Steamboat Living BOTB 2013

SPRING 2013

78 IST PG. L Y T S AIR BEST H

8 G. 6 P P HO EE S F F T CO BES

ER ST E B

6 G. 7 P TOR DOC

4 PG. 6 A Z IZ P BEST

PLUS:

Chandeliers of Steamboat

1 PG. 9 P O H SKI S BEST

A new climbing mecca BEST SPOR TS ST ORE P G.

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Bananas in Winter?

And more!

4,259 SURVeYS • 134,280 QUeStIoNS dining, shopping, homes, community and more!

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Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Morgan

Alison • Peg • Beth Katie • Maggie • Jen & Dylan •

• •

Carol & Bella Alicia

Déjà Vu and Kids, Too! Fine Consignment Clothing

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JOHN F. RUSSELL

Contents

Ridge with a View: the Daniels family enjoying a vista of the valley.

Departments 12

Quick Hits The other Steamboat, growing bananas in winter, a new climbing area on Rabbit Ears, local athlete superstitions and more.

Special section: Best of the Boat!

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Once again, it’s time for the results of our annual survey, bestowing kudos on everything we love about Steamboat.

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Special “Best of Everything” Section!

You had your chance to vote. Now it’s our turn to call out a few Steamboat highlights of living in Ski Town USA.

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Staying Fit Practicing ballet and Pilates with Steamboat’s Bella Barre

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Dining and Drinking

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Cooking With Spostas’ Christian Talli

71

Services

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Real Estate: Chandeliers of Steamboat There’s a lot more to the lights overhead than meets the eye.

An inside look at some of Steamboat’s most awe-inspiring chandeliers.

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Home Services

124 Road Trip: Heli-bumping in the North Cascades 128 5 Minutes With... WaveSports founder Chan Zwanzig

103 Shopping 109 Community 123 Bonus: Best of the Boat school survey

Ever wonder what our kids like best about school and living here? Well, now you know, thanks to our first Best of the Boat school survey, taken by area middle-schoolers.

On the cover: Coif Composure: Best Hairstylist Stephani Weiss, of Rocky Mountain Day Spa, tries to tame the locks of Best ER Doctor Dave Wilkinson, who’s enjoying Best Pizza Snow in Texas from Soda Creek Pizza. Also featured: Best Coffee Shop, MountainBrew; Best Ski Shop, Ski Haus; and Best Sporting Goods Store, Ski Haus. (Photo by John F. Russell) Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Steamboat’S Premier Fly FiShing ShoP Exceptional Guides • Exceptional Service

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JoHn F. rUssEll

FROM thE EDiTOR

Suzanne Schlicht Chief operating officer Scott Stanford general manager brent boyer Editor in chief mike Polucci Magazines manager eugene buchanan Magazines editor Nicole miller assistant editor Laura tamucci Creative services manager Steve balgenorth Circulation manager Photographers scott Franz, Joel reichenberger, John F. russell, tom ross and Matt stensland

’Snow Place Like Home Come on, really? Do we have to tell you what’s best about living in Steamboat Springs?

Seems to me that we all have it pretty good here as it is, and even our worst day — when we’re stuck in “lines” at the chairlift, City Market and traffic light — is far better than it’d be in a more Detroitesque locale.

But there are some things that make this town better than it already is. Things that go unnoticed, or at least unappreciated, in our day-to-day lives. And that’s exactly what we’re praising in our special Best of Everything feature on page 42.

Sure, our annual survey lets all of you vote for your favorite business and ski instructor but that’s just part of the story about living in Activity of the Month Town USA. Every town has a best burger, fries and Realtor. But not every town has a statue you knock for good luck, a horse governing Lincoln Avenue from a down-

town rooftop, or a wacky, skiing pyro who launches Roman candles from his back.

More than any business offering, it’s these things that make our town so special.

We wish we had room to list them all — the swimming holes in the river, the weekly rodeo, the fresh blooms in the Yampa River Botanic Park — but you’ll have to consider this an abridged version of Steamboat’s best attributes.

