Steamboat Magazine Ski 2019-20 edition

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Contents Visitors’ Guide

Ski 2019-20

VG 2 Welcome Letter VG 8 Calendar

62 | Early Birds

The magic of First Tracks

– by Dan Greeson

66 | Free

Adventure and camaraderie in the terrain park

– by Robby Brown

A ski instructor’s tips for staying calm and creative in the trees

– by Travis Crooke

VG 14

VG 28 PLAY Diverse Itineraries for Non-skiers

VG 31

Steamboat's Snowmobiling Community

VG 32

Visit Like a Local VG 34 Dog musher Kris Hoffman, Snowsports photographer Travis Carpenter SteamBits VG 38 Leaving No Trace; Steamboat Springs Lingo; Pledge for the Wild; Winter Driving Tips

Billy Kidd stands beside the Buddy Werner statue at the top of Storm Peak. Turn to page 60 to see a gallery of photos taken with the statue.

DEBORAH OLSEN

DEPARTMENTS

42 Travel

10 Publisher’s Note – by Deborah Olsen

Heli-hut skiing at the Burnie Glacier Chalet – by Cathy Wiedemer

12 Contributors

48 History

Robby Brown, Travis Crooke, Tiia Libin 14 Letters 16 Genuine Steamboat

The Adrenaline Factor 22 People

Professor Paul McCudden’s unusual combination of subjects – by Alesha Damerville Tallak Myhre, the first Sancy Shaw Scholarship recipient – by Suzi Mitchell

Tread of Pioneers Museum turns 60 – by Candice Bannister 50 Community

Comparing problems and triumphs of Routt County schools, past and present – by Suzi Mitchell 54 Art

Painting-based pieces from the Ekphrasis creative writing contest

People who skied or rode every day last ski season – by Deborah Olsen

Richard Galusha’s retrospective at Steamboat Art Museum – by Deborah Olsen

32 Sports

60 Town Quirks

Cross-country skier Noel Keeffe forges a path to the U.S. Ski Team – by Tiia Libin A look at Steamboat Springs' Nordic skiers – by Ben Berend Steamboat Ski Area's new gondola Four friends from the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club find success in moguls skiing – by Tiia Libin 4 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

VG 13

Howelsen Hill

Visit Like a Local VG 16 Freeskier Robby Brown, Snowboard instructor Abi Slingsby SteamBits VG 20 Why are People Skinning Up the Mountain?; Reasons to Take a Ski Tour; Skier Safety; Which Ski Run is Right for You?

70 | Fearless in the Forest

VG 10 Ski Steamboat Ski Area's New Gondola

VG 44 REVIVE Strawberry Park and Old Town Hot Springs

VG 47

Live Music and Night Life

VG 48

Visit Like a Local VG 49 Art connoisseur Dona Steele, Wildlife photographer Abby Jensen SteamBits VG 52 How to Stay Warm at Winter Festivals; Bloody Mary Challenge

DIRECTORY VG 56 Activities VG 58 Dining VG 64 Lodging VG 67 Outdoors VG 70 Real Estate VG 72 Services VG 75 Where to Worship VG 76 Shopping VG 78 City Map VG 80 Reasons to Return

Reader-submitted photos with the Buddy Werner statue 76 Media

Selections to accompany the changing seasons – by Jennie Lay 80 Why Stop Here?

Dive into Ski Town Media's online content – by Alesha Damerville

Jesse Grace rides in deep powder at the Steamboat Ski Area, near the Pony Express lift.

Photograph by Travis Carpenter

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A Signature Collection of Timbers Resorts Sonoma Southern California Steamboat Springs Tuscany U.S. Virgin Islands Vail Aspen Bachelor Gulch Cabo San Lucas Jupiter Kaua‘ i Kiawah Island Maui Napa Scottsdale Snowmass ®

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.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 7

SKI 2019-20 – Volume 41, Number 4 PUBLISHER Deborah Olsen EDITOR Dan Greeson SALES DIRECTOR Danielle Lyn Hubler ART DIRECTOR/LAYOUT Melissa VanArsdale DIGITAL DIRECTOR Alesha Damerville OFFICE MANAGER Denton Turner MEDIA EDITOR Jennie Lay PROOFREADER Christina Freeman BOOKKEEPER/PROOFREADER Sandy Lindsay Jacobs CONTRIBUTORS Candice Bannister Ben Berend Robby Brown Travis Crooke Harriet Freiberger Tiia Libin Dagny McKinley Suzi Mitchell Cathy Wiedemer PHOTOGRAPHERS Matt Bievenour Travis Carpenter Corey Kopischke Larry Pierce

Steamboat Magazine is published by Ski Town Media, Inc. The Mountain 2020 edition will be published in January 2020. For advertising rates and subscription information contact info@steamboatmagazine.com. Steamboat Magazine, P.O. Box 880616, Steamboat Springs, CO 80488. Phone: 970-871-9413. Subscribe: 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. © 2019 Ski Town Media, Inc. All rights reserved – ISSN 2164-4055.

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STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 9

Publisher’s Note

Editorial Advisory Board Yampa Valley Community Foundation

Amy Charity Steamboat Cycling Community

Sarah Floyd Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

Scott Engelman Carl’s Tavern and Truffle Pig

Betse Grassby Steamboat Art Museum

Larry Mashaw The Resort Group

Marta Miskolczy Steamboat Mountain School

Mike Poirot Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Lisa Popovich MainStreet Steamboat

Lindsey Reznicek Yampa Valley Medical Center

Mara McManus Rhodes Soda Mountain Construction

Ulrich Salzgeber Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors

Ray Selbe Selbe Farms

Cathy Wiedemer

COURTESY JOHN FAWCETT

Mark Andersen

John Fawcett, "A Little Help," watercolor, 12 x 22

Genuine Steamboat >> "Dirt road, limited parking, no cell service, no restaurant or cocktail servers."

I was researching Strawberry Park Hot Springs for an article the other day, and the above review came up on Google. I laughed out loud. The reviewer probably meant it as criticism, but it sure sounded great to me.

This is not an unsolicited promotion for the hot springs, although that remote wild valley will always have a special place in my heart – relaxing in a hot pool while the moon and stars rise over the mountain … mmmm!

Rather it is an observation that Steamboat Springs is not all about frou-frou, and I thank God for that. Don’t get me wrong: I drool at the thought of Harwigs’ wine cellar and Chef Kate’s seasonal menus at Café Diva.

But in my heart, what I love about Steamboat is the fact that the CEO of a Fortune 500 company may be sitting next to a ranch hand at one of Steamboat’s saloons, but you could never tell which was which by looking at ‘em. We don’t do pretentious very well here.

It’s the little things like the minister who preaches in flip-flops, the rows of 10-year-old Subarus parked at the grocery store, the plethora of tele skiers in their non-AT gear and the crowded (and free) city buses that tell the story.

I Steamboat because here, people help each other out. Hundreds of people showed up early one Saturday morning this fall for Steamboat Christian Center’s “Neighbor Day.” They mowed people’s lawns, washed their neighbors’ cars, touched up paint here and there, and even moved furniture.

When a friend, who was down on his luck, needed medical help for his dog, a local vet examined the pup under the shade of a tree (you can’t make this stuff up). One of our advertisers – that’s you, Drs. Jim and Wendy McCreight – runs the McCreight Smile Foundation, which helps victims of domestic violence get their smile back.

At Steamboat Magazine, we love telling the stories of locals whose hearts are as big as our valley; our passion is sharing the tales of volunteers who preserve and promote our community. It’s what makes Steamboat home.

We are genuine, and I hope that never changes.

First Pitch Communications

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Contributors

Robby Brown

In the story, “Free,” (Page 66) freeskier Robby Brown writes an ode to the Mavericks Terrain Park and the mix of adrenaline and camaraderie he finds there. Writing the story, Brown says, brought back many fond freeskiing memories.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to have written the article,” he says. “I was pushed to further my understanding of myself.”

Travis Crooke

Steamboat ski instructor Travis Crooke simplifies the art of tree skiing in the story, “Fearless in the Forest” (Page 70). “Writing this article was a blast, because it forced me to think about skiing in the trees for different abilities and preferences,” he says. Crooke has high praise for Corey Kopischke, who photographed him for the story. “Corey is an amazing photographer with a unique perspective.

His shots are incredible, and it was great to watch him work.”

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Tiia Libin

“Doing articles on winter athletes is a natural fit for me,” says Tiia Libin, who has been playing, competing and working in the winter sports industry her entire life. In this edition, she writes about local cross-country skier Noel Keeffe (“Breaking New Ground,” Page 32) and the Steamboat Springs women on the U.S. Moguls Team (“The Power of Four,” Page 40).

“They are truly genuine and you can feel their common sense of commitment and trust amongst each other,” Libin says of the four women who made the team.

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Letters Thankful Writer

Tour Guide

Labor of Love

#CoveringClimateNow

As an honorable mention winner in this year’s Ekphrasis event, I want to thank you for the check from Steamboat Magazine. More important, thank you for supporting the writers’ community and for honoring the late Susan de Wardt in partnership with the Steamboat Art Museum.

– Barbara Sparks, Steamboat Springs Steamboat Magazine is great because it's authentic: "artisanal," local journalism done well, stories curated carefully to put the heart of the Yampa Valley on display to the world. This is a labor of love, and one increasingly rare to find in the homogenized world of digital news.

– Alden Globe, Steamboat Springs

Finger on the Pulse of Steamboat

I love receiving Steamboat magazine! It helps me know what is happening in town. Great articles also!

– J.R. Blod, Steamboat Springs

Page Turner

I have a chance to provide you with feedback on beautiful, quality, well-written, interesting and informative articles and fabulous photography. The amount of concise information about what is happening in Steamboat is truly appreciated. I read the magazine from the front page all the way to the end. Don’t want to miss the hidden treasures of Steamboat, including the variety of activities.

– Evžena K. Jameson, Steamboat Springs

My Texas family and three grandkids were here last week. We needed the Steamboat Magazine to give us ideas of all the opportunities to see and fun things to do while they were here!

Sometimes you forget all the awesome places and things to do around town.

– Marlene Fisher, Steamboat Springs Dear Covering Climate Now colleagues, Wow! We've said it before but we’ll say it again: In our wildest dreams, we did not expect this collaboration to gain so much traction so quickly. During our past week of coverage, we saw terrific journalism and leadership from so many participants in this collaboration. We were astounded at the number of stories that were cross-published (and in many cases translated into other languages). On social media, use of the #CoveringClimateNow hashtag was constant. We made quite a splash. And although it’s hard to prove, our elevation of the story also seemed to encourage more climate coverage from outlets that are not part of Covering Climate Now – at least not yet. For all this and more, we say: THANK YOU! Onward!

– Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope, organizers, #CoveringClimateNow Editor’s Note: Steamboat Magazine participated in an international media effort to increase climate coverage last September as part of Ski Town Media Inc.’s 41-year commitment to the environment, public lands and wildlife.

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Genuine Steamboat

The

Adrenaline Factor

>> What would motivate a person to accept the challenge that comes with extreme winter sports? For some, it’s skiing down a slope at top speed; for others, it’s pushing themselves to fit just one more maneuver in an aerial snowboard trick. For others still, it’s reaching dizzying heights on a snowmobile jump. Whatever death-defying activity gets the adrenaline flowing, that’s what these winter adventurers are after.

