanimously that many of these small batch spirits will blow away the mass produced bottles you’ve long imbibed. n

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A small sampling of Colorado’s finest.

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©2011 Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Before we set the table, we set the stage.

A nighttime ride up the gondola tells you this is not going to be an ordinary night out. An exceptional wine list, stunning views out 20’ windows of the Yampa Valley 2,000 feet below, and a dazzling menu of New American cuisine confirm the fact that this night is indeed, anything but typical.

Welcome to Hazie’s. For reservations, call 800.922.2722.

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Home & Garden | Story By Katy Jones/Photography By Corey Kopischke

The inside of the “bat cave”

Bats in the ‘Boat?

Out of the box? Definitely. Artistically inclined? Of course. Especially when interior designer Irene Nelson is involved in the creative process.

The peculiar notion of building a “bat cave” has Nelson’s signature all over it.

What was once an odd-shaped storage corner in the basement of Verne Read’s mountain home is now a small replica of a bat cave, designed in honor of the home’s owner, a nationally known naturalist and chairman emeritus of Bat Conservation International.

The cave is especially beautiful in the morning light, radiating warmth from the Colorado red rocks that form its walls and outline its seating area. Nelson’s friend, artist Sigi Malinowski, sculpted trees at

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The CompleTe look Velvet Michael Stars Bailey 44 Citizens of Humanity J Brand True Religion James Perse Ella Moss Vince And more...

The “bat cave,” a corner of this Steamboat home previously used as storage space, was designed

by Irene Nelson and Sigi Malinowski. the entrance of the cave, employing chicken wire and concrete as his media.

A small waterfall built into the cave’s corner is the room’s centerpiece. Oddly shaped pillows placed in the cozy seating area invite reading and reminiscing. What would a cave be without bats?

Small black, Halloween-style faux bats perch in random places throughout the room.

To create the semblance of a cave’s floor, Nelson shredded paper, glued it down and covered it with clear acrylic. “You can do anything with paper,” Nelson says. “Floors, countertops and walls.”

Malinowski has been working with Nelson for about 30 years. In addition to creating sculptures of various media ranging from downed trees to cement, he has also designed innovative fireplaces, wine cellars — and environmentally sustainable homes.

Together the power of Malinowski and Nelson’s imagination produces results that are both surprising and delightful. A place of tranquility, the cave is “magical,” as Nelson describes it. She’s not yet willing to declare that the project is finished, but it offers the complete package — not meant to scare, but to inspire. n

879.6995 7th & Lincoln Steamboat Springs open daily 10-7

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WildLife | Story By Jennie Lay/Photography By Mical Hutson

Bringing In The Bats Live encounter encourages a bat house boom

Bats at the Bud Werner Memorial Library: Bat biologist Rob Mies lets Kamila spread her wings in the stacks.

Bat biologist Rob Mies sauntered around the Bud Werner Memorial Library with a Big Brown Bat named Radar peeking from his leather-gloved palm. Contrary to his species name, Radar weighs the equivalent of four nickels. With tiny eyes and large ears, shy Radar snoozed and echolocated for his admirers. He was a mealworm-eating micro bat on parade for 300 inquisitive sets of eyes – a species found around the Yampa Valley, but doubtfully one anyone had ever seen so close.

Next came Kamila, a tropical Malayan flying fox that is one of the largest bat species in the world. She eats fruit and wouldn’t naturally be found within 8,000 miles of Steamboat Springs. Her translucent wings garnered electric aahs as she unveiled their nearly five-foot span. “They look more fragile than they actually are,” Mies explains.

Wrapped around Kamila’s woolen body, they appear clingy, like cellophane stretched over four long fingers and a small thumb. “The wings feel like your eyelid. It’s smooth, strong skin,” he says.

This was a bat encounter few will forget – and an opportunity to raise appreciation for bats that lurk in Steamboat’s backyards. Edging from

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late fall into winter, the Yampa Valley’s own migrating bats have departed for the season. Mies said this is prime time to build bat houses to prepare for their return next spring.

“If you build it they will come,” says local bat expert Apple Snider. “Don’t despair if they don’t move in right away.”

With this hope in mind, the Yampa Valley Land Trust is working with wildlife biologists at the conserved 250-acre Rehder Ranch located on Harrison Creek near Lake Catamount. They aim to create new homes for about 1,000 little brown bats currently residing in the ranch’s historic structures. Ultimately, bat houses (or perhaps a bat condo) are expected to lure the bats from the rafters.

Steamboat’s two most common bats are little brown bats and long-legged bats. It’s not uncommon during summer to be sitting on your deck at twilight and watch them swooping in search of insects. Snider estimates nine different species are likely to ply local skies, rounding out the list with the Western small-footed bat, long-eared bat, fringed bat, hoary bat, silver-haired bat, big brown bat and Townsend’s big-eared bat. Traveling west towards Dinosaur National Monument with its warmer temperatures, canyons and towering rock faces, the species count increases.

Before becoming a wildlife biologist for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, Snider worked with Mies. The founder of the Organization of Bat Conservation is a charismatic conservationist who has appeared with his rescue bats on television alongside everyone from Conan O’Brien to Martha Stewart. (Mies says O’Brien was wary. Stewart wanted to snuggle them – a definite no-no.) In Steamboat this fall, Mies reigned over the library like a pied piper, weaving Angus, a fruit eating bat, keeps a close eye on the library crowd. among mesmerized bat fans with seemingly infinite and mines and affects hibernating bats by leaving an irritating knowledge and four magnificent examples of the white powder on their noses that wakes them up repeatedly, planet’s only flying mammals. sending them out into the cold winter in search of food during The bat fossil record is 54 million years old, dating to a specimen found in Wyoming’s Green River Formation. While a season when insects aren’t available. Ultimately, the repeated bats were initially classified as “birds with fur,” science has since awakening burns up stored fat and kills the bats – a death toll now estimated at more than 6 million. clarified things. These mammals have one or two pups per year, Since Steamboat doesn’t have giant caves or many abandoned nurse them, then teach them to fly. Bats live in colonies where mines for colonies to roost, our bats tend to be more dispersed they can hide during the day, sometimes living to 30 years old.

– perhaps an advantage should the fungus appear in Colorado.

While there are bats that eat fish, frogs, nectar and blood among the more than 1,200 globally known species, all of Here, they live in dead tree snags around the forest, rock pockets, behind loose bark and in boulder field crevices and cliff cracks.

Colorado’s bats eat insects. That diet largely includes beetles, They tuck themselves away from predators like hawks, owls, moths and mosquitoes, hence 24-36 sharp teeth to chew through eagles, snakes, raccoons and house cats – making attics and barns hard insect shells. They even eat mountain pine beetles that have devastated Western forests if the beetles happen to take appealing habitat too.

But perhaps most obvious in our daily lives, a single bat eats their limited flights at the right time of day.

The deadly white nose syndrome has dominated bat news anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 insects per night. A bat house built today might just preserve next summer’s fragile garden: As since it was first discovered in New York in 2006 and has since many as 100 bats can roost inside a 1’x2’ house, devouring up to spread to 19 states, but the fungus has yet to appear in Colorado.

Oklahoma is the closest sighting so far. It grows in cold caves a half million insects each night. n

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Bat House? Bat Condo?

Build it and they will come.

Want to get the bats out of your barn – or just enjoy the vision of bats swooping around at sunset? Build bat houses – or the super-size version known as bat condos. The Organization for Bat Conservation has spent years of research figuring out exactly what makes a bat house successful.

Here’s what they advise:

Materials • Cedar is the best choice. Exterior plywood works too.

Construction • Bat houses should measure at least 24”tall, 13” wide and 3” deep – and if you’re going for the condo effect, multiple chambers need to be at least 2” apart. The entrance should be no more than ¾”-1” wide.

• Inside the house, bats need to hang comfortably. Create horizontal grooves (1/4 inch apart) in the entire length of the inside of the wood, both front and back – or attach polyethylene plastic mesh to the wood on the inside of the bat house, both front and back.

• Remember, bats are mammals – climate control is important too. Add

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a ¼”-wide air vent about 6” above the opening and a ceiling just beneath the roof on the inside of the house. Caulk all your seams to keep the bats warm and dry.

Installation

Rob Mies/Courtesy Organization for Bat Conservation

• Organization for Bat Conservation founder Rob Mies says to make sure you hang your bat houses in open areas, on a pole or building, ideally facing south or southeast, and never lower than 15 feet off the ground.

The Organization for Bat Conservation offers free, detailed bat house plans with step-by-step instructions online at www.batconservation. org. If starting from scratch is more than you can handle, get one of their bat house kits or a pre-assembled bat house that’s ready to hang.

‘Tis the season – do it now.

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Full house: Happily inhabited by bats.

STE AM B O AT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 55

Courtesy Steamboat Powdercats

Sports | By Kent Vertrees

Skiers load up for an early-year Powdercat expedition.

Powder Nation Still testing the product after 30 years All good businesses start with an idea — hopefully a great idea — that will engage, motivate and drive customers to come back year after year after year. It’s a seemingly simple plan, but often a difficult one to realize. But if you figure it out and get lucky, too, you just may hit on something very, very special.

In the case of Steamboat Powdercats, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the initial business idea was special indeed.

In 1983, Jupiter and Barbara Jones thought they had a gem of an idea, one that could blossom into a cherished business in Northwest Colorado. After a heli-skiing trip the prior winter in Canada, Jupiter realized Steamboat Springs was in a great position to offer a similar guided, powder skiing operation.

The snow, terrain and people were a perfect fit and satisfied some basic questions.

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Courtesy Steamboat Powdercats

The Warren Miller crew ventures into the backcountry with the old blue powdercat, alleged to have once transported a U.S. president. Warren Miller (left) and Jupiter Jones, right, Powdercats’ founder.

©Ron Dahlquist

Is there good powder available? The Park Range and Buffalo Pass receive, arguably, the lightest, deepest, most consistent snow in all the state.