All this isn’t to take away from the town’s best back rubs or baby back ribs.

We’ll take those anytime we can get them, even both at the same time like Costanza from “Seinfeld.” It’s just that we wanted to call attention to some of the smaller things that are not on our survey.

And like that math equation we learned in grade school, it’s these small things that add up to a greater whole.

— Eugene Buchanan

Writers scott Franz, luke graham, nicole Inglis, Joel reichenberger, Michael schrantz, tom ross and Matt stensland Copy editors Vicky Ho, Jerry Martin and laura Mazade advertising design and production stephanie Corder, seve deMarco, todd wilson, rachel girard and lindsay Porter advertising sales Christy woodland and reed Jones steamboat living is published three times a year, in March, July and november by the steamboat Pilot & today. steamboat living magazines are free.

For advertising information, call Mike Polucci at 970-871-4215. to get a copy mailed to your home, call steve Balgenorth at 970-871-4232.

Email letters to the editor to ebuchanan@steamboattoday.com or call 970-870-1376 Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Juju Corner

Quick hits

Local athlete superstitions When it comes to sports, Steamboat’s a competitive community. It’s no surprise, then, that a few of our marquee athletes try to muster every advantage they can, even if it means getting a little help from lady luck.

Leaving it to chance

Johnny Spillane

Nelson Carmichael

Chad Fleischer Olympian, founder Fleischer Sport I always wore the same socks for race day as I wore on my last training run.

That way, they were broken in, form-fitted and ready to go fast. When I was younger, I had a pair of long johns I always wore that were so shredded they wouldn’t be fit for a rag.

I used them for three years before letting them go.

Jarryd Hughes World Cup snowboard cross I’m very careful before a race to follow the same routine for preparation, making sure I’m doing the same thing the day of the race. I like to have a shower

Bobby Aldighieri Freestyle moguls Olympian, Canadian Development Team coach I always put everything in chronological order the night before: underwear, socks, turtleneck, bottoms, etc.

That way, I didn’t have to think about it in the morning. I also had a race-only turtleneck.

Rishi Grewal National road bike champion When each race determined whether I remained gainfully employed, I’d visualize a successful outcome. I’d visualize playing basketball and driving to the hoop through defenders and voice this as the race progressed. It provided a great motivator and kept my mind fresh by thinking of a totally different sport. To this day, whenever I have trouble, I envision driving to the hoop.

Bryan Fletcher Nordic combined Olympian I tie my boots once and let my feet get used to the pressure before I head up to the jump. Then I untie them and retie them when it’s time

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Butch Boucher Haymaker Fall Classic golf champion I never tee off on the first hole of a tourney with a new ball.

It’s always one that I’ve played with before. I also like to mark my ball with the same quarter the whole round. I’m not superstitious, I just know what works.

Freestyle moguls Olympian I really didn’t have any superstitions, although I’d use the same equipment for as long as possible. Skis, boots, poles, gloves, goggles, clothing, pretty much everything. I’d rather be comfortable than try out something new.

Matt Ladley Pro snowboarder

Tammy Jacques

I just like to stick to a routine before an event. Get up a little early, eat breakfast, take a long time getting ready and pretty much treat it as any other day until I’m riding up the lift.

Olympian, U.S. road and mountain bike teams

Maddy Schaffrick

Even though I had great mechanics, I’d always check my tires, breaks, bottom bracket and wheels before a race.

I’d also take a warmup ride with music and go for a short walk to loosen up. The day before, I’d also take a cold bath and put my feet up against the wall for 15 minutes and then take a hot shower. I also usually ate salmon with some type of whole-grain pasta.

Pro Snowboarder

When I was little, I’d purposely do all the things you’re not supposed to like spill salt and crack mirrors just to test them out. I try to approach every competition as though it was just another practice day. Otherwise, I loose my sense of fun that helps me land, which doesn’t get you on the podium.

PHotos CoUrtEsY oF atHlEtEs, JoHn F. rUssEll and JoEl rEICHEnBErgEr

The good luck charm I do the most is wear new socks for competitions.