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Josh Stewart hits a jump for massive air in North Routt County. | Photo by Travis Carpenter STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 17

Genuine Steamboat

Alex Mross takes flight off a snow drift on Soda Mountain. | Photo by Matt Bievenour

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Genuine Steamboat

Andrew Simoson goes airborne on a Steamboat Ski Area powder day. | Photo by Travis Carpenter

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TRAVIS CARPENTER

People

The Physics Behind Screenwriting ALESHA DAMERVILLE

Professor Paul McCudden with Colorado Mountain College's newly donated Ball Observatory

| BY ALESHA DAMERVILLE >> Physics and screenwriting: those are two words you don’t hear together very often. However, the Yampa Valley Curse has taken another prisoner, and this time it’s a college professor who teaches both subjects.

“Physics and screenwriting are similar in the sense that they’re both trying to think very precisely about how the world works, one physically, and one emotionally,” says Paul McCudden, Colorado Mountain College professor of physics and screenwriting.

McCudden was hired as a physics professor at CMC, but wondered whether the Yampa Valley could benefit from his other passion as well. “They’re very nice here,” he says. “I said I’d love to teach a writing class here every now and then. They said sure. Now I’m doing one this fall.” His screenwriting class has quite the following – students and faculty alike can be found on the enrollment list.

“It’s totally right brain, left brain,” McCudden says. “When I’m writing or watching movies, I think about fun science stuff, and vice versa.”

Both subjects revolve around rules.

“The thing most people don’t realize about screenwriting is the rules,” McCudden says.

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“A lot of artists like to break the rules, which is OK, but you should probably know the rules before you break them. With physics, there are a lot of rules that you can’t break.”

“Physics is really powerful, because you can use the fundamental rules of the universe to predict what’s going to happen in anything around us. There is something empowering about knowing when a planet is going to come by or what will happen when I connect a battery to a circuit,” he adds.

While studying physics at Harvard, McCudden joined the legendary film club, “Doc Films.” After a year or two of studying physics in grad school, he realized he couldn’t focus. He decided to take a year off to dedicate to his newfound love of filmmaking. He applied and was accepted into the University of Southern California Film School, where he discovered his passion for writing, and this led to a 15-yearlong writing career.

McCudden spent much of that time writing screenplays for various studios and networks, but television production is taxing and the work is infrequent. “After a while, it got hard being out of work every six months,” he says. “It drains you.”

He began teaching full-time before relocating. McCudden and his wife moved to Steamboat Springs two years ago.

“One of the draws of living here is there isn’t much in the summer teachingwise,” he says. McCudden intended to dedicate his summers to writing. However, his plans have been thwarted thus far by outdoor activities and preparing the “new to the school” observatory and telescope scheduled to open to students and the public this fall.

In his career and in his writing, McCudden knows the rules – and knows when to break them for the sake of a good story.

We are here to keep

you out there

OUR DOCTORS: MICHAEL SISK, MD | ANDREAS SAUERBREY, MD | ALEXANDER K. MEININGER, MD BRYAN BOMBERG, MD | PATRICK JOHNSTON, DO | CLINTON DEVIN, MD ALEXIS TRACY, DO | KAARE KOLSTAD, MD | ADAM WILSON, MD | ALEJANDRO MIRANDA, MD

970.879.6663 | www.steamboatortho.com | info@steamboatortho.com 940 Central Park Drive, Suite 280, Steamboat Springs, CO PHOTO: noahdavidwetzel.com STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 23

COURTESY MYHRE FAMILY

People

Shine On

Tallak Myhre's active lifestyle, including playing lacrosse in high school, is one of the reasons he was selected for the Sancy Shaw Scholarship.

TALLAK MYHRE, THE FIRST RECIPIENT OF THE SANCY SHAW SCHOLARSHIP | BY SUZI MITCHELL >> Tallak Myhre is an old soul with the zest for life of a young man, according to Bobby Aldighieri, the freestyle program director and Myhre’s former coach at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. The 18-year-old Steamboat Springs High School graduate, who is currently studying at Leeds School of Business at University of Colorado Boulder, is leaving some big shoes to fill.

Myhre is the first recipient of the Sancy Shaw Scholarship, an award which was created to honor Sancy’s legacy. In December 2018, the 38-year old was killed in a car accident, leaving behind her husband, Brett, four children and a griefstricken community in North Routt, where she lived for 14 years and taught for two.

With faith and Sancy’s passion to live life to the fullest helping them forward, Brett, his parents and Sancy’s family, decided to seek light in a very dark place. “She made a tremendous impact as a teacher, and I didn’t want that to stop,” Brett says. “I keep finding notes from students who had something incredible to say, and we want her legacy and the impression she made to continue.”

Tallak Myhre was one of 18 Steamboat Springs High School seniors to apply for the scholarship. His father had once worked for Brett, and the couple had influenced Myhre during youth faith meetings at the Steamboat Christian Center. “Sancy taught me to experience everything in the moment and pushed me to be present in life,” Myhre says.

Of the 18 applicants, six were nominated for interviews conducted by a 12-person panel made up of family, community members and staff at the Yampa Valley Community Foundation.

“Every one of those 18 students had something that was incredible, and I have no doubt they will all go on to do 24 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

something good,” Brett says. “Tallak characterized so much of who Sancy was, and we decided he was the best candidate – she would be extremely proud of him.”

Recognized by peers for his wry smile and sense of humor, Myhre has proven himself as a leader and mentor in the Steamboat community. He was treasurer of the National Honor Society, raised and showed dairy goats with the Elk River Wranglers 4H Club and was an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When not looking after others – he spent a summer caring for his grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s – he is the ultimate sportsman. An avid skier and hunter, he played lacrosse and tennis for the Steamboat Sailors, and, like Sancy, he loves to fish.

Myhre started school with an associate of arts degree, which he received at Colorado Mountain College as senior in high school. “I want to go and see the world to find my place in it, knowing through Christ I can overcome anything,” he says.

It’s that strength and positivity that Brett hopes will rub off on future recipients. As part of the scholarship, Myhre will serve as a mentor to the next recipient. “I wish I’d had someone to guide me through the college application process and give me some advice,” Myhre says.

As a senior at his high school in Pennsylvania, Brett was the recipient of a memorial scholarship dedicated to a former student, whom he never knew. The experience of getting to know the family made a huge impact on his life. That impact, and the impression Sancy made on everyone she ever touched, is what Brett hopes will stay with Myhre and those who follow in his footsteps.

more @ To learn more about Sancy Shaw and events benefiting the Sancy Shaw Scholarship, visit SteamboatMagazine.com

On a good day we save a smile

Kel elwood PhotograPhy

On a great day we save a life

What makes you smile? TM James WW McCreight DDS, Wendy M McCreight DDS

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People COURTESY CHARLIE NOBLE

COURTESY CHARLIE NOBLE

The skiers who were on the mountain every day last ski season: Jason Ruemlin, Mark Larghi, Chantal Kane, Ken Mauldin, Charlie Noble, Steve Hayes and Peter Spertzel

| BY DEBORAH OLSEN

Charlie Noble sports an icicle-beard after a morning of skiing at the Steamboat Ski Area.

Ritual and Rhythm

>> The mountain has its own natural rhythm. It changes from day to day, adding an air of mystery, but at its heart is its own persona.

You sense it every time you click into your skis or strap on your board, but when you are there every day, you become totally in sync with the rhythm of the Steamboat Ski Area.

At the end of last year’s epic ski season, seven skiers and riders had perfect records: they skied every one of the 145 days the mountain was open. Six men and one woman stood on the stage on closing day and received accolades and a belt buckle for their achievement. The lone woman, Chantal Kane, has only missed one day in the last five years.

People ask her, “Why do you do it?”

“Well because I can, I love it and it’s there. Why would I not go?” Kane responds. “Why would I not go?”

The first season that Kane skied every day was 2002-03.

Then several winters went by, during which she missed a day or two here and there until five years ago, when she wondered if she could still ski every single day the mountain was open. She did.

“Then the next year, I thought, ‘Well, that’s silly,’ so I took a day off. It was a gray day, no new snow, early season, but at the end of the day, I was so distraught, and I thought, ‘That will never happen again,’ and it hasn’t.”

A neighbor teased her, saying, “You know, I would not like to have spent that day with you.”

Invariably, Kane begins her ski day early. “Mornings in the winter are for skiing,” she says. Even before she retired four years ago from Steamboat Central Reservations, her work schedule was afternoons. Never mornings.

Occasionally she will make plans to meet up with friends, but more often than not, she just heads to the mountain.

26 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

“Steamboat is pretty small, so you run into people that you know. After 22 years in Steamboat, I realize that maybe 60-plus percent of people I know I’ve met on the chairlift. That’s why it’s so great to go because you meet half of the town.”

The suspense of what awaits her is another reason Kane heads to the mountain daily. “Last year we had so many doubledigit days. And then we had big days with heavy snow. It felt like Europe; it felt like the Alps.”

An avid kayaker, Kane sees comparisons between the two sports. “The snow is like the water; it’s never the same. I think that’s a driver for me because you go and you don’t know. They give you the temperature, the snow report, but until you actually ski it, you don’t know. It’s never the same. From my house, I can see the mountain, and some days you don’t even see See Me (a run at the base of the mountain) because it’s foggy, but then you go up there and it's magic. Or it’s raining at the bottom but it’s snowing at the top and you come back and people say how was it, and you can say, ‘Oh, it was awesome.’”

Kane’s enthusiasm for skiing is contagious. At the yearend ceremony, some of the other skiers told her she was their inspiration. “I do it because it’s a passion, and if I can share it with somebody, that’s great because that’s why we’re all here. We are all so lucky to be in this valley.”

One of those who caught the fever last winter was Charlie Noble. “Chantal inspired me to go for it,” he says. “It was such a good year. After two months, all of a sudden, I realized there’s no reason to miss a day – it’s an epic season.”

Unlike Kane, who skis exclusively on Alpine skis, Noble is a tele skier, although not every turn is a full-on, knee-dropping tele turn. Still, he says, “I definitely love making tele turns. T-2-B (top-to-bottom) tele turns are super fun.” On an average day,

Noble estimates that he gets in 20,000-25,000 feet of vertical.

Like Noble, Kane says there were a lot of long days last winter. She rarely got off the mountain before 1 p.m. – sometimes as late as 3 or 3:30. She succumbs to the one-more syndrome. “One more, one more, suddenly its 3:30 or 4. Yeah, that’s a full day of skiing,” she says.

Both Noble and Kane took the same route to becoming die-hard skiers. Noble moved to Steamboat in 1991 and started getting in about 100 days per year. He figures there are only two ways to become a really good skier: one is to learn as a child, the other is to move to a resort and ski as much as possible. His ski days were gradually reduced when he became a father and the owner of a popular local restaurant: Mahogany Ridge. But now that the kids are 17 and 19 and the restaurant is well-established, he figured last winter was the ideal opportunity to go for a perfect record.

Kane, who grew up in Paris, learned to ski on a golf course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, at the age of 24. “I was working at a law firm in Paris, and I was bored to death, so I went back to Switzerland and was offered a job as a waitress. I ditched my job and went to Switzerland as a ski bum. Once I was living in the mountains, I could not go back to the city. The city’s over-rated. I don’t want to be anywhere else.