Is there enough terrain to satisfy the alwayshungry powderhound? A series of ridgelines access the variety of terrain necessary to accommodate 12-36 guests per day, and it’s only 20 minutes from downtown Steamboat.

Are there enough paying guests to support the business model? The droves of hungry powder skiers visiting Steamboat would easily provide the 1,000-plus skier-days necessary to make this a viable business venture.

“We did our research,” Jupiter says with a spark in his eye, “then talked with the local snow ranger at the Forest Service, and he was more than willing to let us give it a try.”

With permit in hand, the Joneses were ecstatic about their new career. “It was the greatest job, skiing powder for a living. On a daily basis we were satisfying people’s powder fantasies while playing with big toys like snowcats and snowmobiles. Not a day went by that wasn’t an adventure,” Jupiter says.

After the first few seasons of working out the kinks, the Joneses knew they had a business that was fun to operate and would last. “We were a family of friends who helped guide our guests. These guests in turn became our friends after multiple visits. Every year we saw the same crews coming together with us to celebrate the camaraderie of backcountry skiing,” Jupiter says.

Mike Rakowski, who has been ski guiding with Steamboat Powdercats for 24 seasons, also understands the evolution of the legacy that is Steamboat Powdercats. “Beyond the fresh lines and endless untracked powder, of course, it’s been the Powdercats Nation, that extended family of returning guests mixing with the new that has been the soul of this company,” Rakowski says.

When Rakowski first started guiding, he saw the job as the ultimate ski experience. He says with all honesty, “I couldn’t believe I was getting paid for such a sweet job.” No doubt the job ranks high on most “Best Job” lists, and Rakowski confesses, “I’m very lucky that this has become the profession for me and the other ski guides who have made this a career.”

In 1999, when the Joneses sold the business to a group of investors from the Front Range, the company evolved from a one-snowcat to a threesnowcat operation that now logs 1,800-plus skier days per season.

“We’re definitely keeping the tradition alive,” says Eric Deering, Powdercats’ general manager since 2006. “It’s been great for us to build on what Jupiter and Barbara established. Like them, it’s

Laying down lines on Buffalo Pass, 1985.

STE AM B O AT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 57

Courtesy Steamboat Powdercats

Powdercats now and then... flash forward to 2012.

Residential, Remodels, Additions, Commercial... We Do It All Building green since 1980. www.fox-construction.com • 970-879-7529 PO Box 772971, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 58 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

© Ron Dahlquist

Jupiiter Jones, the founder of Powdercats the relationships that come about from the camaraderie of the backcountry that really keep us rolling.”

With all its success, it hasn’t always been the easiest of businesses. The drought of 2012 was a challenge. “We’re trying to forget that one,” Deering says, “and of course, snowcats are machines that do break down, often in interesting locations and times.” Heavy snows bog down travel, groups sometimes get separated and occasionally — and unfortunately — guests and guides do get hurt.

The inherent risks of skiing in the backcountry necessitate Steamboat Powdercats take its risk management and safety operations to another level. “Our entire staff participates in an annual 10-day, preseason training program that covers everything from emergency medical response to avalanches, lost ski/rider protocols, cat operations and general backcountry safety concerns,” Deering says.

As Powdercats enters its 30th season, the business has become a leader in the industry.

With new terrain opening up, along with some new hires, new snowboards, skis, a commemorative logo and a big, kick-off party on Wednesday, Dec. 19, Deering and the gang at Steamboat Powdercats are proud to be leaders of the Powder Nation.

A

gentle mountain that rises above the Yampa Valley

it will always be my favorite area, over France, Utah and Cali.

Groves of spaced aspens and powerful pines the tree skiing is the best in the world and seemingly all mine.

I know the stashes that this powder-hungry mountain holds, locals protect their pow making outsiders lucky if they are told.

Surprisingly steep as you enter Fish Creek this is the dankest turnin’ out of any peak.

Powder days bless Mt. Werner nearly every night leaving powder junkies in a state of complete delight.

Ghost trees hide as you round the top, their clean white appearance will make you stop.

For those who love the fluff, head for The Boat expecting to get enough.

Phat airs are littered throughout the terrain making a pitch with pow completely insane!

I can’t get enough of carvin’ at this place, I’d take a day here over a walk in space.

— by Justin DeSorrento February 5, 1977 - July 17, 1997

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Courtesy Greg I. Hamilton

Sports | By Greg I. Hamilton

Steamboat filmmaker Greg I. Hamilton shoots footage for “The Movement,” selected for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

When a Movie Really Moves People Steamboat film writer & director inspired by adaptive sports

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In January 2010 right here on my home slopes of Steamboat, I saw a blind snowboarder. Facing his instructor, arm-in-arm, the two of them looked like dancers waltzing down the mountain. Moments later a paraplegic caught air in the halfpipe, much to his instructor’s chagrin. It was like something out of a dream.

That All Mountain Camp (now in its eighth season hosted by Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports and Adaptive Adventures) was the start of something for me. It provided my first real taste of an evolution I can trace back to at least 1950. In that year, as Warren Miller filmed his second ski movie, his buddies begged him to point the camera their way. They were shocked when he headed, instead, for the rope-tow. What his lens captured that day was a group of blind people learning to ski.

Miller shared that story with me six decades later, between takes in the studio. We were taking a break from recording narration for the film I wrote and co-directed, “The Movement.” Before starting in again, Miller set my script aside and told me about a little girl named Traci Taylor. This nine-year-old March of Dimes poster child had traded her crutches for outriggers, learned to ski...and stole the show in Miller’s 1985 film, “Steep and Deep.” I knew it well: it was the first ski flick I ever attended.

Taylor had been my film’s first casting call and revisiting her

story there with the godfather of ski films was a powerful moment. Listen carefully to Miller’s voice in “The Movement” and you can hear tears welling up when he says, “People ask me who was the best skier I’ve ever filmed and I’ve told them: Traci Taylor.”

Joining Taylor in the film are the most decorated male Paralympic skier ever, Chris Waddell; his mentor, Jim Martinson; and worldrecord holder for blind speed skiing, Mike May. This ensemble of sports heroes provides advice and encouragement to Rick Finkelstein, the central character in the film.

Paralyzed in a ski accident in 2004 Finkelstein was considering a return to the very mountain where he’d been hurt. He even hoped he might learn to monoski (or “sit-ski”). As soon as he agreed to let us film this attempt, we lined up ace instructors and the latest equipment, but he would still face a monumental ordeal of body, mind, and ego.

“I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself – and that’s a distinct possibility,” Finkelstein told me, just 16 days before filming.

“I was a good skier and I haven’t done anything for seven years now. I’ve been through cancer and paraplegia; I’ve got a lot of pain still. And I’m 61. So I have a few things working against me.”

Why bother? He just wanted a little bit of what Miller’s cameras have sought to capture for 63 years: a feeling of freedom. In making “The Movement,” I, too, tried to capture that sense of exhilaration and empowerment. Ultimately, I hoped to share those dream-like visions I had witnessed at Steamboat’s All Mountain Camp.

I’m happy to report that the film has been well-received. It has taken me so much further than I ever dreamed: a premiere at Sundance plus 20 other festivals, five awards and eligibility for an Oscar® in 2013. It’s all mind-blowing and I’m completely humbled: not unlike the sensation I felt seeing a blind snowboarder and an airborne monoskier. n Vew “The Movement” on all Frontier Airlines airbus flights throughout November – or visit MakeAHero.org to learn more. Find and follow Greg I. Hamilton’s writing, including his forthcoming book, at TheMovementBook.org.

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Profile | Story/Photography By Ned Cremin

Matt Ladley:

Going Fast, Going Big and Riding Well

Matt Ladley waits at the starting gate of the halfpipe during the 2011 Winter X Games.

X-Game rider Matt Ladley, a veteran of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, posted impressive results last winter at the highest levels of the international snowboarding circuit.

Ladley made the podium at the Dew Tour in Killington, Vt., and finished in the top five at both the Aspen Winter X Games and Tigres Winter X Games Europe. Then came the grand finale: the 21-year-old stomped a showcase run at the Snowboarding World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Up against a veteran league of snowboard legends and journeymen, Ladley solidified his niche in the Halfpipe Hierarchy by taking the silver medal.

Not bad for a down-to-earth, modest kid with a toothy smile who calls small-town Steamboat home.

In just a few short years as a pro, Ladley’s keen sense of airawareness, coupled with a glassy clean riding style, has cranked necks and widened eyes along the deck. Able to lock down backto-back 1080s in the pipe with dizzying amounts of amplitude, Ladley has established himself as a regular contender for the podium while winning the respect and praise from fellow pros and industry experts alike.

“It’s rare to see a halfpipe competitor who not only has a deep and technical bag of tricks, but also the ability to perform these moves with great amplitude. This is what sets Shaun White apart, and the same can be said for Matt Ladley,” says Pat Bridges, editor of Snowboarder Magazine and an established authority on snowboarding.

Ned Cremin caught up with this Olympic hopeful while he was riding in Wanaka, New Zealand. Matt was preparing to

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compete in the first official FIS Snowboard Halfpipe event of the Olympic qualification period for Sochi, Russia in 2014. We talked about all things Steamboat, the Winter Sports Club and his outlook for the upcoming 2012-13 season.

Steamboat Magazine: Last season you had multiple podium finishes at major competitions. Which was your personal highlight of 2012?

Matt Ladley: As far as contests go, getting second at the World Snowboard Championships at Oslo, Norway. It was really big for me, definitely. That pipe was riding really well and when it’s THAT fun to be out there and you’re not terrified of the conditions, you can really let your worries go and just focus.

You’re stoked to be riding and to be in the moment. It worked out really great for me.

SM: Last year you rode the Ride signature Buckwild snowboard sporting the graphic, “I’m having more fun than you.” What will you be taking into 2013?

ML: I’ll be rocking the Buckwild 153, again. Pretty similar graphic as last year, so look for it. I’ll be riding the Ride Maestro bindings with Nike Boots and having way more fun.