It’s a good way to start the day. I also used to carry an African elephant whisker bracelet and lion’s claw which were given to me by a friend in my jump bag for good luck

to jump. I also wear a tight undersuit, and once I find one that works, I won’t use anything else.

If I’m too amped or in the wrong state of mind, I’ll listen to Mumford & Sons or The Lumineers to reset before I jump.

larrY PIErCE

Nordic combined Olympian

when I wake up and then have breakfast in my normal clothes before changing.

And, of course, there also are a few local athletes who don’t believe in such poppycock.

A Real Family Mexican Restaurant Cantina and Cocktails

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The other Steamboat

Quick hits

Betcha didn’t know ...

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espite plans for a casino near Hayden, not too many people mistake Routt County for Reno, where slots replace the slopes. But another town named Steamboat could leave some scratching their heads.

Steamboat, Nev., has a population of 25,882 and sits at 4,603 feet in Washoe County about 30 minutes south of Reno on Old U.S. Highway 395. Like a scene from “The Twilight Zone,” it even has a Steamboat hot springs, named by Mark Twain when, he quipped, “Behold, a Steamboat in the Desert,” while working as a newspaperman in nearby Virginia City.

While both towns owe their names to their springs and Mississippi riverboat monikers, other similarities bubble to the surface. Like our town, Steamboat, Nev., sits along a creek

and was first a stagecoach stop and then a train station. It also once had a hotel called the Grand, and our Hayden Power Station is rivaled by their Ormat Steamboat Complex, a series of seven plants.

As for the springs, our Old Town Hot Springs is mirrored by another nonprofit, the nearby Steamboat Hot Springs Healing Center and Spa. First developed in 1859, it once harbored the third largest geyser in the U.S., shooting water 80 feet skyward before a 1900 earthquake dried it up (now it’s a Historical Landmark). The area later became a hospital, race horse healing center (serving such thoroughbreds as Man O’ War) and even a boxing training center for the likes of Jack Dempsey.

Still, locals in 80477 need not fear visitors going astray

or a mass exodus to the Sierra. “We’ve never had anyone confuse the two,” Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association Purblic Relations Manager

Michelle Kreissig says. “Besides, I don’t think they could possibly have anything better than we do right here.”

— Eugene Buchanan

How the Steamboats stack up Steamboat Springs, CO Steamboat, NV Advantage Population Power generation Famous equines Median home Avg. snowfall Avg. income Olympians Lighted men Skiable acres

12,088 ❏ 465 MW ❏ ❏ None ❏ $573,500  170 inches ❏  $42,172 ❏  78 ❏ 1 ❏  3,000 ❏

❏ 25,882 ❏ 86 MW Man o’ War ❏ $187,500 ❏ ❏ 24.3 inches ❏ $41,790 ❏0 ❏0 ❏0

CO CO NV NV CO CO CO CO CO

Winner: Steamboat Springs, CO!

Voted

Best Bike Shop

Quality Old Town Service at Low Prices.

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JoHn F. rUssEll

Quick hits

Domestic Bliss Town rife with new indoor options for kids

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ewing needles and aprons might not replace slalom gates and half-pipes as the goto activities of choice for area youngsters, but thanks to a new crop of kid activities sprouting up in town, domestic pursuits are getting their due.

Gayle Dudley and Mariana Ishida’s Sew Steamboat downtown encourages young people to sew. Starting with holiday programs aimed at kids older than 9, the Lincoln Avenue store now holds after-school events and weekly sessions for homeschoolers. This spring will see the start of a new crochet class,

plus a hand-sewing class for 5to 8-year-olds. “It’s great to have something totally different for my daughter Claire to do in town,” local Amy Bohmer says. “She’s very artistic and this sewing class fosters a whole new skill set.”

It isn’t just for girls, either; a growing number of boys also are showing interest. One high school boy from Sweden is making a sweater as part of a credit course. Classes cover basic bags and PJs to ugly dolls. “It’s all about sewing for success,” says Dudley, who opened her store two years after teaching school for 30 years. “No child leaves

with an unfinished project. They always go with a sense of accomplishment.”