“It’s great when you can call Steamboat home.”

70/70 CLUB

(THOSE 70 YEARS OR OLDER WHO HAVE SKIED 70+ DAYS)

Name

Steamboat skiers by the numbers: 3,382 with 25+ days at Steamboat 879 with 50+ days and 104 with 100+ days

Gary Arentz Tom Baer Denny Benson Linda Blazek Samuel Delsordo Susan Dreska DJ Edwards John Ferguson Charles Gross Steven Gunberg Paul Heiman Carol Janousek Christopher Kipfer Jerry Kuhlman Gary Law Steve Rapp Douglas Scott Rosalie Summerill Bill Taylor Janice Theadore Tom Zehner Patti Zehner

Age Days Skied 77 79 80 70 70 73 70 75 76 72 70 70 82 70 70 71 72 72 72 75 75 73

93 81 100 90 106 77 82 110 79 115 71 71 77 121 97 119 86 86 74 100 77 76

STYLE AND COMFORT WITHOUT COMPROMISE

Steamboat Springs, Colorado 970.879.5667

Please visit us in person at Central Park Plaza or online W W W. D A V I D C H A S E F U R N I T U R E . C O M

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 27

G R AY S T O N E C A N Y O N . C O M

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Nestled in the mountainside, an extraordinary 4+ BD home just minutes to the ski area. Open concept, second living room and 3-car garage.

6 bedroom Montana log townhome. Grand lodge great room. Private location plus views.

Ski-in/ski-out. Video: bit.ly/vikinglodgesb

STEV E DOWNS 970.846.1709

CH AR LIE DR ESEN 970.846.6435

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| 9 70 . 879. 810 0

28 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

L O C A L LY O W N E D & O P E R AT E D L O C A L RO O T S – GL OBA L R E ACH

70+ ACRES IN STORM MTN R ANCH

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5 mins from skiing & 10 mins from downtown.

Premier equestrian center & contemporary 4 BD ranch home 4 miles to town & amazing views on 86 ac with live water, barn, pastures & pond.

Set on 100 acres with stunning landscape architecture, this private home is one of the most spectacular properties in Colorado.

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W AT E R F R O N T L U X U R Y

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$4,195,000

$3,995,000

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Privacy and 9,797 sf of luxury behind the gate, surrounded by Fish Creek and tucked into the woods, in Steamboat’s premier neighborhood.

Contemporary mtn home in an alpine setting & amazing outdoor living spaces. Open floorplan, furnished 4 BD, pool, exercise/rec room, office.

Amazing views of Flat Tops & Ski Area. Serene, private, 4 BD, Zen-like landscaping and living spaces, borders USFS, 5 minutes to downtown.

DAR LINDA BALDINGER 970.846.7192

PAM VANATTA 970.291.8100

ANNE M AY BER RY 970.846.1425

N E W S K I P R O P E R T Y O N T H E M O U N TA I N

ANGLER’S ENV Y R ANCH

W W W.O LDTOW NHO M EFO RSA LE .CO M

$2, 225,000

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Drive under the gondola to your luxury duplex home. 3-level living, with open floorplan, main level master, 5 BD, 5.5 BA, 4,539 SF.

Picturesque 280-acre ranch, spectacular livewater fishing and abundant wildlife. See the video at AnglersEnvyRanch.com.

The perfect marriage of a love of craftsmanship & desire for classic aesthetics. Unique, modern feel on a quiet lot with sounds of the creek.

STEPH AN ZITTEL 970.846.4803

CR AIG TOWNSEND 970.846.3001

CH AR LIE DR ESEN 970.846.6435

9 70 . 879. 810 0 | S T E A M B O AT S I R . C O M STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 29

LUXURY TOWNHOME CLOSE TO SKIING

R I TA VA L E N T I N E PA R K H O M E

VIEWS! VIEWS! VIEWS!

$1,695,000

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4 BD, 4.5 BA townhome with over 3000 sf living space and 2-car garage. Vaulted ceilings, high-end finishes and gourmet kitchen.

Gorgeous 6 BD, 5 BA single family home on one of the best lots in Steamboat. Enjoy Rita Valentine Park directly off of your backyard.

Relax with incredible ski area views in 5,715 sf, 5 bedroom, 5 bath home with 2 living rooms on 4.13 acres in the desirable Dakota Ridge.

MEG FIR ESTONE 970.846.5643

DAVID BALDINGER JR. 970.846.2560

K ATH Y STEINBERG 970.846.8418

U R B A N S T R E E T S T E A M B O AT. C O M

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P R I VA C Y & B E A U T Y I N S TA G E C O A C H

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Discover your new home at Urban Street at the Mountain: mountain living re-imagined for the modern pioneer. 2-4 bedrooms, 1,900+ SF.

Modern design defines this 4 bedroom, 3 bath SmartPads (smartpads.co) home in Steamboat with park frontage & views. Dec ‘19 completion.

This beautiful 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 5,740 sf home in the woods is located on two lots, in a very private location in Stagecoach.

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This 2,892 sf, 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath mountain townhome boasts a top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen and amazing views from every room.

Enjoy panoramic views in almost every direction from this 3 BD, 3 BA home at the top of the hill.

Beautiful landscaping, water feature & views!

One of the most special places in CO to build your home, and the only opportunity for sideby-side lots in a one-of-a-kind gated community.

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STEV E ELKINS 970.846.5376

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ST E A M BATOSTEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM A T S I R . C O M | 9 70 . 879. 810 0 30 | ONLINE

L O C A L LY O W N E D & O P E R AT E D L O C A L RO O T S – GL OBA L R E ACH

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Luxury mountain contemporary design, less than a mile from the slopes, low HOA, great rental income potential. 5BD | 5BA | 3,554 SF

One of Steamboat’s beautiful historic buildings.

4,640 sf of commercial space + parking lot with great visibility in the heart of downtown.

A short walk to downtown, fishing, hiking, biking and so much more. 5 bedroom, 4 bath, 3,557 sf with a possible caretaker unit.

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50-acre parcel with on-site adventure amenities and private location. Gorgeous views of the South Valley and mountain surround.

New 4-5 BD homes w/2 car garages, mainfloor masters, close to downtown. Finish options and upgrades available. Ready Summer 2020.

2 BD + loft, 3 BA, 4 decks, 2,291 SF, garage, furnished duplex. Private, treed setting with ski area, golf course and Fish Creek views.

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H AV E I T A L L – 1 0 M I N T O S T E A M B O AT

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New Acasia wood floors, soapstone stove, carpet, paint and more. 2.01 AC, 3+ BD, 2 BA and views.

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9 70 . 879. 810 0 | S TMAGAZINE E A M B O A|TSKI S I2019-20 R . C O|M31 STEAMBOAT

Sports

COURTESY NOEL KEEFFE

Noel Keeffe races in the 2019 U.S. Cross-Country Ski Championships in Craftsbury, Vermont.

Breaking New Ground

| BY TIIA LIBIN

>> Being a “first-ever” is rare, especially in a town filled with Olympians. Noel Keeffe is one of them. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Keeffe is the first Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club cross-country athlete to be named to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.

“Our coaches continually remind us that our life as a student athlete is like balancing a three-legged stool – athlete, social and school,” says Keeffe, who is in his second year at the University of Utah, majoring in material science and engineering. “They reinforce that we need all of the three, and that we shouldn’t just focus on one. Going into my second year here at the U, I’m better able to plan my time depending on the season. I know when I’ll need to spend more time on school, when I’ll need to focus more on training and competition and when I can relax a bit.”

Keeffe is in a unique situation in that he has three coaching sources: SSWSC coaches, University of Utah coaches and U.S. Cross Country Ski Team coaches. He says having access to this triangle of talented resources helped him plan a vigorous strategy going into this season.

“Later in the season, one of my goals is to make the U-23 World Championships,” Keeffe says. “In order to qualify for U-23, I need to do well at Junior Nationals, which is being held in Minneapolis in February. Because this race is in the U.S., it gives our team a significant starting advantage, so I hope to maximize that opportunity.”

This year Keeffe is living in an apartment with two other student athletes from the ski team, an arrangement he says 32 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

works because they all have similar schedules. But, he adds, the arrangement is not without its challenges. “There are only three of us in the apartment, but we are constantly running out of refrigerator space,” Keeffe says. “On average, between the three of us, I would say we eat 15,000 to 20,000 calories a day. Every time I cook dinner for the whole apartment I think I have made too much food and somehow it is always gone by the end of the meal. I go to the store and buy some food – next day, it's gone.

We eat more food in a week than some families do in a month.

It's astonishing!”

Keeffe says he has a better understanding of the studentathlete life this year, and is ready to maximize both his ski training and his studying. “I consider my classes and training one big package. I found that being in college, I have more time to focus on athletics and that being a student athlete allows me to juggle my schedule as necessary,” he says. As a sophomore, Keeffe is taking a larger class load than last fall, is training more and is training at a higher level.

Keeffe mentioned he has always had an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and that he has been able to apply his experience with carbon fiber ski poles to help him in his materials science and engineering classes.

Keeffe is poised for achievement and looks forward to a challenging season as he learns how to balance his three-legged stool for success.

more @

Keep up with Noel Keeffe and the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team at SteamboatMagazine.com

WHAT CAN YOU FIT IN 10,000 SF? MORE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK! O P P O RT U N I T Y If you want it all, look no further! Rocking

services, and grocery stocking are just the

Chair Lodge is not only the pinnacle in

beginning of the experience for those lucky

family vacation homes, but it is also a serious

enough to call Rocking Chair Lodge “home”.

income generator. Currently managed by Moving Mountains, this home is one of their top grossing properties for vacationers who are not willing to sacrifice space, luxury, amenities, service, recreation, location, or experience.

LO C AT I O N , LO C AT I O N , LO C AT I O N Nestled at the gateway to the Steamboat Ski Area, you can check the snow report right from your bedroom window. Each room boasts extraordinary views of the surrounding valley and the property is well connected to

FA M I LY + F R I E N D S

the neighborhood trail system encouraging

With 6 bedrooms and 10 baths there’s ample

time spent enjoying the fresh mtn air. And if

room for the entire family... and then some.

downtown is more your scene, request the

Think: 15+ people! A professional kitchen,

shuttle or cruise on down via bike to award-

theater room, climbing wall, and game room

winning cuisine and excellent shopping.

provide entertainment for all generations.

Each room in this custom home features a spacious layout with an en-suite bath. And if you’re hosting guests who desire more privacy, show them to the caretaker unit that is thoughtfully equipped with full kitchen and access to the upper deck with a hot tub!

LU X U RY A M E N I T I E S + W H I T E G LOV E S E RV I C E Located within The Porches luxury home community, owners and guests alike enjoy superior service and amenities. To name a few,

Rocking Chair Lodge is a firm favorite and one of the top-performing properties in our portfolio. It exceeds expectations with guests who are seeking the best of everything.

— RO B I N C R A I G E N , OW N E R , M OV I N G M O U N TA I N S

the 6,000 sf “ barn” features a heated outdoor pool and hot tub, BBQ deck and fire pit, a fitness center, kids’ playroom, business center, and a gathering space. An on-call shuttle, skier

Rocking Chair Lodge is listed for sale exclusively with Barb Shipley &Adrienne Stroock at Steamboat Sotheby’s Realty.