SM: As you head into the 2012-13 season, who are your current sponsors?

ML: Nike, Muscle Milk, Hex, Ride Snowboards, Scull Candy, Oakley, Powder Tools and Steamboat Ski Area. They’ve all been great. I feel pretty lucky to have such great sponsors. They’ve been really supportive of everything I’m doing.

SM: At Winter X Games Aspen, your amplitude was

Matt Ladley sends it big with a 540 stalefish grab during the 2012 Winter X Games, Aspen.

STE AM B O AT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 63

Matt Ladley throws down a Miller Flip in Steamboat’s Rodeo Terrain Park. impressive, comparable only to Shaun White. Has that been an element you’ve been working on?

ML: Yeah, thank you. To me the most fun thing about riding pipe is going fast, going big, riding well and landing well. It’s definitely been something that I’ve put a lot of work into the past few years and especially all last year. I’m stoked that it’s paying off. I’ve learned a few new tricks this spring, and I’m looking to put those two things together to ride consistently and to keep progressing this season.

SM: As you’re traveling all around the world to compete, what do you miss most about Steamboat?

ML: I miss that mellow, small-town vibe. Being familiar with everyone and feeling comfortable everywhere. That’s what I LOVE about Steamboat, you go back home and you see all the people you grew up with. I see Jon, Spencer — all those guys. I love hanging out with the family and not doing contests. I get to relax and go shred pow. I just got a new sled, so I miss taking that out. Hopefully we get a lot of snow this winter.

SM: You had a large Colorado crowd supporting you this year at Winter X Games. How did that feel?

ML: It’s so fun. I have so many buddies that come out from Steamboat and Boulder. I come down after finishing my run, I love seeing 20 kids I know in the crowd. It’s awesome. I’m really excited that there are so many great contests in Colorado this year — the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, X-Games in Aspen, and the U.S Open just moved out to Vail as well. So, three of the biggest contests in snowboarding will now be in Colorado. I’d like to get all the people I can to come out for those three. See you there.

SM: How did participating in the Winter Sports Club help you prepare for the professional ranks?

ML: Being part of the Winter Sports Club in Steamboat is 64 | O NL INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

really the best-case scenario for a young snowboarder who wants to turn pro someday. You get the opportunity to travel, at least regionally, and then as you grow older and do better, you get to travel to the bigger contests. They’re always right there, supporting you and helping you with pretty much everything that the U.S Pro Team would do — just on a smaller scale. You have all the coaches giving you feedback, offering tips and reviewing video. You have friends to ride with, and I think the biggest part of it is you ride a lot. You’re always stoked to be out there, and they’re great about keeping it fun. The kids want to continue progressing, not because someone is telling them to, but because they have that hunger. For me, that was the highlight of every day growing up. I couldn’t wait to leave school and go shred.

SM: Do you credit anyone in Steamboat or the WSC with helping catapult you to success?

ML: Two coaches, for sure. Spencer Tamblyn and Jon Casson. My mom is moving into a different house and I was going through my room, sorting things out, when I came across a journal from when I was about 11 years old. There was an entry about my snowboard instructor, Jon Casson, and the day he taught me a 360. I remember vividly, that was the first front-side 360 I ever learned. We went up Sundown lift and then headed right from the top to that first cat-track towards 3 O’clock. I learned my first 360 there. So, I got to give it up to Jon, he definitely inspired me right off the bat. We did a lot of interesting training over the next few years and he’s a great guy.

I still keep in touch with him. Then later, when I was about 14 or 15, I started training with Spencer, and I think he’s still one of the greatest guys and greatest coaches out there. I worked with him for a while until he became the U.S. Snowboarding Team coach. I really owe those two guys a lot for where I am today.

S

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discriminating Buyers and Sellers Matching extraordinary properties with and knowledge of the market. I takes dedication, patience, creativity, ls. I have been fortunate enough to would like to help you meet your goa / Olympic sons in Steamboat Springs have raised two successful World Cup kbone to success. Call me and I would and this community has been our bac love to show you Steamboat...

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Taylor Fletcher 2010 Olympian

Penny Fletcher Proud Momma

Bryan Fletcher 2012 World Cup Champ Athlete of the Year

Broker/Associate, CNE, MCNE office. 970.875.2927 mobile. 970.846.4429 penny@mybrokers.com STE AM B O AT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S ON 20 1 2/1 3 | 65

SM: Steamboat is known as Ski Town USA. What do you have to say about that?

ML: Well, there are a ton of skiers there. But, recently we’ve got a lot of good snowboarders coming out of the ‘Boat. We have both the Golds, (Taylor and Arielle) and Maddy Shafrick, obviously, Natalie Geer, too. I think they’re all good riders and going places with snowboarding. Taylor and Arielle are both down here in New Zealand, and they’re riding great. Maddy is coming back from a knee injury and she’s always killing it. I have a lot of faith in her and I think she’s going to do very well.

SM: What are you looking forward to in 2013?

ML: Right now I’m really focused on my competition schedule. I’m going to push to do my best in all the Olympic qualifying events. I feel like I have a good chance to do well in the qualifiers. So right now, it’s contests and staying healthy.

Nothing is promised, so I’m just going to do my best.

SM: Any shout-outs to the ‘Boat?

ML: Yeah, to my family and all my friends back there, to Winter Sports Club, Powder Tools. I’ve got the best sister in the world, Lauren. I would put money down on that. She takes care of me. It was good seeing everyone this summer and I’ll be back there this winter. Big thanks to Jake and Bernie! n You can keep up with Matt and offer your support by liking his Matt Ladley athlete page on facebook.

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e ski or th gle so f s l n ee . an a way ll wh e bu truck at ong the h t d l rm ade es a er lo to his fa bypass h c t t on low n Fe Joh s first lif d clear l ’ u a are uck wo r the t John Fetcher stands on the slope overlooking Steamboat Springs. Fetcher skied until he was in his 90s, and maintained his status as a ski patrol member until then too.

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here Jim Temple was the visionary, John Fetcher was the engineer, businessman and rancher. A practical man, John went so far as to haul bull wheels for a chairlift from California on the back of his pickup truck when production problems threatened to delay their delivery.

John’s wife, Clarissa (Criss) won the Hazie Werner Award of Excellence for her many contributions to the community, from her passion and promotion of music to her work with the Red Cross and the hospital.

Like his father before him, Jay Fetcher is a rancher and water-rights advocate, while his brother, Bill, is a rancher and historian. John’s sister-in-law, the late Gertrude Fetcher, was one of the early supporters of The Lowell Whiteman School in Strawberry Park.

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By Jean Wren Born in Winnetka, Ill., in 1912, John Fetcher was educated in this country and France. He graduated from Harvard with degrees in business and engineering and served in an executive position for the Budd company in Paris and Philadelphia, first making railroad cars for the French government, then munitions.

In 1948, tired of a high-pressure lifestyle, he came to Routt County with his brother, Stan, and purchased a ranch on Elk River, near Clark. Having moved his wife and four children from suburbia to ranching, Fetcher learned to milk a cow and shoe a horse but was soon reaching out for new fields to conquer.

In 1959 he joined the newly formed Storm Mountain Ski Corporation as vice president and worked with its founder, Jim Temple, to establish a ski area. When funding fell short for the project, a Denver group was brought in to take over and Mount Werner Inc. was formed, with Fetcher as president. The first lift was installed in 1963, after Fetcher had driven a ranch truck to California to pick up bull wheels. He then supervised the construction of the Christie, Thunderhead, Four Points, Burgess Creek and Headwall lifts. Traveling to Switzerland to negotiate the purchase of a gondola, he returned to supervise its construction.

As chairman of the Steamboat Springs Jumping Commission, he spearheaded the rebuilding of the Howelsen Hill jumping complex and installation of snowmaking equipment. Later he raised money for stabilization for the 90-meter jump and expansion of the Howelsen Hill lodge. Twice an Olympic jumping referee, he served as president of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club in 1973-’74. He joined the National Ski Patrol 45 years ago.

Fetcher was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and was awarded the Halstead Memorial Award for service to skiing. t mp a u j Excerpted from the original article, as it appeared in the Winter/Spring 1998 e th uild oyed it. b e edition of Steamboat Magazine. r r est s to help r a fire d r e tch l afte 70 | O N LI N E A T WWW.S T EA M BO A T M A GA ZI N E.CO M l n Fe Joh lsen Hi e w Ho

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The Werners: Buddy, “Pop,” Hazie, Skeeter and Vonda (Buddy’s wife)

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d “Pop” Werner, the patriarch of the Werners, packed out a ski hill for his kids on the ranch. His wife, Hazie, was a legendary hostess and the epitome of Steamboat’s “friendly” persona. Her light is still on, in a manner of speaking, as it shines over the valley from the restaurant named in her honor atop the gondola. Their three children, Skeeter, Loris and Buddy, were all Olympians and competitive skiers.

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By Mike Clark Buddy Werner was charismatic before the concept became popular. He had movie-idol looks, a ready grin, and also happened to be the greatest American racer of his generation — maybe the best ever.

In 1959, Werner became the only American to win the toughest race there is, the Hahnenkamm downhill at Kitzbuhel, Austria.

As successful as he was, Buddy Werner was dogged by bad luck. In the 1956 Olympics, he lost skis in two of the races. He finished the downhill on one ski, placing 11th. He didn’t even get to ski in the 1960 Games, breaking his left leg barely a month before the events at Squaw Valley, Calif. In the 1964 Games, his last major outing, Werner’s troubles er n continued. His best finish was eighth in r e yW Budd slalom as his teammates, Billy Kidd and Jimmy Heuga, won silver and bronze medals.

Buddy retired from racing on March 22, 1964. Three weeks later, while filming a ski commercial in Switzerland, he was killed in an avalanche. Mount Werner was renamed in his honor in 1965.

Olympic silver medalist Billy Kidd, Steamboat’s director of skiing, vividly recalls Buddy: “I remember seeing some photos of Buddy in Ski magazine. It was sequence photography, probably the first I’d ever seen. Here was Buddy coming through, making a left turn, then a right turn, then a left turn. There was a fence behind him, and by looking at that in each picture, you could see that he was moving along but the sequence was real quick. As he was turning, his head, his shoulders, nothing moved, just his knees flicking form one side to the other. I used those pictures to study how to turn quickly.

“Buddy not only had the credentials as a racer, but he also had the most ideal personality for getting stuff done. He had an obvious inner strength and fierce competitiveness and an exterior that was so gregarious. He was just a delight to be around.”

Excerpted from “The Werners to the World Cup,” Steamboat Magazine, Winter/Spring 1990

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Courtesy Rod Hanna

Skeeter & Hazie Werner

Hazie Werner, family matriarch.

By Skeeter Werner Hazie’s house sits along the edge of a stream in Old Town. Our family moved here in 1941 and since that day, almost no one has used the front door. They come in instead through her kitchen, stopping for a beer or soda pop on their way. Sitting in our living room today, surrounded by memories of my mother and father, Hazie and Ed “Pop” Werner, of growing up with my brothers Buddy and Loris, and of my late husband, Doak Walker, I reflect on this extraordinary community where I was raised.

I was a very lucky little girl, growing up with the best of two worlds: we lived on a ranch in the mountains, and I came into town for school.

For many years, we lived in an old log cabin on what is now the Fetcher ranch up the Elk River Valley. It wasn’t a fancy place — I remember Hazie putting an oilcloth over the kitchen table when it rained because the dirt roof leaked so badly. But we didn’t care.

All three Werner kids — Buddy, Loris and I — were competitive. No matter what we did, we did it to win. I think our ski coach, Gordy Wren, helped to instill that in us. He had tremendous mental and physical strength, and he was very strict. We had to watch what we ate and be in bed at a certain time.

Nobody drank or smoked — they wouldn’t have dared.

We trained at Howelsen Hill. I don’t think we give that ski area enough credit. It’s steep, tough terrain — very, very difficult to ski. If you can ski there, you can ski anywhere. The Winter Sports Club owned it back then. For more than 30 years, Pop was the driving force behind the club. He and Hazie also worked on the ranch, at the family store, selling hot dogs at Howelsen — whatever it took so we could ski.

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It was a thrill to be able to represent our hometown, and later our country, at events all over the world. Buddy, especially, left his mark. He was the first American skier to be considered a serious threat to Austrian dominance of the sport.

Probably the greatest moment in my own ski career was winning the North American championship in 1955, the year before the Olympics in 1956. That was a wonderful experience, too, but I can still see where I made my one mistake. It was in the downhill, and I touched the edge of one ski just a little too hard.

In the flick of a second, I went from first to 10th — that’s ski racing!

Hazie was always putting up visiting ski racers. Sometimes we had virtually the whole U.S. Team here: Bob Beattie, Hank Kashiwa, Moose Barrows, Bill Marolt and Billy Kidd. The only rule was you couldn’t wax your skis in the kitchen.

I remember the time President Gerald Ford came over to Steamboat from Vail to golf, but it was raining so hard he could only play nine holes.

So he came here instead, and the property was surrounded by Secret Service agents. When our neighbor stopped by to see what the commotion was, he was questioned and turned away.

Only one thing ever really made Hazie angry.

That was when newcomers would suggest that we ought to dissuade more people from moving here. She would always say, “We made room for you, didn’t we?”

Excerpted from “Steamboat Springs Legends” by Deborah Olsen.

Families are an integral part of the Steamboat Ski Area. The Heids, Crawfords, Withers, Elliotts, Romicks, Smalleys, Bowes, Schnackenbergs, Barrows, Perrys, Delli Quadris, Wrens, Elkins— for that matter, the Howelsens, both father and son — the story of Steamboat can be found in the family trees of its founders.

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50

People For Years

Steamboat Ski Area has historically featured a cast of characters, ranging from its original visionaries to big-time operators, from legendary athletes to hard-working ranchers.

Larry Pierce

Tom Barr

Most of Tom Barr’s friends call him T. Barr, for obvious reasons. He has spent most of his adult life on the mountain, as a snowboard and ski instructor and coach.

“It’s a lifestyle job, like being a golf pro or a fishing guide,” he says.

He’d only been riding for a total of two hours when he gave Steamboat Ski Area’s first-ever snowboard lesson to the Ski Corp. president’s son. “That’s about all I needed,” he says modestly.

T. Barr became the first official Steamboat snowboard instructor that day in 1989, when snowboarding was first legal at the ski area. Snowboarders weren’t allowed up the gondola until a year later; the stated reason was that the racks on the side of the cars were built for skis, not boards. When riders finally could take their boards up with them in 1990, they had to cover the tips with blue plastic sleeves.

Other early snowboard instructors included Chris Zuschlag and Randy Havens. Paving the way for them were Chris Smith and Wayne Ritter, founders of Powder Pursuits snowboard shop. Smith and Ritter took people up on Rabbit Ears Pass to introduce them to the sport before it was allowed on the mountain.

A year after the mountain allowed riders, Havens founded the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Snowboard Team with T. Barr’s help.

In less than 10 years, Steamboat boasted its first medalist, when local rider Shannon Dunn took bronze in the women’s halfpipe competition in the 1998 Nagano Games.

Twenty-four years later, the ski area offers riders — and skiers — four terrain parks and two halfpipes. T. Barr wonders, “Without snowboarding today, where would the industry be?”

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In addition to the founding families, featured on page 68, here are 50 personalities who contributed to the shaping of the ski area. Although some are racing champions, this is not a list of Olympians; those will be duly recognized in 2014, the next Olympic year.

Doug Allen Has been with the mountain since 1986 and is vice president of mountain operations, as well as a member of the National Tramways Services Board.

Tom Barr Founded the WSC snowboard team with Randy Havens, 1990; first official snowboard instructor at the Steamboat Ski Area, 1989.

Moose Barrows Steamboat Olympian, ski instructor, philanthropist and Realtor whose lifetime of service to Steamboat includes volunteerism, community involvement and ranching.

Mix Beauvais The first marketing director of Steamboat, Mix spent 16 years promoting the fledgling ski area, seeing it through to its fruition as a world-class ski area in the 1980s.

Nelson Carmichael First Steamboat skier to win an Olympic medal.

Marvin Crawford One of the original founders of the ski area, Marv was also a ski jumper, who was elected to the National Ski Jumping Hall of Fame and the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame.

David Crisler Worked at the ski area for 44 years and is currently director of slope maintenance, as well as a veteran ski racer and jumper.

Martin Hart

Rick DeVos Former director of the Steamboat Ski Area ski & snowboard school, now executive director of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

Chris Diamond President and chief operating officer of the Steamboat Ski Area since 1999; community and ski industry leader.

Shannon Dunn First Steamboat rider to win an Olympic medal.

Joe Foreman Presided over ski area expansion into Morningside Park and Pioneer Ridge.

Hans Geier Named in 2012 to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, Geier was the ski area president for nine years, increasing annual skier-day visits from 360,000 to over 1,000,000

Sherry Gibson Joined the ski area in 1980 and has served as executive assistant to the president since 1994.

Rod Hanna Presided over the marketing department of the Steamboat Ski Area for 25 years.

Martin Hart Was chairman of the Steamboat Ski Corporation from 1980 through 1989; stayed on as chair through 1991 under Kamori Kanko ownership.

Dick Hauserman Designed the famous Steamboat logo in 1970.

Ray Heid An Olympian and familiar cowboy in Steamboat, Ray skied the backcountry with Buddy Werner et al. before the ski area was opened, and he still skis it today.

Delbert Heid Served on lift & maintenance crews when the resort opened and was a member of the National Ski Patrol.

STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S O N 20 1 2/1 3 | 75

Gabrielle Boiselle

At the time, a controversial proposal to build a sister ski area at Lake Catamount overshadowed developments at the Steamboat Ski Area that have stood the test of time.

Under the leadership of Martin Hart, chairman of the Steamboat Ski Corporation in the 1980s, the first chairlifts were installed to the top of both Storm Peak and Sundown. The Summit Poma Lift, which had previously taken skiers to the top of Mount Werner, was dismantled.

The opening of Sunshine Bowl significantly expanded the ski area’s terrain. Affectionately dubbed “Wally World” by locals who saw the gentle terrain as having the potential of Chevy Chase’s “Vacation” destination, the new runs included Tomahawk, Quickdraw and Flintlock.

Rendezvous Saddle and Ragnar’s restaurant opened, and Sunshine and South Peak lifts allowed skiers to access the terrain.

The old Bell gondola, which swung precariously high from only a handful of towers, was replaced by the eightpassenger “Silver Bullet,” as today’s gondola was originally named.

And in 1989, snowboarding was allowed.

Also under Hart’s tenure, which extended for three years after he sold the ski area in 1989, employee housing, snowmaking, direct flights to Yampa Valley Regional Airport, Hazie’s, summer trails, Valley View and in-bounds access to Chute II and III and Christmas Tree Bowl were all developed.

“We got a lot done,” Hart recalls. “And we had a great time with it. Our investors came out well from an economic standpoint.”

Hart is quick to share the credit with community.

“Most people remember me, because of my position in the company, but all the people in the town really contributed to making Steamboat a family-oriented, fun place. The county commissioners took the lead with the airport, and downtown really grew too.

“But especially, the employees — it really was the people that worked for us who made it happen.”

Today, Hart lives in Denver, but says he’d like to see the recent improvements at the base area, especially the outdoor fireplaces and Promenade. ”I’ve heard good comments about what’s happening up there,” he says.

Was the first female ski patroller on the mountain, Winter Carnival queen, ski racer and long-time race official, who is currently on the board of the Rocky Mountain Division, USSA. Courtesy John T Martin, Artist

Could the 1980s truly have been a golden era for Steamboat?