Contact them at 970.846.5151 for more info.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 33

COURTESY USA NORDIC/BEN PIEPER

Sports Eight-year Nordic Combined National Team member Taylor Fletcher races in Steamboat Springs during the 2018 Continental Cup.

The State of the Sport: | BY BEN BEREND >> The towering ski jumps of Howelsen Hill have been home to Olympic ski jumpers for more than a century.

That legacy is thriving as young Steamboat Springs athletes continue to soar in their sport around the globe.

When the U.S. Ski Team announced its decision to stop funding the Nordic Combined Team in 2014, athletes and coaches were left reeling. But not for long. They soon teamed up with the ski jumping team, which had faced a similar edict previously. The two sports have now come together under USA Nordic Sports, allowing an exciting culture to build.

This Nordic Combined Team is young and hungry. In the last two seasons, many of the athletes competed in their first Olympic Games or World Championships. This season is a vital stepping stone for athletes who aim to become medal contenders at the Olympic Games in just two years’ time.

Steamboat Springs has always been a valuable pipeline, producing 14 of the 38 athletes on national Nordic teams, including Steamboat’s Jasper Good, Annika Malacinski, Decker Dean and Annika Belshaw.

Good competed in his first Olympics in 2018 at age 21. Last season was busy for him, as he scored his first World Cup points and competed in his first World Championships.

Good had an unusual off-season. In April, he entered the U.S. Army. He graduated from basic training in July, then moving into advanced individual training through August. He is a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program, allowing him to compete and chase his aspirations in sport, which include becoming a consistent threat on the World Cup circuit.

Malacinski started the sport of Nordic combined only two years ago at the age of 16. Her background in Alpine skiing and gymnastics, as well as her focused demeanor, have allowed her to pick up the sport at a rapid pace. She became the U.S. champion 34 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

Nordic Skiing this year, a huge accolade for an athlete so new to the sport. She now has her sights set on becoming a standout athlete, as the sport of women’s Nordic combined skiing heads toward its first World Championships and World Cup season in 2020-21.

Dean’s talent became evident at a very young age, jumping from childhood in Steamboat. He has now made the transition, moving to Park City to train with the national team. Over the summer, he made it to the podium at the U.S. Championships and finished in sixth place at an FIS Cup in Slovenia, which boasted 104 competitors. This season, Dean looks to fight for a top spot at the Junior World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.

Belshaw continues to prove that she will be a name to follow for years to come. Last season, she jumped into the top five in back-to-back days at an FIS Cup in Park City, Utah. Over the summer, she made the podium at the U.S. Championships, an impressive feat for a 17-year-old. Considering her age and talent level, Belshaw could be a major contender at this year’s Junior World Championships and will certainly be a force on the FIS Cup and Continental Cup level.

Last season, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club had over 100 kids under the age of 10 competing in ski jumping and Nordic combined. This growth aligns with what is being seen at clubs across the country, showing that continued focus on development is paying off.

That youthful vibrancy will be on display in March 2020, when the Junior National Championships come to town.

Ben Berend is a member of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team and a 2018 Pyeongchang Olympian, as well as marketing manager with USA Nordic Sport.

more @

Find the full list of Steamboat's U.S. Nordic Team athletes at SteamboatMagazine.com

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 35

LARRY PIERCE

Sports

36 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM 36 || ONLINE ONLINEAT AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM 36

Construction workers guide the upper half of a new gondola tower into place at the Steamboat Ski Area.

In with the New

Alterra, Steamboat Ski Area’s parent company, announced its plan in 2018 to invest more than half a billion dollars in its resorts over the next five years. The company deemed that the best place to start in Steamboat would be its gondola.

“Here in Steamboat, out-of-base capacity is one of our issues, being a single-portal base area,” says Dave Hunter, vice president of mountain operations for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. Crews spent most of the last offseason removing the old gondola and replacing it with a new one.

Larger drives and more horsepower allow the new gondola to run at six meters per second as opposed to the old one’s five meters per second. This might not seem like much, but it cuts the typical 12-minute ride down to nine minutes, and, coupled

with the fact that 12 additional cabins were added to the new gondola line, overall carrying capacity has been increased by 1,000 people per hour.

Improvements to efficiency extend beyond speed and capacity. “We looked at the whole system with more of a holistic approach,” Hunter says. The gondola building at the base area has been rearranged to allow more space for crowds to access and board the gondola. “It used to be, after you went through the overhang – the open area in the gondola building – there was a resolution center smack-dab in front of you. That pinched everyone at the worst possible point, so what we’ve done is moved the resolution center so that immediately as you come off of the plaza you will be RFID’d (have your ski pass scanned) right there.” The renovation also removed the glass wall and sliding doors from the building’s entrance to allow for more space as crowds enter.

Loading efficiency for the gondola cars themselves is another major factor. New cars are taller and roomier, with level walk-ins as opposed to the crouch-down-and-step-up The new gondola cabins, which are equipped with Wi-Fi, are unloaded before being added to the gondola line.

COURTESY STEAMBOAT SKI & RESORT CORP./JAY KINGHORN

>> We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s about the journey, not the destination.” When the destination is the top of the Steamboat Gondola, most would probably agree that the destination does, in fact, matter, specifically getting there as quickly as possible on a powder day.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 37

Sports

LARRY PIERCE

walk-ins Steamboat skiers had grown accustomed to. This reduces the number of slows and stops for people who have trouble boarding.

On the mountain operations end of things, improved car design allows for a massive increase in efficiency when moving freight up the mountain. “In the past, we had three specific cabins for moving freight,” Hunter says. “Now, every cabin can essentially be used as a freight cabin, because of that level walkin. What once took four-to-six hours to move now takes only about an hour and a half. We’ll be able to load them on without slowing the gondola down. If there are no guests in a cabin, we can use it to load freight up.”

Great care was put into redesigning the upper terminal too. The stairs exiting the building, which can be a tricky spot for new skiers, now have a more gradual decline and a landing halfway down.

For the digitally inclined among us, the addition of Wi-Fi to the gondola cars might be the most enticing addition.

Replacing a gondola is no easy task, and Hunter attributes the success of the project to two main factors. “The fact that we’re on schedule with such a complicated project speaks to the planning of Alterra, Steamboat and Doppelmayr (the company that manufactured the new gondola). We had a team of five or six people who lived and breathed this project starting in February 2018. That’s the number-one thing that’s paid off with us being on schedule. The second challenge was making sure everything is sequenced appropriately, and Doppelmayr has done a fantastic job finding efficiency through the project.”

Construction crews worked much of the summer to have the new gondola ready in time for ski season.

During construction, the ski area enlisted a Black Hawk helicopter from Timberline Contracting to fly out the old towers, fly in loads of concrete, and finally to install the new towers on steep slopes.

Alterra’s overall capital investment plan for the Steamboat Ski Area, which includes expanded terrain at Pioneer Ridge and additional beginner terrain, is still on the resort’s agenda. For the time being, less time on the gondola and more time on the slopes translates to happy skiers in Steamboat this winter.

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Sports

COURTESY U.S. SKI AND SNOWBOARD

The Power of Four | BY TIIA LIBIN >> Friendships are key to a team’s success.

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club powerhouse moguls athletes Olivia Giaccio, Jaelin Kauf, Kenzie Radway and Avital Shimko are all on the 2019-20 U.S. Moguls Team, and the bond between these four women, through their connection to the Steamboat community, remains strong this season.

“During competition, I will absolutely root my heart out for those three because I know they work hard and are deserving of success,” Giaccio says. “Whether skiing related or not, I know they’ll be there for me through my ups and downs.”

“I know that each of these girls has my back and we have a very strong team dynamic,” Radway says. “As the youngest, I look up to each of these ladies and admire their hard work, determination and kindness.”

Giaccio and Kauf have been side by side from the start. “For me, it has been really fun being on the same path as Olivia,” Kauf says.

“Since we started skiing World Cups, we’ve been doing everything together, and it’s really cool to both develop as team leaders and move on from being rookies to being veterans.”

At some point in each of their athletic careers, the four were involved in SSWSC and its training ground at Howelsen Hill. “Our coaches, family and friends in Steamboat believe in us and our dreams and have given us the opportunity to pursue them with everything that we have," Kauf says.

Radway, born and raised in Steamboat, started in the SSWSC Little Toots program at age two and progressed through all of the programs up to the High-Performance Moguls Team. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many hard-working coaches and teammates that continually support and challenge me,” she says.

“I have fond memories of training and laughing together in the freezing cold Bald Eagle Lake with these girls,” Shimko says.

“Going through unique experiences like this automatically takes our friendship to the next level.”

All four women trained hard to prepare for the 2019-20 season, fine-tuning technical skills, improving execution of tricks or rehabbing previous injuries. Kauf spent a portion of her summer training in Chile. “I have been working on some new tricks on the water ramp and bringing them to snow,” she says.

40 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

Jaelin Kauf trains in Chile.

Olivia Giaccio

Jaelin Kauf

Giaccio says she worked on the technical aspects of her skiing this past summer, improving consistency specifically on her back full (laid out back flip with 360-degree spin), cork 7 (off-axis backflip with 720-degree spin) and cork 10 (off-axis backflip with 1080-degree spin). “I can’t wait to see how it plays out during the upcoming competition season!” she says.

Kenzie Radway

“For me, last year was pretty taxing, both emotionally and mentally,” Giaccio says. “I competed the most difficult trick package in the world at almost every single event – a feat that was new to me. Throughout the season, as I worked to get consistency under my belt, I unfortunately made frustrating mistakes in several competitions, costing me results I knew I had the potential to attain. I’ve learned so much about myself as a competitor – namely, that I need to trust myself because I’m Avital Shimko more than capable of succeeding at whatever I put my mind to – over the course of the past year. I’m hungry to put it all to the test and finally compete at my absolute best.”

Kauf’s aim this season is to add new tricks to her repertoire. “I have learned and competed variations of backflips, but really nothing brand-new in a long time, so that is a big thing for me this year,” she says. “Last year, I went into the competition season trying to build off of the season before. I took the same jumps, same run and tried to improve it and improve my consistency with that run. This year may be completely different.”

Unfortunately, Radway tore her ACL in March 2019 – the same injury that sidelined Shimko during World Cup season last year – and can’t compete this season. “Avital has been a mentor to me as I progressed through the same stages she went through just a few months earlier,” Radway says.

As these four women face the challenges and successes moguls skiing has to offer, the bond between them grows.

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Travel

Backcountry Skiing at the

Burnie Glacier Chalet | BY CATHY WIEDEMER

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COURTESY KYLE ENDRES STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 43

Travel

>> When you receive a phone call inviting you and your husband on a Canadian heli-hut ski trip at the Burnie Glacier Chalet in British Columbia, you say, “Yes!” and figure out the logistics later.

My husband, Glenn, and I joined nine other skiers on a weeklong adventure last March at the Burnie Glacier Chalet, British Columbia’s most northwesterly mountain lodge. It’s located high in the Kitimat Range of the Coast Mountains, 690 miles north of Vancouver.

Our home base was Smithers, a small mountain town of approximately 10,000 people, in the Bulkey Valley. Shortly after take-off on the three-hour flight from Vancouver to Smithers, all I could see in every direction were snow encrusted peaks, fiords, glaciers, glacial lakes and ice falls. After landing in Smithers, we transitioned from travelers to skiers for an afternoon on the slopes under bluebird skies at Hudson Bay Mountain Resort.