Esther Delli Quadri

Errold Hitchens

Courtesy Ruth McClelland

First paid ski patrolman at the ski area, Hitchens helped to build the Christie and Thunderhead lifts. He helped finance and install Howelsen Hill’s Pomalift and owned one of the two first pairs of metal skis in Steamboat. (Buddy Werner owned the other pair.)

Carl Howelsen The father of skiing in Steamboat Springs and beyond, jumping over an elephant inside a tent at Barnum & Bailey Circuses throughout the United States. Howelsen Hill is named for this famous Norwegian Olympian.

Kimihito Kamori President of Kamori Kanko, which owned the ski area from 1989 through 1997. Kamori Kanko operates ski areas and other resorts, primarily in Japan.

Hank Kashiwa Professional ski racer who represented the Steamboat Ski Area as world champion in 1975.

Billy Kidd Steamboat’s director of skiing since 1970, silver medalist in the 1964 Olympics and world champion, 1970.

Gary Kihlstrom Helped to build the first lift at the ski area, tended bar at the old Gallery restaurant, initiated security at the ski area. The Kihlstrom maintenance building is named in his honor.

Kent Kirkpatrick “Switchboard Kent,” the voice of Steamboat since 1994.

Bob Kuusinen The former vice president of mountain operations, Kuusinen worked for the mountain for 31 years. Kuus’ Cruise run is named after him.

Liz Leipold Helped to found Steamboat’s first adaptive ski program in the early 1970s.

Verne Lundquist Nationally known sports commentator, Lundquist lives in Steamboat Springs and is an avid ski area enthusiast and community supporter.

Ruth McClelland Worked for the ski area for 30 years, as an instructor, supervisor and administrator. Daughter of Rudi Schnackenburg.

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Ruth McClelland If pigs can fly, then hogs can ski.

One of the many stories retired Steamboat ski instructor Ruth McClelland tells is about the Houston Oilfield Group Skiers, aka HOGS, which started when one or two couples came to Steamboat to ski. The party grew from there. McClelland gave all-day lessons to the group, which hosted an annual banquet and handed out T-shirts with pictures of hogs on skis, wearing helmets, soaring past an oil derrick.

McClelland still has the T-shirt somewhere, a reminder of the many lifelong friendships she made during her 30year career at the Steamboat Ski Area. What started out as a part-time college job working in the ski school under the direction of Skeeter Werner ended up as a top-level administrative career.

Along the way, McClelland’s list of returning private clients — and friends — grew. Take the Hibbard family from Tuscaloosa, Ala., for example. She taught the parents, their eight kids and their kids’ kids to ski. She even gave Grandma a couple lessons when, as an 80-something senior, she wanted to see what all the excitement was about.

McClelland became close to many of the instructors she supervised. “I learned my values from my dad (Rudi Schnackenberg), who taught me to let your employees know your expectations, follow through with those, and acknowledge them when they do well.”

There was a time for work and a time for play, and no time is more fondly remembered than the end-of-the-season parties McClelland organized at the Ore House for her fellow ski instructors. She can still recall skits from them today.

McClelland is proud of her accomplishments as a ski school supervisor and administrative director. She was named Hospitality Person of the Year for Steamboat Springs in 1998. After having lobbied for lifetime passes for longtime employees, she retired after her 30 years of service.

Today she keeps busy volunteering for several community activities, traveling, gardening, golfing, playing piano — and, of course, skiing.

Yampa Valley Land Trust

Celebrating

Gary Mielke Served as ski area president for five years, during which time snowboarding was legalized.

20 years

Merle Nash Helped develop the original Storm Mountain, where he worked for 15 years, cutting trails, setting lifts and doing maintenance before becoming mountain manager and lift manager.

of land conservation

Les Otten

In our Community For our Community

Former CEO of American Skiing Company, which purchased Steamboat in 1999. Locals personified ASC in the form of Otten and created a series of anti-Ski Corp. bumper stickers, including “More Steamboat, Less Otten.”

Glen Paulk Supervised the ski area for LTV Recreation Development from 1974 to 1981, during which time sales doubled and the ski area grew to 600 employees.

meeting identified top community priorities of

protecting —

Roger Perricone Race course manager and FIS official; 2012 president of the Rocky Mountain Division of the U.S. Ski Team.

scenic vistas

Hank Perry Rudi Schnackenberg & his daughter, Ruth McClelland

large working landscapes

Investment broker involved in funding the ski area in its early years.

habitat for wildlife

Sherm Poppen

open spaces

Creator of the “snurfer,” the forerunner of the modern snowboard.

and providing —

Dick Randolph

access for recreation with expanded areas on

new public

Courtesy Ruth McClelland

Oversaw operations and lifts at the ski area in the 1970s, after which he became chairman of the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board.

Howelsen Hill and 4,000 acres on

Emerald Mountain for hiking,

Rudi Schnackenberg

biking, skiing, snowshoeing and

Was a 10th Mountain Division veteran and ski school supervisor. Rudi’s Run is named in his honor.

bird watching with new fishing and boating access to the

Thank you to our past donors and please join us as a new donor to help support

Park Smalley

Yampa Valley Land Trust’s

Courtesy Park Smalley

Dubbed the “godfather of freestyle skiing.”

The freestyle complex on Voo Doo run is named in his honor.

He is a member of the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame.

Yampa River.

River

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land conservation mission In our Community and For our Community with a financial gift by going to www.yvlt.org.

On to the next twenty years!

www.yvlt.org

Chris Smith The owner of Powder Pursuits, Chris contracted his services to the ski area to create its first-ever snowboard instruction program.

Charlie Swinehart Ticket sales superintendent for 16 years. The women who worked in the office with her were affectionately dubbed “Charlie’s Angels.”

Marion Tolles 25-year career at the ski area culminated in her position as executive assistant to the director.

© Ron Dahlquist

Sureva Towler Wrote the book on skiing in Steamboat. Literally. Her book, “The History of Skiing at Steamboat Springs,” forms the backbone of most writing on the subject.

Lonny Vanatta World Pro Slalom champion 1981; Lonny won 20 races, competing for Steamboat and went on to coach for WSC.

Cathy Weidemer One of the most photographed skiers in Steamboat, Weidemer was the public relations manager at the ski area. With Pete Wither, she developed the first summer mountain biking program. “Cathy’s Cutoff” bike trail is named in her honor.

Deb Werner Has worked on the mountain for 40 years and is currently director of lift operations.

Sven Wiik Olympic gymnast from Sweden who coached many local skiers and whose influence shaped the Nordic community.

Pete Wither Retired ski patrol director, under whose tenure the summer mountain biking program was started. “Pete’s Wicked Trail” (bike trail) is named in his honor.

Gordy Wren Steamboat’s only four-way Olympian (alpine, cross country, jumping and Nordic combined); he went on to coach all three Werner children, among hundreds of other young skiers at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

Join the conversation... © Ron Dahlquist

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Nominate your own Steamboat hero at

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Courtesy Pete Wither

Inspiring the Pursuit of Excellence

Pete Wither Pete Wither made a choice when he was 18 years old that makes him shake his head in disbelief today.

At the time, he was working for ski area founder Jim Temple, who offered him three options for payment: company stock, cash or property at the base of the mountain. “I was 18, so what do you think I took?” he says now. The cash came in handy….

The son of “Boy Wonder” Bob Wither, who earned his moniker when he set a jump hill record at the age of 9, Pete grew up on skis. He remembers being pulled up the mountain on long ropes behind a snowcat before there were lifts, and he helped mix cement off the back of the cat for the first lift towers.

Like most of the young people in town, Pete left the area after high school (SSHS class of ’60).

“There were only five people left in town my age,” he recalls. “There was nothing for us to do.”

Wither served for two years in Vietnam, then worked as a patroller in Winter Park. When he moved back to Steamboat in 1968 with his new wife, Barbi, “there were only a few cowboys and within a few years, there were thousands of ski bums.”

He became ski patrol director (for the second time — he held the position briefly in 1968) in 1983, a position he held for more than a decade.

He managed 100 employees and skied 100 days every year, as he still does today.

He remembers skiing through the trees in Shadows on power days in the 1970s. “We had really big snows that were all air. There were big ‘puffers’ in the trees. When the blue sky came out and the temperature went up, the puffers started coming down. There were big white snowflakes falling down all around us.”

Today, Pete is a Realtor, working closely with his son, Scott. When people ask him what he thinks about all the growth in the valley, he says, “If it hadn’t grown, I wouldn’t be here and neither would you.”

To donate today, please visit SSWSC.org/donate-now Please Join Us For the 2012 Stars at Night Fundraising Gala~

Benefiting the SSWSC and The Foundation

5:30 PM

Please join us for our Second Annual Stars at Night Fundraising Gala on December 29, 2012 at the Steamboat Grand. Accompany Steamboat’s Olympians for a night of Entertainment, Drinks, Dancing and a Live Auction. Tables go on sale November 1st.

For more information or to reserve a table, please visit our website

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Back In The Day

The real Steamboat story is best told through the eyes of those who lived it.

Historians, writers and PR pros may get their facts straight, but if you really want to know what it’s like to ski Steamboat’s legendary untracked powder, to lift off from the 90-meter jump for the first-ever time – and land it successfully, by the way-to sell cattle to make payroll or to land an aerial maneuver in a hay bale, it’s best to get the story straight from the source.

Six Steamboat skiers, from teenager to lifetime devotee, dug out their scrapbooks and put their best memories into words. Fly high off the Large Hill, discover an under-reported powder day, leave your skis safely in a snow bank overnight, run over the ski area’s corporate records, coach the Three Stooges, and get busted by Mom for tucking Headwall.

These are true Steamboat stories from… back in the day.

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Park Smalley:

Park Smalley, a member of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, is a former U.S. Olympic Team and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club coach. A pro mogul skier, he has been dubbed “the father of freestyle skiing.” The Park Smalley Freestyle Complex at the Steamboat Ski Area is named in his honor.

Ironically, the story of my arrival in Steamboat begins with the Shah of Iran.