The next morning, we met guides Nicholas and Evan, and Monika, our cook, and headed to SilverKing Helicopters’ wellappointed office and heli-pad. We took off toward the Howson Range, the terrain getting bigger and more snow-covered with every minute. I was in awe looking at the scenery and wondering what lines we would be skiing and when the chalet would come into view. Just as we were flying straight towards the Burnie and Polemic Glaciers, the pilot took a sudden, sweeping left-hand turn, and there it was: the Burnie Glacier Chalet.

The three-story lodge was solar-powered, complete with an extra-large mud room, a spacious kitchen and dining room, guide office, wood-fired sauna, workshop, equipment racks, pantry storage and bunkrooms. Waiting for the rest of our group to arrive via two additional heli trips, I kept gazing up at the spectacular, impressive peaks and terrain surrounding the hut. It 44 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

COURTESY JILL WEHRLI

COURTESY ROEL VAN DER VEGTE

The group treks up Loft Peak, which Wiedemer nicknamed "Panic Peak" due to steep drop-offs.

The group's cook, Monika, relaxes at the Burnie Glacier Chalet.

was like we’d been dropped onto a page in National Geographic.

Once everyone arrived, we donned our ski gear and packs for an afternoon session, practicing avalanche and rescue skills. After dinner, we reviewed additional hut protocol, shared chores, and learned what the daily routine would be in the coming days.

We’d begin our ski tour each morning on frozen crust with skins, then stop to put on ski crampons, small, lightweight metal attachments that mount underfoot on the toe piece of the ski binding. With each step, pointy-edged teeth punch through the crust, providing additional grip and stability when coupled with skins on frozen and/or very steep terrain.

Evan and Nicolas were incredible routefinders. Despite the region’s below-average snowpack – no new measurable snow in days – coupled with warm afternoon temps, they delivered fantastic skiing and exploring every day. The high-pressure weather system brought crystal-clear blue skies and frigid nights, making for the next best thing to British Columbia powder: corn, that elusive spring snow that melts during the day, but freezes again at night, forming a crust that can be easily traversed.

Each day was a true adventure, sometimes more the uphill than the down. The treks to Loft Peak – which I nicknamed “Panic Peak” – and Solitaire Glacier stand out, as their challenges were well worth the rewards. On the ascent, we maneuvered through precipitous switchbacks, trees and cliffs.

I was only a few switchbacks from the top of Loft Peak – think inverted ice cream cone – on an extremely exposed section of skin track when I froze. The view from the track until this point was one enormously vast, untracked snow field – no big deal. But once I could see the drop-offs on either side, that was it. I was done. Nicolas came to my rescue, popped off my skis and I hiked up to the summit.

The initial ski down was perfect corn snow, and quite possibly the longest continuous ski run of my life. It had to be well over 100 turns. Our ski skills were continually tested as we skied the remainder of the descent through frozen crud and thick mashed potatoes. The day’s ski concluded with a pleasant ski tour alongside the creek back to the hut.

The utmost section of Solitaire Glacier provided us with best powder skiing of the trip.

It took a little coaxing from Nicolas for me to

My confidence in overcoming my insecurities with heights and drop-offs certainly increased.

continue up the last section of the off-camber skin track with an extreme drop to the left, but I made it. We transitioned at the tiny keyhole notch in the rock before savoring each soft turn of the nearly perpendicular pitch, careful not to ski below the guides, with a seemingly endless gulley below.

Touring on the chalet’s namesake, Burnie Glacier, was surreal. Being able to ski on an incredibly thick, ancient ice mass that’s still moving was impressive. High above our route

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

–Albert Einstein Images available for purchase

Gallery: Pine Moon Fine Art 117 9th St., Steamboat Springs, Colorado 970-879-2787 • www.jensen-photography.com

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 45

Travel

COURTESY GLENN WIEDEMER

Skiers investigate one of Burnie Glacier's ice caves.

46 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

on the Burnie Glacier, the Polemic Glacier calved, sending out a cloud of white dust and sounding much like there was an aircraft overhead.

Prime corn snow made for a creamysmooth ski down the glacier, where a mammoth ice cave was ingrained with intricate patterns and layers. The glacial cobalt-blue ice was mesmerizing.

Back in Smithers, we toasted to a fabulous week at the Smithers Brewing Company before boarding the flight to Vancouver. Bittersweet to leave, but so grateful to have been invited on this adventure.

The week ski touring at Burnie Glacier Chalet reinforced the importance of simplifying life and focusing on the present. My confidence in overcoming my insecurities with heights and dropoffs certainly increased. Seven days in the Northern British Columbia backcountry was beyond my dreams, and I’m thankful to have experienced this unbelievably gorgeous part of the world and create a bond with people who will forever enhance my life.

more @

Find the extended story at SteamboatMagazine.com

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 47

COURTESY TREAD OF PIONEERS MUSEUM

History

Tread of Pioneers Museum

Turns 60 | BY CANDICE BANNISTER

>> Tread of Pioneers Museum has come a long, long way in the past 60 years.

The museum's story began with Dorothy Wither collecting historic Routt County items in the back of her home, for the purpose of one day donating them to the town. When the memorabilia outgrew her house, it was time to find a permanent home for the artifacts. In summer 1959, a group of volunteers led by Dorothy and her husband, Frances, founded the Tread of Pioneers Museum in the historic 1901 Zimmerman house. At the time, it was located on the corner of Fifth and Oak streets – now the courthouse parking lot. Dorothy was the primary mover and shaker in founding the museum, and was unafraid to ask for museum resources.

“Dorothy knew everyone … her careers put her in touch with families around the county, so she was aware of the pioneer memorabilia that could be lost if we didn’t establish a place to put it and to honor it,” says Jim Stanko, local historian, rancher and museum board member for almost 20 years in the ‘70s-‘90s.

For the first three decades of operation, the museum was open only in the summer, and was staffed completely by volunteers. It was run on a limited budget, and early board members did everything that needed to be done.

“The board would stay late into the night setting up displays. I remember listening to stories from those early board members when I was younger – they were some of the founding members of this community,” Stanko says.

In 1988, the county needed to expand the courthouse and parking, and the museum had to move. The board of directors began the enormous task of moving the museum’s historic 48 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

Dorothy Wither writes invitations to the 50th Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival in 1963.

“I hear the tread of pioneers Of nations yet to be, The first low wash of waves where soon Shall roll a human sea.”

– John Greenleaf Whittier Zimmerman house and the collections three blocks to its current location, as well as remodeling it and building an addition.

Since then, the museum has seen enormous growth, including adding a stage wagon, “The Pilot,” originally purchased

by D.W. Whipple for his 1890-1909 Wolcott-Steamboat Springs stage line, and pillars crafted by H.W. Gossard just before the Great Depression.

The expansion continued in 1997, when the Utterback family donated the historic Utterback House, built in 1898, to the museum. Tread of Pioneers raised funds to move and remodel the house, which provides meeting and office space, and the Lufkin Library research center and archive that houses historical documents, genealogy files, oral histories, local books, historical films and more. In 2012, the museum expanded again, building an additional exhibit space and a 3,600-square-foot storage facility.

Today, the museum's exhibits include family treasures from Steamboat’s founding Crawford family, and the artwork and photography of Edward S. Curtis, who set out to document the life of American Indians before they disappeared.

Pat Stanko is the museum’s current board president. “We are so proud of the museum and all of its growth,” Pat says. “I grew up in the museum when my dad was on the board. Today, I can look back and see all that we have accomplished, and I know those founding members would be so proud. I look forward to helping to shape the future of the next 60 years.”

Candice Bannister is the executive director of Tread of Pioneers Museum.

you’ve seen the signs

now come experience the legend

830 L incoln Avenue • Downtown Steamboat Springs • (970) 879-1822 • www.FMLIGHT.com STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 49

MELISSA VANARSDALE

Community

On June 5, 2007, Soda Creek Elementary students and staff gather in front of the school for a final group shot. A demolition crew came the following day.

Room to Grow

for the Next Generation

| BY SUZI MITCHELL

>> Four sixth-grade students are gathered around a classmate, commiserating over his dead fish. For weeks, each member of Bennett Colvin’s science class has been measuring pH levels and monitoring their individual ecosystem in a jar, with the goal of keeping the fish alive.

Throughout the six schools in the Steamboat Springs School District, similar hands-on learning experiences happen on a daily basis. The regimented style of passive instruction and repetitive practices to memorize data has been superseded.

Tangible learning opportunities and critical thinking projectbased concepts form most of the curriculum, using collaboration and technology as tools. The emphasis is on establishing life skills.

“School doesn’t look like it did in the ‘70s and ‘80s, with straight lines of desks and blackboards,” says Dr. Brad Meeks,

superintendent of Steamboat Springs School District. “It is our responsibility to be relevant about how and what we teach, to meet society's demands.”

Staff is expected to take a holistic approach to education.

“Kids come to school with all kinds of complexities, whether it is issues relating to poverty, language barriers, mental or physical challenges, and we need to support them,” says Michele Miller, principal at Soda Creek Elementary School. This all takes place in buildings that were designed with traditional classrooms, with little to no break-out space. “You can’t expect kids to go out into the world and be a success if we haven’t set them up for success,” says Miller, who gave up her office to be used for small-group work as a result of running a school above capacity.

People in Routt County have been sacrificing personal spaces for educational purposes for well over a century. In the summer of 1876, Lulie and Logan Crawford offered their living

TIMELINE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE STEAMBOAT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT

50 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

High school buys the adjacent building, which had been the hospital for 30 years, to use as a band room

1951

A three-story brick building is constructed to replace Union School to house all students until a high school is built in 1918 directly behind it facing Seventh Street

1911

Union School burns

1910

1890-97

School district is organized

1884

1883

One-room log cabin on Soda Creek is built to house first school

Union School, a two-story structure, is built on Pine Street. To make room for high school students, first grade moved to a log cabin on Sixth and Pine streets, second grade moved to the Denison Library (west of Union School), and third grade moved to a stone building on Sixth Street, which is still standing today

MELISSA VANARSDALE

MELISSA VANARSDALE

A chalkboard and numbers chart are the only remnants of one of Soda Creek Elementary School's kindergarten rooms.

SCHOOL CAPACITY

Additions made to the high school

Additions made to Soda Creek Elementary

Strawberry Park Elementary and Steamboat Springs Middle School built

1981

School Capacity Fall 2019 Enrollment Soda Creek Elementary 460 525 Strawberry Park Elementary 480 475 Steamboat Springs Middle School 650 646 Steamboat Springs High School 875 844 Yampa Valley High School 30 28 North Routt Community Charter School 108 (by policy) 102

1960-74

Pine Street building is torn down

1967

Present Steamboat Springs High School is built

1965

1956

Soda Creek Elementary School is built, leaving junior high students on Pine Street and high school students on Seventh Street

On the Nov. 5 ballot, voters considered a $79.5 million, 20-year bond measure and two separate mill levy measures: $1.2 million to increase teacher and staff compensation by an average of 6% and $2.8 million to fund the operation of expanded spaces in existing schools and a new pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade school.