When I was a member of the Marlboro Ski Team, one of the more exotic stops on our tour was Tehran. We arrived at 4 a.m. and were picked up by our 5’2” driver, who took us to the Tehran Hilton, where — by the way — we spent Christmas.

The ski area was not far outside of Tehran and actually had some pretty good skiing. They built a jump for us, and we did a demonstration for the Shah. He watched it, got back in his helicopter and was gone.

The money I earned on that trip funded my move to Steamboat Springs. I came here from Killington, Vt., with Mike Williams and Rusty Taylor. Mike was raised here and thought it might be a good place to start a camp for young “hot doggers.”

We used wobbly scaffolding to build an artificial ramp at Howelsen Hill, and we had 200 bales of hay to use for a landing.

We’d fluffed about 150 of them when Mike said he wanted to test the jump. A couple things went wrong: 1) we really did need all 200 bales and 2) we didn’t place them quite right — Mike landed on the far side

of the hay.

Next we tried water. Our plan was to build a pond, and John Fetcher, who was probably quite amused by our “creativity,” drove an old tractor down to the site. He asked me if I wanted a ride in the cab, and I climbed in. He quickly showed me how the controls worked, then said he had other things to do, wished us luck and left.

We dug the pond and filled it with water. Not being on an engineering par with John, we failed to realize that the water would seep into the earth quite so fast. Then we had the idea of lining the pond with big sheets of plastic and having our friends stand around the edge and hang on to the liner.

That was the beginning of the Great Western Freestyle Camp. We only had five or six students that summer, but look who they were: Fuzz Feddersen, 12 years old with a mouthful of braces; Cooper Shell; and Nelson Carmichael, who was the third stooge. Maria Quintana was there too. Four out of five of those kids went on to break barriers in the sport.

Fuzz, Maria and Nelson competed in the 1988 Olympic Games, and I was their coach. It was the first time freestyle was recognized as an Olympic sport — it was an exhibition event that year. Nothing touches that Olympics when it comes to my memories. From out-jumping our haybale landing at Howelsen to the Olympics. It was just incredible.

Courtesy Park Smalley

Courtesy Park Smalley

Great Western Freestyle Camp

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Courtesy Jim Mader

Jim Mader : Die-hard skier

Jim Mader is the epitome of a die-hard skier. Powder or hard-pack, he’s at the gondola almost every day. He surmises that some people may have logged more days than he has at the ski area, but he doubts there are many, other than employees. His two daughters, Caterina and Jessie, grew up with him on the mountain and went on to become competitive freestyle skiers. He recalls a favorite powder day, one of those unexpected treats, when the snow started falling just before dawn, so the ski report didn’t reflect the freshies that awaited him.

5:30 a.m. Time to call the ski report. One new? Or was it 3 new in the last 24 hours? It didn’t matter, I was going skiing, just like every other day.

7:30 a.m. I get to the glass. I am the only one here, and it’s dumping. It should be really good up top.

8:15 a.m. A few more people show up and the doors open.

8:40 a.m. I get to the top of the gondola, put on my skis and head to White Out. I look down Rudi’s, and it seems like there’s more than an inch here. I pass Norther, then through the trees to B.C. liftline. Wow! There is a lot of snow.

8:45 a.m. I get to White Out, and I’m the only one here. The snow is above my boots, almost to my knees.

Unbelievable! I am ecstatic.

One day among so many. Was that unexpected powder day my favorite, or was it another line through the trees or maybe every turn I made through the bumps? Maybe it was skiing with my daughters on my back, when they were little, or watching them do helis and back flips on Voo Doo. To me, each day, every turn of every run I have made, is my favorite memory of skiing. Thank you, Mount Werner, for a lifetime of memories.

Mix Beauvais: In the early days

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Steamboat, only to find we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of the car in a blizzard on Rabbit Ears Pass. We made it.

The second day of Verne’s stay, he wanted to shoot on the mountain. We started down Central Park (now Rudi’s Run) to set up the shot, the camera guy and I coaching Verne on where to stand. We had him move backward a couple of times, and the last time, he stepped off the trail and almost out of sight in the soft snow. This was Verne’s introduction to Champagne Powder®.

Courtesy Mix Beauvais

Mix Beauvais, now a local Realtor, was the first marketing director at the Steamboat Ski Area. His portfolio includes the iconic poster of the Steamboat barn, with two horseback riders trudging through the snow in the foreground, skis resting across their saddles.

In the early days, John Fetcher and I were always in a money crisis. The only assets we had were John’s cows, so we would drive to Denver in John’s cattle truck to see the bankers. We had to tell the bank ahead of time so they could clear the way for us to get the truck into their parking lot. We’d mortgage the cows at one bank and pay off a loan at another, with just enough cash from the transactions to keep the company going.

Back then, I was not only the sales and marketing guy, but also the comptroller.

I had an office in Denver as well as Steamboat. When I traveled back and forth, I’d take the accounting records with me in case I needed to work on the books. One day when I was getting ready to return to Denver, I took the records outside and put them on the back of the car. I forgot something and went back into the old octagon building. Without thinking, I jumped into the car and backed right over the accounting records. Fortunately I always carried them in a metal trunk and even though it was smashed flat, nothing got ruined.

During the 1970 ski season, I got a call from Cal Beaver, the sales rep for Braniff Airlines. He told me one of the best sports guys in Dallas wanted to come to Steamboat, ski and send some footage back to his station. So, I picked up Verne Lundquist at Stapleton Airport in Denver and headed to

Verne & Nancy Lundquist with Mix & Karen Beauvais Some years later Verne and Nancy made Steamboat their home. He is a great friend and continues to be a great ambassador for Steamboat.

Courtesy Marion Tolles

Marion Tolles : Marion Tolles

From the roots

The upcoming 50th anniversary of the Steamboat Ski Area brings back memories of my own early days of skiing in Steamboat Springs.

When my husband, George, and I first arrived here in the late ‘50s, we skied at Howelsen Hill, then Steamboat’s only ski area. Having attended the 1956 Olympics in Cortina, we were excited to be skiing on the hill where so many Olympians had trained.

But how I hated that treacherous T-bar. I fell off several times before it was mercifully replaced by a chairlift some years later.

One day in 1958, while we were working and living at Whiteman School, Olympians Buddy and Skeeter Werner came out to talk to the students and faculty. They told us about Jim Temple’s dream of building a ski area on Storm Mountain, and predicted it would become a world-class resort someday.

When we returned to Steamboat in 1964, Temple’s dream had become a reality.

The fledgling ski area was in operation, and we couldn’t wait to try it. We weren’t disappointed. There were only three lifts – Christie I, Thunderhead and the Headwall Poma — but there was no shortage of Champagne Powder®.

Base area facilities consisted of an A-frame building by the Christie lift. Ralph Selch sold pizza, hot dogs and beer upstairs. The lower level housed ski patrol, Skeeter Werner’s Storm Hut Ski Shop and ski school. On sunny days, the A-frame deck was a favorite après-ski gathering place.

The ticket office in an adjacent hut was a one-person operation, and that person was Charlie Swinehart. She ran the whole show and was the ski area secretary besides. That winter an all-day ticket cost $3.75. A season pass went for $75, which seemed like a lot of money in those days. Forgot your pass? No problem. Charlie knew everyone and just checked your name off her list. I dare say she would also have kept an eye on our kids if we had asked. She was that kind of person.

There were never any crowds or lift lines. I once skied Vagabond from top to bottom on a perfect powder day without seeing another person. When we finished skiing for the day, we just stuck our skis in a snow bank by the A-frame and left them for next time.

I felt well-outfitted in black stretch Bogner ski pants, double-laced Austrian leather boots and laminated-wood Fischer skis with offset steel edges and bear trap bindings.

When I later upgraded to early-model safety bindings with cumbersome safety straps, I never felt quite as secure as I did in those bear traps.

A 1965 brochure advertised 7-day ski packages for $43.35, including lodging, lift tickets and roundtrip train transportation from Denver on the Yampa Valley Vista Dome. The train didn’t have a dining car but someone usually came on board in Bond selling sandwiches. You had your choice of motels and hotels downtown. No lodging had yet been built at the mountain.

I began my 25-year career with the ski corporation when Charlie hired me in the checkout line at Safeway.

Thinking back on those early years, it’s amazing to realize the changes time has wrought. Steamboat truly has become a world-class resort. But sometimes I feel nostalgia for the days when you could ski down Vagabond without seeing another person, then leave your skis in a snow bank for the next time.

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Courtesy Jasper Good Courtesy Jasper Good

Jasper Good:

Five seconds of flying — again and again

Jasper Good, 16, is a Nordic combined skier who is currently skiing with the National Training Group and is starting to have opportunities to train with the U.S. Ski Team. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Good says his hometown has offered him many remarkable ski experiences, from deep powder days at the Steamboat Ski Area to jumping at Howelsen Hill. Here, he recounts his most memorable one.

My first time to jump the Large Hill at Howelsen Hill Ski Area is in the evening, which means that the entire mountain is pulsing with athletes training in multiple disciplines. Parents and coaches are watching from the bottom.

I’ve been waiting for this all throughout my school day and now the moment has finally come. As I start my warm-up, I become more and more excited. After watching videos from the previous day, I start to get dressed. This involves putting on Under Armour and the right thickness of socks. I then pull on my jumpsuit and tie my boots. I grab my helmet, goggles, gloves and pass.

With all my equipment, I grab my skis and head for the Poma lift. I ride up to the top stop, instead of getting off at a mid-station. I’m starting to get really excited because I’ve never gone all the way to this stop with jump skis. I’ve finally made it to the top stop of ski jumping in Steamboat Springs.

My mind is filled, going over what I’ve been

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working on, while I walk over to the jump. When I arrive there, I get butterflies. Right before putting on my skis, I look down the jump at the view of Old Town as the light begins to fade. I’m able to see all across town from here.

I follow my normal routine putting my skis on and then I slide out onto the start bar, which is where I will launch. I straighten my back and become focused; the moment has come and I signal to my coach that I’m ready. He checks the hill, and then with a downward sweeping motion of his hand, he signals that I am good to go.