“I was in the first class in the middle school when it opened in 1981 – it seemed so huge then,” says Cherie Duty, a long-time resident and mother of two. “I have one child in high school and the other at the middle school, which is now packed, and that once huge space is now too small for the fast-growing town we love to call home.”

1972

room as a school, until a cabin was built by Soda Creek to house 35 pupils. Education was important to the early settlers, and classes met all over the county in the most unlikely places, including a blacksmith’s shop at Hahns Peak and an empty saloon at Sidney.

In 1884, the county elected a superintendent to manage the districts, which numbered 96 by 1890. Within a 230-mile radius, Routt County had 33 operating schools. Mothers doubled as teachers, and the class primarily studied the Bible. The School District Reorganization Act in 1957 mandated the reduction of rural schools, which led to consolidation.

Over the years, the school district has been one of the highest performing school districts in Colorado. Since 2010, it has consistently been ‘Accredited with Distinction,’ which has become a huge draw within the real estate market.

“Education in Steamboat is at a critical point,” says Deirdre Boyd, long-time history teacher at Steamboat Springs High School. “Schools are bursting at the seams, and teachers and support staff are hugely underpaid relative to our cost of living, which makes it a struggle to attract and retain quality staff members."

The population of Steamboat Springs has risen by 32.1% since 2000, with a 24% increase in enrollment in the last decade.

All six schools are now almost at, or over, capacity. “We are growing, we have been growing and will continue to do so, and you can’t be at capacity in our schools and not have a plan,” Miller says.

Schoolchildren filled the hallways with their handprints during the final week of school at Soda Creek Elementary.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 51

AD

RE SY T

'Reading and 'riting and 'rithmetic Taught to the tune of the hick'ry stick >> Steamboat Springs schools left former students with indelible memories of their days in local schoolhouses.

Steamboat Magazine gathered stories from those who attended Steamboat’s schools in the good old days.

“My mother Jessie Larson taught fifth grade in the 1950s. I was in grade school at the time and I remember she gave her students silver dollars when they learned their times tables.”

– Mim Malkoski “We moved to Steamboat in 1957 or 1958; it was heaven for me. One of my peeves at the time was that the first to third grade kids got to wear their ski boots during the day, while fourth to sixth graders had to have regular shoes to wear during the day.”

– Linda Kulp “In the 1978-79 school year at the Steamboat Elementary School, there were approximately 715 students with two modular rooms at the north end of the front wing and two more modular rooms for kindergarten on Logan Street. The kindergarten

teachers had to put out street barricades closing Logan for recess in the street. There was a classroom in the gym and another on the stage.

Specials teachers had no classrooms.

Had to improvise.”

– Steve Kauffman

PIO

Buddy Werner takes an exam before leaving for an FIS meet in Sweden in 1954.

A Trip Down Memory Lane | BY SUZI MITCHELL

OF

E

URT

CO

COURTESY TREAD OF PIONEERS MUSEUM

COURTESY TREAD OF PIONEERS MUSEUM

Community

UM

USE

SM

R NEE

Mary McClelland in the new high school parking lot

day thanks to a few seniors who unplugged the buses as temperatures dipped to -40 near the river.”

– Matt Cloven, class of 1995

“Ms. Kay Wagner in fifth grade had a claw foot bath tub (named Seymour), with lots of pillows in it that was used for kids to lie in and read a book if all your work was caught up.”

– Laura Wagenaar, class of 1986

“I started third grade in Steamboat in 1974. I skied to school on many occasions – downhill, wasn’t so fun on the way home. In junior high I dragged my baritone from band to and from school on a sled.”

– Kelley Richard

“We’d had two feet of snow in less than 24 hours – sub-zero temperatures, and us country folk couldn’t get home because the plows were overworked and the superintendent debated if the school was going to be closed. We got one day off for snow and the second

“Riding my horse to school and tying it up on the goal post at the new junior high. In high school, getting woken up with the sound of a yardstick hitting the desktop nearby or being left to sleep and wake up confused in the next class period.”

– Greg Rawlings

“A handful of us had to do ‘crabs’ for an entire week during lunchtime because we had a food fight. If I remember rightly, Coach [Bob] Harris also made us do steps for some extra punishment.”

– Lisa Caffee Lindstrom, class of 1982 “Patsy, our bus driver, always had a rubber mallet in the overhead compartment in case we got out of line.”

– Rob Homer, class of 1985 “Sledding down the hill at elementary school and playing tackle football in the snow. Being able to tell friends how I once saw cowboy Jim Parker lasso a girl in the hallway in high school.”

– Chris Gilbertson, class of 1987

TIMELINE CONTINUED

52 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

North Routt Community Charter School built

2012

Additions made to Strawberry Park Elementary. Soda Creek Elementary demolished and replaced

2008

Additions made to the middle school

2007

2004

2003

1999

Additions made to the high school

Additions made to Strawberry Park Elementary

Additions made to the middle school Additions made to former high school building to house the district administrative offices, central kitchen, pre-school, BOCES and Yampa Valley High School (an alternative school)

COURTESY TREAD OF PIONEERS MUSEUM

Schoolchildren prepare to ski during recess in 1955.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

• Fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Williams’ husband

• • • • • • • • • • •

Hershel’s honey. Eating muffins and honey going over math problems in her kitchen Tobogganing on the hill behind the elementary school The tree house in elementary school Skiing during recess French teacher Mrs. Bogue’s French dinners and French bread from France The band room with the previously used cremation oven in the basement The roof tiles flying off the school Guns in gun racks in the trucks in the parking lot Student-run restaurant in high school Town kids being bused to the ski hill for last period, while the country kids took P.E. Sixth-grade ski lessons on Howelsen Hill Riding the gondola to prom in 1978

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT GRADUATING CLASS SIZE 2012-2019 Graduating Class size Year first grade 2012 112 2013 125 2014 128 2015 118 2016 143 2017 147 2018 156 2019 150

Class size 12th grade 161 151 178 175 175 193 211 204 STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 53

Art

From the

Canvas to the Page

Ekphrasis ek·phra·sis | \ 'ek-frә-sәs \ Noun, from Greek: A literary description of, or commentary on, a visual work of art. >> One piece of artwork can serve as inspiration for countless stories. In summer 2019, Steamboat Magazine partnered with Steamboat Art Museum and Off the Beaten Path Bookstore to host the second annual Ekphrasis writing competition.

Using the pieces in Steamboat Art Museum’s “Looking West” American Women Artists exhibition as inspiration, the contest tasked entrants with crafting creative prose or poetry inspired by their painting of choice. In early August, celebrity readers read selected entries at the Steamboat Art Museum event. The presenters included legendary sports commentator Verne Lundquist, UC Health retired radiation oncologist and part-time hospice physician Carole Milligan, Chief Theater exec Scott Parker, MainStreet Steamboat’s Lisa Popovich, Steamboat Radio announcer Vladan Chase, Alpine Bank vice president, business and community development Alice Klauzer, Off the Beaten Path's marketing and events coordinator Chelsea Simmers and two-time Explorer Club member/editor/ author Eugene Buchanan.

The Ekphrasis event was inspired

by Susan de Wardt, who died in 2018.

She was an accomplished local writer, artist, engineer and teacher.

Steamboat Magazine selected two entries to be featured in this edition.

54 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

Ginger Gehres, "Pawtrait of a Black Bear," scratchboard, 11 x 14

"Pawtrait of a Black Bear" | STORY BY DAGNY MCKINLEY

Ma held Benson’s hand as they walked to school. The other kids had gone ahead because Benson, as usual, had lost one shoe. Ma smelled death before she saw it. The sole of the bear was still, a pebble wedged under one long black claw. The eyes, wide open, stared beyond this world.

Ma’s stomach grumbled. They hadn’t had fresh meat for, well, Ma had lost count how long it had been.

“C’mon Ma, I ain’t never seen a bear up close before,” said Benson.

“Depending on whether or not the maggots got to it, we might have a good supper tonight.”

Benson slipped his hand into Ma’s and pulled her over to the bear. Benson bent down, touched the tip of one claw, ready to run if the bear moved.

“He’s dead,” Ma said.

“How’dya know for sure?”

“Let’s roll him off the road then you can look at him. Pa don’t need no more trouble about us poaching meat.”

Benson got to one side of the bear and helped Ma roll him over into the ditch and then into the bushes.

“Are we going to get in trouble?”

“Not if no one sees us.”

Despite the smell, Benson pushed his fingers into the thick fur of the bear before tenderly resting his hand against the bear’s leathery sole, his hand no more than a quarter the size of the bear’s.

“What happened?”

“Car must have hit him. Hopefully his bleedin ain’t ruined the meat.” Ma flipped open the knife she carried everywhere with her.

handing Benson the bear’s heart and the cloth she had wrapped a couple of biscuits in for their lunch.

“Does death always hurt?”

“How’m I supposed to know? Probly depends on how you die.”

“Do you think dying hurt Momma?”

Ma sat back on her heels and looked at Benson. She opened her arm to let his small body curl up next to her.

“Momma died quick. She weren’t alive long enough to feel anything. Her heart stopped and she was gone. It was just us left with a lot of hurt.”

“I miss her,” said Benson, his voice cracking. He hadn’t cried once since Momma died. There was no time to cry when you had to survive.

“Do you want to say a prayer for this bear?”

Benson placed one hand on the bear’s side.

“Ma?” “Yeah?”

“I know it ain’t fair you got to be my Ma now, but I’m glad it’s you even if you are really just my sister.”

“Close your eyes now.”

“How old was Momma?”

“Twenty seven.”

“How old are you?”

“I guess I’m nine now. Close your eyes.”

Benson did. Ma’s hand was warm, the blood sticky between them.

“Bear, thank you for your life so we might eat. We won’t forget you.”

A tear rolled down Benson’s cheek. “I won’t forget you, Momma, I promise.”

Photo: Tim Murphy

“Hold his leg open,” Ma directed. Benson struggled with the weight but didn’t give up. Ma started skinning the animal.

“Do you think it hurt?”

“Shhhh,” scolded Ma.

Gravel crunched as a car approached, slowed down then pulled over.

“Shit,” said Ma. There was blood on her hands and no denyin’ what she was doin’.

Sheriff Brown rolled down his passenger side window.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be in school?”

Benson scooted behind Ma.

“Yes, sir,” said Ma as confidently as she could holding her hands behind her back.

“You know it’s illegal to harvest meat from road kill?”

“We’re hungry and he’s dead.”

The sheriff sized Ma up. “Watch you’re tongue, Eleanor. I know it’s been a long winter. The truck’s coming to pick up this bear soon so you and your brother better hurry. Then get to school. I’ll be checking.”

Ma nodded.

“I find out you’ve been killing animals out of season and I have to fine you,” said the sheriff as he turned back onto the road. As soon as he was gone, Ma got back to cutting out enough meat to feed the family. If she made a stew, she could stretch the broth for some time.

“Benson, get over here. We gotta hurry.”

Benson reluctantly returned to Ma’s side. “Do you think it hurt?”

“Did what hurt?” asked Ma not looking up.

“When the bear got hit?”

“Why are you asking? Here, wrap this up good,” said Ma

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Art

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STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 57

Art

Rich Galusha, "First Snow," oil, 22 x 28

| BY DEBORAH OLSEN

An Artist's Journey

>> You could almost walk into some of Rich Galusha’s paintings, they seem so inviting and familiar. And yet they may not be representational depictions of specific settings at all. Instead, they could be rooted in his imagination, fueled by his keen sense of observation and his passion for Northwest Colorado.