I take a big deep breath and let go of the bar, starting my descent. The in-run is faster than any I‘ve ever been on. I near the end of the takeoff with my mind completely focused, and I nail the timing of my jump and lift off into the air. I feel like I just keep going up and out; my mind is telling me to stop getting more on top (the idea being to lay belly down over your skis, which are in a V formation for optimal flying position), but I overrule that instinct and stay with the jump. I feel as if I’m extremely high in the air, which is one of the coolest feelings ever because I really feel like I’m flying.

My jump ends, and I’m very excited as I arrive at the base of the Poma lift. The jump is replaying in my head, and I just want to get back to the top. I make my way through the crowd as fast as possible so that I can have the experience of flying for five seconds again and again.

Courtesy Scott Wither

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Scott Wither : Learning lessons

When I was in kindergarten, both of my parents worked at the ski area. Back then, only ½ day kindergarten was offered so it created a dilemma for my parents, what to do with me after school? Being a small town, they were able to convince the school that it was ok for me to take the school bus that went closest to the base of the ski area each day after lunch. I was dropped off with several other employees’ children each day, and we made our way to the Ski Corp’s family daycare service. Several times a week, the daycare class would gear up and go skiing as a group.

Some of my fondest memories of that age are of those afternoon ski sessions, learning to load the lifts without help, skiing with poles for the first time and skiing with buddies on the crazy trails through the trees that kids tend to find on all ski areas. Those of us who skied a lot knew the routine, where to meet each run at the bottom and where the trails were in the trees.

The instructors all knew my parents as my mom, Barbi, was a ski school supervisor and my dad, Pete, was a supervisor on the ski patrol. Often, the instructors would let some of us ski through their legs and go ahead of the class. I loved skiing under Headwall lift as the people on the lift would yell and cheer for our jumps located near the lift towers so we thought we were pretty hot stuff. So I decided to really show off and bombed down Headwall in my 5-year-old tuck, loving the cheers from the lift. As I came to a stop with a huge smile on my face, ready to do it again and talk about it with my friends, up skied my mom who had seen the entire episode from the lift. Needless to say, she didn’t think it was nearly as cool as I did and promptly took my pass away for the rest of the week!

Through a 20+ year career in ski racing, which included five years on the U.S. Ski Team, that was the only time I lost my lift ticket for skiing too fast. Lesson learned. Thanks Mom…

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Skiing Into the The – Next 50

Future

years

By Billy Kidd From Antarctica to Iran to New Zealand, Billy Kidd has literally skied the world. Since 1970, the Olympic silver medalist and world champion racer has not only been Steamboat’s director of skiing, he has been America’s premier spokesman on behalf of his sport. With his vast experience, he is uniquely positioned to consider what the next 50 years of skiing might bring.

Our sport will see many changes in the future, but the basic elements will remain the same: gravity, motion and freedom.

As we approach 2062, the performance gap between genders will blur, and the gap between Olympians and Paralympians will close. Adaptive skiers hold a key to the future: they are already utilizing bionic technology. At the London Olympics, South African runner Oscar Pistorius competed against able-bodied runners and raised the bar for adaptive athletes around the world.

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The indoor ski area in Dubai Global warming is one of the greatest hurdles ski areas are facing. As climate change makes snow coverage dicier in some places, plastic, like the material we have on Howelsen Hill’s jumps, will cover more trails.

The best plastic I ever skied on was at a little ski area in Gatlinburg, Tenn. in the 1980s. It was like Astroturf, with a layer of little polyethylene beads spread over it, and an intermittent sprinkler system. You could actually carve turns on it, and skiers of all levels were having fun. The British presently lead the world with 154 artificial ski hills. In the future, they’ll exist everywhere.

This also enables ski areas to be in unconventional places, closer to and potentially less cold weather gear-intensive for the sports’ growing number of fans. It will help promote diversity that has already taken root at Mountain High, 80 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, which earned a reputation as “the Ellis Island of ski areas” with roughly half its customers being nonwhite as of five years ago.

One of my contemporary heroes is 11-year-old Delaney Tyon, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe from South Dakota.

He’s the first Native American to become a national champion in ski racing by winning a gold medal in the NASTAR Finals.

Rapid City’s TV station did a story about him and somebody sent me the clip. Not only did I see an outstanding young skier, but when he got to the bottom of the hill he stopped and thanked his family and those who helped him. When I also learned that he did well in school I remember thinking, “This kid could be the future of skiing.”

Suzy Chaffee, my 1968 Olympic teammate, and I are working together to build the Native American Olympic Team Foundation, which promotes skiing and other sports among Native American people. Skiing vs. riding – it doesn’t matter as long as you’re out there.

With the challenges of air travel, I predict people will increasingly rent the latest equipment. But for sheer comfort, most skiers will still own their own boots. I’ve been using the

new Apex boots, which are changing boot design dramatically by being comfortable and warm – and dual sport so you can both ski and ride using the same boots. Plus, they use BOA Technology, a closure system designed in Steamboat Springs.

Helmets will become technological marvels, especially for racers. The competitors of tomorrow will visualize their run with the aid of a projector inside their goggles, feeding them information about conditions, speed and weather. All of us will enjoy full-face shields that keep out the wind, but still allow skiers to feel the cold air so they can bring all their senses into visualization.

Clothing will change too. New materials offer remarkably low thermal conductivity and can insulate from heat as well as cold. In the future, we’ll see weaves that expand when a skier is going downhill to allow ventilation, then contract on the lift to keep in warmth. They’ll be able to change color according to a programmable dial too.

Most lifts will be covered, have padded seats and built-in chargers for personal media and cell phones – and the once maligned “bubble” will be refined for good visibility.

Beginners will learn on simulators resembling a video game in order to have their psychological breakthrough indoors.

Then they can move confidently onto the snow.

Within 50 years there will be an Olympic ski champion who is a Native American adaptive skier and veteran. In the finish line interview, she will thank Mother Earth, Mother Nature and the Heavenly Spirits. And she will donate her winnings to the Nature Conservancy and Special Olympics athletes throughout the world.

© Ron Dahlquist

Although some critics felt threatened by Pistorius’ Cheetah FlexFoot limbs, supporters argued that Pistorius is a normal man with innate athletic ability, a competitive spirit and a lot of drive.

Those are the characteristics that have, and will continue to, inspire future athletes.

Lindsey Vonn grew up skiing at Buck Hill, Minn., a 309-foot hill. She became the best skier in the world. In the future, any hill will do – even indoor ski areas, like the one in a shopping mall in Dubai. The ski world is expanding – one day we could have a Brazilian Olympic ski champion.

The author, Billy Kidd

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Billy Kidd asked a few of his friends in the ski industry to join the conversation.

“Twenty-first century technology cannot change the essence of winter sports. That is the past, present and the future.”

Deb Armstrong, Olympic gold medalist and alpine program director of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Deborah Olsen

“During the next 50 years, we’ll see a number of unique new resorts developed. Zero-emission, fuel-cell-powered, airborne personal access vehicles will zip us anywhere we want to explore. Equipment will become practically transparent and invisible as hard goods will become much, much lighter without sacrificing performance.

Finally, clothing will self-regulate — deeming layering unnecessary, and we’ll never be cold or wet again. ” Nelson Carmichael, Olympic medalist, Steamboat Springs “From Lake Placid, New York, to Steamboat Springs and from Lillehammer, Norway, to Chamonix, France, I’ve seen skiing evolve from a winter-only sport to a year-round pursuit where elite athletes chase the white stuff around the world, and imaginative engineers find ways to make snow and substitute for it with porcelain and plastic. In the coming years, I hope we can band together to preserve and sustain our snow, so that in 50 years, our children’s children will continue to break barriers!”

Billy Demong, Nordic Combined Olympic Gold Medalist, 2010, and World Champion, 2009

Courtesy U.S. Ski Team/Sarah Brunson

Nelson Carmichael at the top of his namesake, Nelson’s Run

Billy Demong, 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist

“Steamboat will have a year-round community of students, at the secondary and college level, pursuing their studies in Steamboat while participating in a variety of elite sports academies. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club will be the largest, but by no means the only training center. We may see mountain and road cycling, lacrosse, even a rowing center. We’ll have a vibrant population of non-place-based employers and employees. Many of these businesses will have a travel industry focus.”

Chris Diamond, President & COO, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation “Skiers will have self-adjusting gear head-to-foot. Clothes in sync with elements/environment, goggles not only with GPS and video, but that change like the iris of your eyes for max visibility. If you don’t get our legendary powder on a given day, manmade-powder will be guaranteed to please. On the gondi ride, a Billy Kidd hologram will demonstrate how to ski with ease in waist-deep powder on the world-famous tree-ski runs.”

Chad Fleischer, Two-time alpine Olympian, President/ Founder Fleischer Sport “Future-think wizards and management consultants didn’t predict the explosion of freestyle and cross-country skiing in the 1970s, nor snowboarding in the 1990s. They were spontaneously introduced by skiers. In 50 years, the sport will be whatever skiers devise. All the ski industry has to do is to provide the equipment and facilities, and get out of the way.”

John Fry, “The Story of Modern Skiing”

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Aprés Ski — The Place To Be!

look us up for special deals on food and drink “The future of skiing is, indeed, very bright. The attention being paid to the quality of the skiing experience by the resort community is extraordinary. The advent of shaped skis made the sport easier to learn and more exciting for the accomplished skier. I hope the performance, comfort and convenience of ski boots will catch up with the resorts and skis to propel growth in skier participation in the years ahead.”

Denny Hanson, Apex Ski Boot Systems

Courtesy Eric Larsen

“I appreciate your confidence in me to be able to think out 50 years. I see a revival of skiing and snowboarding similar to the early ‘70s, due to the passing of the ‘legacy’ by us baby-boomers to our grandkids and the desire for families to be together in a healthy, exciting activity. There is no other activity like snow sports, where all levels of ability can have so much fun together. ” David Ingemie, President, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) “The correlation between a warming climate and overall decrease in global snowpack is fairly direct; however, the most dramatic effects will be the increased frequency and severity of storms, increased droughts and overall instability in ‘normal’ weather patterns. Having a ‘regular’ ski season will be a thing of the past.”