“My surroundings are inspirational,” says Galusha, who lives in North Routt County. “I don’t have to go far to paint.”

From the haybales and first snows of autumn to the cozy village of Hahns Peak in winter, from the brilliant aspens of spring to colorful fields of summer wildflowers, Galusha’s work vividly conveys the delight he finds in the Colorado way of life.

Steamboat Art Museum showcases this portfolio of work in a retrospective exhibit entitled, “Richard Galusha – An Artist’s Journey.” Galusha is an educator, gallery owner and museum founder with his wife, Shirley Stocks, as well as being a renowned artist. He is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America and the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters.

The show features 80 pieces dating back to 1986, when Galusha and Stocks moved to the Steamboat Springs area. It pushes well beyond local boundaries to include work from 58 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

the couple’s extensive world travels, often in the company of their patron and friend, the late Don Wachter. Greek sailboats, Kathmandu marketplaces, Mediterranean terraces drenched in bougainvillea and the rocky coast of England are among the exotic elements that captured Galusha’s creative attention.

From the wild creatures of Botswana to the bears of Yellowstone – and of course the horses of west Texas, where Galusha was born – animals have been a recurring theme of his work. “Just a couple of years ago, I really started doing a lot of bears,” he says. “I love doing animals.” “Four Bears,” which depicts a mother and her three playful cubs, is among the artist’s favorites in the upcoming show.

Another of his favorites evokes Rockwell-like nostalgia.

“Portrait of John Galusha” depicts Rich’s grandfather as a young man, milking a cow and squirting the milk into the mouth of a waiting cat.

The exhibit is on display Friday, Dec. 6-Saturday, April 11. A portion of the exhibit will travel to the Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene, Texas for the month of May 2020, before returning to its permanent home at the Eastland Community Foundation in Eastland, Texas.

For more information, visit www.steamboatartmuseum.org.

RICH AND HIS STUDENTS >> Rich Galusha’s legacy will live on for generations, not only through his own

Rich Galusha, "Cottonwood Creek," oil, 60 x 40

oeuvre, but through the generations of students he inspired as an art teacher at Steamboat Springs High School and Colorado Mountain College.

Alongside SAM’s retrospective, the Cole Verploeg Youth Gallery features portraits Galusha painted of his students during his 20-year teaching career as well as work by some of those who went on to build their own creative careers.

Works that Galusha created as demonstration pieces for his students are also included. A video loop playing on SAM’s big screen showcases a 150-piece selection culled from more than 2,000 images of his students’ work.

“My gosh,” says Galusha, who still stays in contact with many of his former students, “They were just really good kids, the best kids in school. Some of them were just phenomenal artists.”

Steamboat artists Greg Effinger and Chula Beauregard were among Galusha’s students, as were San Francisco artist John Brassel, Danielle Treadway of Nashville’s Ani & Ari custom corsets, international chef extraordinare Marshall Roth, muralist Fernando Maldonado, local artist Betsy Fry Whitmore and live painter Melissa Rogers. Many of his former students plan to come back to Steamboat during Winter Carnival to attend the retrospective.

Beauregard, whose work was featured at the Salmagundi Club in New York City this fall, credits Galusha for helping to launch her career. “I dropped out of AP bio to take art with him,” she recalls. “He was a great teacher. He really wanted to make sure we knew the traditional basics. It’s empowering when you know about those basic skills. He set me up for success by encouraging us to draw the world around us.”

In addition to teaching art, Galusha oversaw the ever-popular Winter Carnival button contest for 10 years. The tradition of hosting a contest among young Steamboat artists to see whose work will appear on these timeless keepsakes continues today.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 59

Town Quirks

The Strong, Silent Type >> Whether it’s being tapped with ski poles, rubbed on the nose or adorned with bead necklaces and masks, the Buddy Werner statue atop Storm Peak might just get more affection than anyone else in Steamboat Springs.

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Charlie Noble begins a run on fresh corduroy.

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Early Birds The Magic of First Tracks

“First Tracks, it’s like there’s nobody here, it’s like your own private ski area.”

– Eric Rentschler

| STORY BY DAN GREESON PHOTOGRAPHY BY COREY KOPISCHKE

Pristine corduroy. Fresh, untracked powder.

Whole ski runs to yourself. Camaraderie on the gondola.

They say it’s the simple things that are sweetest in life, and Steamboat Ski Area’s First Tracks program provides plenty of evidence for that. First Tracks tickets allow skiers to access the mountain earlier in the day, when crowds are small and snow is fresh.

“You can go out and get more untracked runs in than you would any other way,” says Eric Rentschler, who started skiing First Tracks five years ago and now participates dozens of times each ski season. “Some days it’s like there’s nobody here. It’s like your own private ski area.”

Todd Matheis, who has utilized First Tracks since its first year, estimates that he uses the pass 50-60 times per year. “It’s awesome, because no one takes advantage of it unless it’s a powder day,” he says.

“It’s beautiful. You get that fresh corduroy, untouched. There’s nothing better than having freshies, being the first one down the mountain on a powder day. But sometimes, it’s better to fall back and look at the people in front of you. It’s like watching a ski movie. It’s pretty damn cool.”

Charlie Noble skied every single day last ski season, and all but a handful of those days started with First Tracks. “On a First Tracks STEAMBOAT STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE MAGAZINE || SKI SKI 2019-20 2019-20 || 63 63

group. “I look forward to seeing those friends every morning,” powder day, you’ve got this adrenaline rush,” Noble says.

Noble says. “Even year after year, it’s the same group of like “Everyone is kind of like, ‘I wish I would have had decaf today, 20 people. I’ve met a lot of people just riding the lift together, because now I’m kind of freaking out.” because we’re all riding the same three chairs and talking to

Though the sun has already risen by the time skiers and each other about the grooming report, comparing notes.” riders are up on the mountain, Noble adds, the drive to the ski area makes for fantastic views. “We always get to see super

While the group is tightknit, it doesn’t mean it’s cliquish. awesome colors from the sunrise.”

“You’ll see the occasional tourist in there, occasional families who don’t know where to go but it’s a nice group of people,”

Magical moments like these are a common Noble says. “We’ll always welcome people. occurrence among First Track participants.

First Tracks can be a little intimidating, and it “There was a Westside run one day that “Sometimes it’s better shouldn’t be. You hope those people get a good was 16 inches on top of fresh-groomed, and you could feel the groomer rippin’ to fall back and look at day, so you give them tips, tell them to hug the trees if it’s foggy, things like that.” under your feet,” Matheis says. “I’ve had so the people in front of many good days, so many good moments What keeps this group heading for the you. It’s like watching mountain to choose from.” in the wee hours of the morning, even a ski movie. It’s pretty when conditions look poor? “It’s an old Ray Heid

Gondola boarding for First Tracks goes damn cool.” thing,” Noble says, quoting the local skiing and from 8-8:15 a.m., but the line starts forming ranching legend: ‘You don’t know ‘til you go.’” far before that – especially on a powder – Todd Matheis day. “On a good powder day, people will be there before 7:30,” Rentschler says.

“On those days, a lot of times, they’ll start boarding early to start chewing away at the line, so they can get everyone on before the 8:15 cutoff. It’s easily been hundreds of people in line on a good powder day.”

Todd Matheis, Eric Rentschler and Charlie

Though the regular First Tracks crowd Noble share a chairlift can be divided into distinct groups – the for First Tracks runs. retirees, the hardcore powderhounds, those with atypical working hours – there is a sense of camaraderie among the overall

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Skiing First Tracks can sometimes seem like skiing your own private resort.

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Fr Robby Brown performs a grab at the Steamboat Ski Area, which he likens to a "bubbling caldera of freeski energy."

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ee

| BY ROBBY BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY COREY KOPISCHKE

As soon as I wake up,

visions of freeskiing pop into my head.

I see the entrance to the Mavericks Terrain Park waiting. The features there are dangerous: lengthy jumps, hard metal rails. Without proper care, I could get hurt, but that’s part of the attraction. The sweetness of the dance is what makes the risk worthwhile. There’s nothing like spinning and flipping through the open air.

What I dream calls me to test myself. I follow the visions and it motivates me. Nobody gets up without a similar flood. Motivated by my visions of skiing, my awakedreams, I head to the terrain park.

There is nothing like breathing the frozen earlymorning air, which hits harder when it’s so still. I’m here to perfect my dance: a routine consisting of flipping, spinning, grabbing and sliding at high speeds off jumps and onto rails. The wild essence of the park is expressed in the tricks. All tricks have a takeoff and landing; feeling a strong takeoff and a seamless, smooth landing is a freeskier’s sugar.

Robby Brown performs an aerial trick, to which he says a skier must fully commit to reduce the risk of injury.

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 67

Robby Brown executes a trick in the terrain park.

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The sport is individual, but communal. We don’t ski just for athletic activity, but also for our ski friendships.

The mountain community thrives on the slopes, and in tuning into this soul, people find new friends and connect in new and exciting ways. Introduce yourself to strangers. Well-spirited commentary is greatly appreciated – yell to anyone and everyone you see. The lift conversation you have today could lead to a phone call catching up with a now-friend 10 years down the line. Look for the smiles on people’s faces. Thank someone for being a part of your experience. Find the magnificent pleasure your friends embody when turning gleefully down their run.

Seize the memories and the moment in your head and lock them safely away with reverence, to bring them with you wherever you go.

Robby Brown is a 22-year-old, Steamboat Springs-native freeskier.

more @

Watch videos of Robby Brown tearing up the terrain park at SteamboatMagazine.com

Interested in a terrain park session?

Here is what to know:

The Basics

~ Confidence is key. Fully commit to everything you do. ~ Start slow and small. Know your limits. Pushing too far beyond your skill level could lead to injury. ~ Read signage and observe all warnings. ~ Respect others on the mountain. Be kind. We are all friends.

Jumps

~ Assess the takeoff and landing of the jump. How big is it? How much speed is necessary to clear the gap? ~ Observe someone properly hitting the jump to gauge your speed. If still unsure, ask if you can follow them off the first time. ~ Scope your line in, and go. Proceed down the in-run with the goal of straight alignment 20 feet before the takeoff. ~ “Pop” (jump slightly) at the takeoff of the jump. Time yourself so you pop as close as you can to the moment you leave the lip. ~ As you fly through the air, look for your landing. Check your own body position to be ready for landing. ~ Land with your body strong and ready for impact. Brace yourself and land with even balance.

Boxes

~ Examine the box. Make sure it’s smooth enough to ride across. ~ Approach the box straight on, with an athletic stance. ~ Align yourself to ski straight over the box. ~ Riding onto the box, pull your feet together to the appropriate width matching the box. ~ Maintaining an athletic composure and flat ski bases, glide to the end of the box. Prepare yourself for a slight drop back onto the snow.

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Keep your eyes focused on the space between trees to keep clear of them.

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The Basics of Skiing the Trees STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 71

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What’s so intimidating about tree skiing?

Well, the trees themselves, for starters.

When your hometown ski area has tree skiing options like the carefree Sunshine Bowl and the iconic Closets and Shadows, it can inspire some to venture out and face their fears. On the other end of the equation, experts often find themselves bored from skiing the exact same line every storm. Whichever group you fall in, use these tips to improve your tree-skiing experience.