Eric Larsen, polar explorer who led a skiing expedition to the South Pole in 2009

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Torian Plum Plaza across from the Sheraton

“Some of our biggest strides in becoming a Eric Larsen, polar explorer Best in the World Team over the last decade have related to science - both in maximizing equipment technology and physical conditioning. As I look to the future, I see technology playing a vital role in elite athletics. But it needs to work side-by-side with goal-setting and hard work, along with the motivational factor our great sport heroes bring to youth.”

Bill Marolt, President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Skiing has been the same since I made my first turn in 1937.

Everything around skiing has changed dramatically, though, from uphill transportation to grooming, to slope-side condos, $110 one-day lift tickets and $1,400 skis! Economics are severely restricting entrylevel skiers, but the search for freedom goes on.

Warren Miller, filmmaker

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Courtesy Klaus Obermeyer

“SteamboatSprings’ Champagne Powder® will be the basis of a great future for skiing and boarding for the next 100 years!”

Klaus Obermeyer, founder of Sport Obermeyer “I continue to be impressed by the resiliency of our industry.

No other sport provides unforgettable experiences in incredible mountain settings where friends and family gather to celebrate and enjoy the freedom of skiing and snowboarding. With this momentum, our industry is poised for another 50 years of making lasting impressions on people’s lives.”

Rob Perlman, senior vice president of sales & marketing, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Because injuries happen

Klaus Obermeyer, doing the old tip roll.

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Courtesy U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly

Johnny Spillane, 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist

“I’m really looking forward to seeing ski jumping and Nordic Combined in 50 years. Every year the jumps get a little bigger and the athletes get a little better. I’m sure that in 50 years they’ll look at what we are doing now and laugh.

I would love to see Nordic Combined come back to the United States. Because the sport has grown so much in popularity in Europe, it’s tough for us to afford a World Cup competition. I only got to compete in one World Cup at home, but I remember watching the generation before me compete every year and I would really like to see that come back.”

Johnny Spillane, Nordic Combined Olympic Silver Medalist, 2010, and World Champion, 2003

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Courtesy Delaney Tyon

“One’s ‘thoughts,’ seen as neural activity, will ultimately control ski equipment, i.e., one will not just be wearing ski boots, thoughts will interact, in milliseconds, with one’s ski boots and skis. Advances of neuropsychology will provide the skier with greater emotional control over anxiety to optimize performance and will allow ‘cognitive maps’ (of ski courses) to directly translate into immediate neurobased responses.”

Dr. Joseph Trzasko, Neuropsychologist who has worked with Wounded Warriors, author of “Neuropsychology’s Contribution to the Future of Skiing” ‘Fifty years from now, the health/fitness of skiers will improve; equipment will be safer and more high tech; technique will remain the same; snowmaking will improve; and the spirit of competition will become stronger. I will coach a Native American Ski Team that will dominate and rule the slopes!”

Delaney Tyon, 11-year-old member of the Oglala Sioux nation, gold medal NASTAR champion “Half a century from now, skiing will be more colorful – and I don’t mean skiwear or equipment graphics. Snow sports will become more multicultural. Through immigration and population growth, minority groups will become the majority. This will occur by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Whatever their provenance, they will be hitting the slopes.”

Claire Walter, veteran ski writer, author and blogger, Boulder

Delaney Tyon, 11-year-old NASTAR champion

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A Champagne Powder® toast to a facinating history and a brilliant future Billy Kidd billykiddranch.com 92 | O N L INE AT WWW. STEA MBOA TMA GA Z I NE .C OM

a beautiful experience time after time

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Upcoming EvEnts Dec 20 ........ Peter and the Wolf ~ Family puppet production Dec 21 ........ Michael Kaeshammer ~ Boogie woogie piano Feb 14 .......... Marcia Ball ~ Valentine’s Day concert Mar 15....... The Fighting Jamesons ~ St. Patrick’s Day concert Strings Music Pavilion | Steamboat Springs, Colorado | 970.879.5056 | stringsmusicfestival.com STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S O N 20 1 2/1 3 | 93

Book Reviews

By Harriet Freiberger

Sponsored by:

Three Tales of Adventure in the West SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis

by Timothy Egan Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, NY 2012 Hard cover 412 pages $28 20 B&W photos Timothy Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the New York Times, chronicled the life of Edward Curtis, creator of the 20-volume series, “The North American Indian.” In writing about the West, Egan says, “It only seems logical to try to tell some of the stories of the longest-lasting tenants of a place I love.”

Edward Curtis collected those stories. In 1899, he began the project that preserved the last remnants of Native American traditions, rapidly vanishing in the face of ordered destruction.

Success came quickly to the man who dug clams to survive as a child and whose formal schooling ended with the sixth grade.

Curtis’ work with glass-plate negatives produced portraits during Seattle’s Gilded Age and was widely known around the Pacific Northwest.

When Curtis was age 30, a meeting and subsequent photographs of Angeline, last surviving child of Chief Seattle, was the start of “the largest, most comprehensive and ambitious photographic odyssey in American history.”

The “Big Idea” became the driving force of a lifetime: to

photograph all intact Indian communities left in North America, “to capture the essence of their lives before that essence disappeared.”

Ethnographer, anthropologist and historian, Edward Curtis was 61 years old when he finished Volume XX in 1929.

The acclaim that followed publication of early volumes, support from President Theodore Roosevelt, and J.P. Morgan’s financial investment counted for nothing during the final 23 years of the photographer’s life. Curtis vanished, like his work, from the American scene. He never earned any money from his Big Idea, but left a monumental legacy that today garners immense respect.

A private sale in 2009 brought $1.8 million for a single Curtis set.

More importantly, the old language and customs survive among tribal communities because of his recordings and writings.

Timothy Egan lets his readers accompany Edward Curtis into the lands of the first Americans. It is a compelling journey.

Author’s note: The Denver Art Museum owns one complete copy of the original volumes, which were published one-by-one from 1907-1930.

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TOUGH BY NATURE Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West

by Lynda Lanker Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene 2011, Oregon State University Press Hard cover 132 pages $39.95 Foreword by Larry McMurtry Introduction by Sandra Day O’Connor Afterword by Maya Angelou Lynda Lanker received her degree in art from Wichita State University and has lived for the last 34 years in western Oregon. “Tough By Nature” was published in conjunction with an exhibition that is currently being shared with museums around the country. With a rare combination of her own artistic skill and the spoken words of the women she interviewed, Lanker has recorded the reality of women’s place in the American West.

What began as a collection of landscapes and portraits became a learning process that drew upon the full resources of the artist’s versatility.

For 19 years, through 13 states, Lynda Lanker journeyed to those outlying spaces where cowgirls are more than fancy hats and shiny boots. In charcoal drawings, oil pastels, egg tempera, pastel and pencil, stone and plate lithography, 49 women take their places in and on the land, letting the urban-oriented reader stretch into an otherwise unreachable world.

The women speak for themselves.

A fourth-generation New Mexican rancher says, “People who think cattle are bad for the land don’t know what they’re talking about.”

A 32-year-old wife, mother and rancher tells of the satisfaction of working with new life and “realizing, at a very young age, that dying is part of the cycle.”

They are modern and traditional, some with master’s degrees, one creating promotional videos of a successful breeding program, and another winning awards for excellence in range management.

Lanker’s subjects live where they work. They handle cattle and horses, work like hired hands and know how to take care of themselves. “Cowgirls” represent the hundreds of women in the West who run cattle ranches, compete in rodeos, train horses, take care of families, advocate for the environment — and their way of life.

“I learned from them, and they changed me … the resilience, character, and quiet strength of these extraordinary women will be with me forever,” Lanker says.

THE LOST CHRISTMAS GIFT

by Andrew Beckham Princeton Architectural Press, New York 2012 Hard cover 40 pages $29.95 “The Lost Christmas Gift” transports readers to a long-ago time in the mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope. Two days before Christmas, on a traditional search for the tree that will be “just right,” 11-year-old Emerson Johansson and his father become lost during a snowstorm on Rabbit Ears Pass.

The mysterious happenings of the night that follows are brought to mind again many decades later, when a package, having been somehow lost in the mail for 70 years, arrives, ironically, on December 23.

The old, now brittle paper with its antiquated postage stamps contains an exquisite gift sent by Johansson’s father from a place some miles from the front line of World War II in Europe. Photographs made by the boy with his new camera during the night they had shared, pictures thought to be lost those many years, now reappear, awakening memories.

Present and past overlap, and in the telling, three points of view create a magical connection with what has been. The boy, now old and a great-grandfather of four, recognizes himself in the drawings and watercolors. A second layer is interwoven through the pages of the extraordinary gift itself, and finally author Andrew Beckham entices the reader into a suspended state of disbelief and a wondrous Christmas story.

Nine years ago, during his annual ski touring visit of the backcountry near Rabbit Ears Pass, Beckham took photographs that would become part of the story Johansson asked him to write.

Beckham chairs the visual art department at St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood, and his work is represented in collections around the country. n STE AM B OAT M AGAZ IN E | S K I S EA S O N 20 1 2/1 3 | 95

Nate Brothers

Valley View

Deborah Olsen

Jim “Scream” Cook

Karin Kagan

Patsy Stewart leads “Wine, Women & Watercolor”

Deborah Olsen

Courtesy Mainstreet Steamboat Springs

Will Cheeseboro, Moustache Ride

Sam & Sarah Jones

The Chief Theater reopens for Halloween.

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Karin Kagan

Deborah Olsen

Cassie Piper & Valerie Stanford

Nico Richeda, Cooper Jones, Kyle Kagan, Lowen Epstein and Jackson Creagan stop for the camera in search for the most candy on main street.

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