As a beginner, thoughts of running into a tree and ending up like Sonny Bono may overwhelm your ability and cloud your judgment. To conquer these thoughts, remember to stay positive, but look negative. Our bodies are trained to go where we look, so if we focus on the negative space between trees, we will naturally adjust our movement patterns – often without consciously thinking about it. It’s when we stare at a tree that our skis tend to magnetically steer directly toward it. Think positive, look negative.

When skiers get more comfortable looking for these negative spaces, they often find great lines that become engrained in their memories. At the next storm, they know right where to go to relive that memory. We’ll call those avenues. Those avenues ensure the skier they won’t run into something, and thus offer reliability. Unfortunately, other skiers often see the same avenues and then the inevitable remark is made that “somebody stole my line!” Darn, should have gotten there earlier. If you are the first one to your secret stash, it can become a bit stale and disenchanting over the years. Instead of falling into a rut, look left and right of the reliable avenues and make a lane change. Just one or two avenues away may be an option that unlocks new parts of the mountain and keeps tree skiing exciting.

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Beginner tree skiers also worry that the trees will be too tight, and they won’t be able to fit between them. Luckily, there is something special about Steamboat, and the trees just happen to be perfectly spaced to allow skiers to slip through. However, set yourself up for success and choose tree groves that stack the odds in your favor. Due to their overhead canopies, aspen trees tend to grow further apart than pines. As you start out skiing trees, pick runs that have aspens on them. As confidence grows, work up to closer spaced pine groves.

It’s when we stare at a tree that our skis tend to magnetically steer directly toward it. Think positive, look negative.

Advanced skiers can also improve their tree skiing experience through terrain tactics. Understanding tree density is great in the beginning, but understanding human psychology is the best tool an advanced skier can use. Popular ski avenues usually coincide with the fall line, since human psychology dictates a downhill trajectory – hence the name, “downhill skiing.” Steamboat has so many peaks and valleys that these main fall lines get skied quickly. Remember though, Steamboat allows skiing from boundary to boundary. Venture off the beaten path and pick a vector that crosses the fall line at an angle. Sure, you’ll cross more tracks, but it’s a lot rarer to find somebody else skiing this line.

As a result, you’ll get more fresh turns in the snow overall.

Who knew tree skiing and human psychology were so closely linked?

Travis Crooke is a ski instructor at the Steamboat Ski Area.

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Media

For Your Consideration | BY JENNIE LAY

© 2019 THE LAST MALE STANDING, LLC

>> Dramatic change occurs during the time this issue of Steamboat Magazine is on the newsstands. Golden fall turns to white winter. The Yampa Valley’s hunters are replaced by skiers. America’s calendar flips to an election year. Plus, the holidays are hankering for your attention. Consider these curated suggestions for your media pursuits this season.

A caretaker with the world's last male white rhino

On Film: Witnessing the Sixth Extinction COURTESY TERRA MATER FACTUAL STUDIOS

>> Documentary filmmakers have captured some extraordinary – and extraordinarily heartbreaking – stories about endangered species during the past year.

As these revealing films move off the festival circuit and into broader public circulation, put some of nature’s reality on your must-watch list this winter.

Kifaru

Filmmaker David Hambridge embeds you with the small group of rangers at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy who are tasked with the daily upkeep and protection of Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino. It is intimate. It is joyful. And it is a tragedy with the slimmest glimmer of hope that reproductive science might trick this species’ apparent fate. www.kifaruthefilm.com

"Sea of Shadows" is a story about illegal fishing for totoba, which in the bycatch has made the vaquita the most critically endangered marine mammal on the planet.

When Lambs Become Lions

Sea of Shadows

Debut filmmaker Jon Kasbe’s riveting perspective on why elephant poaching persists is told from the most grassroots level in the Kenyan bush. This complex interpersonal story wanders inside the daily lives of cousins who work opposing sides of the illicit ivory trade, churning up the nuances of an issue that may be more complex than you’d ever imagined. www.whenlambs.com 76 | ONLINE AT STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM

Mexican cartels meet Chinese wildlife traffickers in the Sea of Cortez. Together, their greed creates a multi-million-dollar black market for the totoba’s lucrative fish bladder, while pushing the vaquita, the world’s smallest whale, to extinction. Director Richard Ladkani delivers an environmental thriller told through journalists, activists, scientists and the local fishing communities. www.nationalgeographic.com/films/sea-of-shadows

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On the Radio:

The Future of Local News A conversation with KUNC’s Neil Best on growing local public radio

HELPS COMFORTABLY

>> Solid, in-depth local news has rarely felt more important or harder to come by. Across America, big cities and small towns alike have become news deserts.

Consequently, rumor and innuendo creep into the cracks abandoned by fact-based reporting.

Steamboat Springs has the rare fortune of having not only a daily newspaper, but an expanding public radio presence, too.

With a growing newsroom and access to listeners across a broad swath of northern Colorado, KUNC has launched an ambitious new (and evolving) local news program, "Colorado Edition," that deserves the serious attention of anyone who lives, works or plays around the state.

Having spent more than 45 years at the station, KUNC president and CEO Neil Best shares not only his familiar voice with Steamboat listeners, but a keen perspective on the future of local news for our rural region of the Rockies.

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Steamboat Magazine: What spurred KUNC to launch a radio news magazine now?

Neil Best: With the growth of digital possibilities, listeners have multiple choices as to where they can hear the news from National Public Radio. To ensure that KUNC remains relevant as a resource for national and international news, we feel there is both an opportunity and a responsibility to provide in-depth coverage of news from Colorado. The challenges media are facing are deeply disturbing.

SM: What is the news hole that "Colorado Edition" seeks to fill?

NB: We are very focused on providing understanding of issues that the people of Colorado care about. We will never be able to replicate the local focus that traditionally has been provided by a commercial radio station that only covers one community or a community newspaper. What we can do is report on trends and similarities across the state, as well as the differences. While KUNC is mostly located in northern Colorado, the state is interconnected in so many ways. It is imperative that we cover the entire state, from the movement of water to the impact of the tourist industry on state revenues, to how we navigate the urban/ rural divide.

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Media SM: Are you aiming for hard news like policy and legislation, or will there be arts, entertainment and human-interest stories, too?

NB: Much of the inspiration comes from Bill Siemering, NPR’s first director of programming, who helped to create and name the news magazine, "All Things Considered." Bill’s vision was to create a program that would “reflect the diversity of America and let the country hear itself.” Our mission is to replicate that vision here in Colorado.

SM: How is "Colorado Edition" looking to grow – more indepth reporting, investigative reporting, hyper-local stories?

NB: It is important that KUNC be a resource you can trust to keep you informed of events as they happen, but (and it is a big but) our tradition as a public media organization has always been, and I believe will always be, focusing on in-depth reporting. To me, that means more than just telling what is happening in the moment, and having a real commitment to reporting that provides a nuanced background that leads to a better understanding of issues. To an extent, all of our reporting is investigative reporting. Not the sort of muckraking specials done for television ratings, but asking questions that lead to a deeper understanding on the part of the reporter, which is then extended to the listener.

SM: Where does a new news program fit into the broader KUNC mission?

NB: "Colorado Edition" is at the core of our mission as a public media organization. The better that citizens understand the

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE?

issues facing our society, the stronger our community can be in coming together with solutions to the challenges that exist.

SM: Are these stories that we’ll hear on national broadcasts?

NB: One of the true strengths of public radio has always been the interdependence between local stations and National Public Radio to contribute reporting. Dating back nearly 50 years, KUNC has contributed reporting to the national news magazines. There isn’t a month that goes by that reporting from the KUNC newsroom isn’t a part of the national news magazines. With the growth of "Colorado Edition," I believe we will all hear more KUNC reporting at the national level. In return, our newsroom is daily asking what national story has strong connections to Colorado and what part of that story should we be researching and reporting to our audiences.

In an increasingly digital world where we can often feel so disconnected, Best makes a remarkable revelation: “I personally read and respond to every email we receive at the station.”

KUNC is found on the old-fashioned radio at 88.5 in Steamboat (plus nine other frequencies across the mountain communities, three on the Front Range and six on the Eastern plains).

And the station is absolutely up-to-snuff for digital listening (and expanded online content) in all the ways you’d expect heading into 2020.

"Colorado Edition" airs Monday through Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and it’s available online and wherever you get your podcasts. www.kunc.org

At your fingertips · Apps for the outdoors · Podcasts for the road · Books, movies, maps All handpicked by Steamboat Magazine’s Own Media Editor Jennie Lay

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On Your Phone: MyRadar

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>> Forget the Front Range television forecast.

Know precisely when you’re going to ski Steamboat pow or shovel the driveway with NOAA’s hi-definition radar at your fingertips.

The free MyRadar app is available for all devices with real-time precipitation forecasts, detailed storm tracking and NOAA weather alerts. www.myradar.com

In Your Earbuds: Have You

Heard George’s Podcast? >> It seems like everyone’s got a podcast these

days. With an incessant explosion of new material, it’s easy to miss a good one. My solution: Pay attention to the comments when your smartest friends solicit “What are you listening to now?” on their social posts … and tune in when the awards go gaga over something that escaped you. That’s how I found George Mpanga, aka George the Poet. His unconventional music/poetry/personal storytelling/news/social commentary podcast reflects on scenes from real and imagined life, from Kampala to London. There is a distinct groove and flow to it all that’s unlike anything else you’re listening to. Download and dive in, wherever you get your podcasts. www.georgethepoet.com

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It just feels good once you arrive.

It’s wonderful.”

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In your feed:

Up your Instagram >> What to do with the new Wi-Fi on your 10-minute gondola ride.

Inspire hope: @gretathunberg Watch artfully for the next drop: @banksy Fall in love with a new species: @joelsartore Experience otherworldly awe: @nasa Plan dinner for après ski: @smittenkitchen

Greta Thunberg

STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI 2019-20 | 79

Why Stop Here?

Why Stop at the Last Page?

ALESHA DAMERVILLE

Dive further into the local scene at SteamboatMagazine.com

Steamboat Springs is not only a beautiful place to recreate, it’s also an incredible place to perform. World-renowned musicians frequent the Yampa Valley between performances at larger venues like Red Rocks Amphitheater. Check out exclusive interviews from the valley’s biggest performers online.

Follow the fashion trends of Northwest Colorado with the “Styled by Steamboat” series, featuring seasonal favorites donned by locals.

ALESHA DAMERVILLE

Good eats ensue … visit SteamboatMagazine.com for the low-down on tasty offerings and menu previews from your favorite restaurants in the area.

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Stay in the loop on changes at the Steamboat Ski Area, from the new gondola to new restaurants and musical performances.

Get advice from a local. Whether it’s skiing, snowshoeing, music, arts or local events, immerse yourself in all the activities to be found in Routt County with the guidance of Steamboat locals.

Get started with the events calendar and business directory at SteamboatMagazine.com.

Follow Steamboat Magazine on Facebook to enter into drawings and giveaways for local businesses. Steamboat Magazine on Instagram lures you into a world of captivating photos that epitomize Northwest Colorado.

In June 2017, Steamboat Springs joined 20 other districts in receiving a Colorado Creative District Designation from Colorado Creative Industries. Stay up-to-date with the local art scene at YampaValleyArts.com.

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JACE ROMICK

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