At Bud Werner Memorial Library life skills also are on the menu. Inspired by British chef Jamie Oliver, children’s librarian Sarah Kostin is developing a learn-to-cook series for kids ages 8 to 12. Healthy eating advocate Oliver produced a documentary on 10 recipes that can save people’s lives. “The idea is to equip kids with a handful of dishes they can cook, plus teach them the importance of healthy eating,” says Kostin, adding that guest chef Pam Wertz ran a trial class in

November on whole foods and vegan options. Throughout the spring, mini-chefs will conjure up everything from gluten free dishes to French crepes.

Continuing the wholesome trend, fellow librarian and musician Tom Keenan is starting family sing along events, covering such works as Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”

So grab your needle and thread, apron or guitar and encourage your kids to go back to the basics for a while. After all, the mountains aren’t going anywhere.

— Suzi Mitchell

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Quick hits

The River Dry

Fish benefit from 2012 water release

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of 26 cfs. After June 29, the river never dropped lower than 70 cfs through Sept. 15. Although the sixmile town corridor stayed closed to fishing, flows also climbed back above the 85 cfs threshold for other recreation.

“It’s great, as an angler, to see CWT’s efforts paying off on a well-known fly-fishing river,” says former local Tom Bie, who’s now the editor of The Drake magazine. “While all the work that the organization does is important, the national prominence of the Yampa has definitely helped raise awareness and visibility in the fishing community.”

Setting a precedent in Colorado, the droughtlease marked the first use of HB03-1320, a 2003 state law passed after the 2002 drought that allows farmers, ranchers, water districts and other entities to loan water to rivers for in-stream flow when needed (both direct flow and storage rights can be leased). The Water Trust’s follow-through was so unique that

National Geographic ran a story on it last fall.

“Watching the river drop, we knew this was the best way to respond — it looked like a system that was ecologically going to crash,” Water Trust Executive Director Amy Beatie says. “It’s the first time anybody had ever orchestrated something like this in the state. The statute had never been used. Since it came from a storage project and wasn’t a direct-flow right, it was easy to fasttrack it.”

While the extra water enhanced recreation and agricultural uses, the river’s ecosystem was the ultimate victor. And no one was more excited about it than the fish, which include rainbow, brown, Snake River cutthroat and brook trout as well as native mountain whitefish found only in the White and Yampa basins. “The Yampa’s unique native fish component made it that much more important to move forward,” Beatie says.

In 2002, flows that bottomed

out at 17 cfs led to unbridled vegetation growth Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist Billy Atkinson said. This caused dissolved oxygen level swings, leaving the fish, like Katniss, in a state of constant flux and survival.

The Water Trust release, he says, kept the vegetation in check and protected the fish — especially the whitefish, whose population declined after the 2002 drought. “It also provided ancillary habitat for smaller fish,” he says. “They didn’t get squeezed into the holes with all the bigger fish.”

The Water Trust hopes to use its success on the Yampa to persuade other water rights holders to follow a similar path in future droughts. “The fish are in great shape right now largely because of that release,” says Keith Hale, a guide at Steamboat Flyfisher.

“And once the downtown section opened up again in the fall, the river fished as good as it ever has.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Hog Island Boatworks

he odds weren’t exactly in the fish’s favor in the Yampa River last summer. By June 19, flows had dropped to 85 cubic feet, forcing Colorado Parks and Wildlife to enact a voluntary ban on river recreation. By June 27, flows had fallen to 40 cfs, just 5 percent of average, sending trout straight to the “Hunger Games” in one of the worst droughts on record.

But then the cavalry came, not in the form of Katniss Everdeen but a nonprofit called the Colorado Water Trust. Taking advantage of an unused statute on the books since 2002, it went looking for entities willing to temporarily sell or lease water. Steamboat’s Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District had 4,000 acre-feet of unclaimed water in Stagecoach Reservoir from the expiration of a long-term lease with Tri-State Generation, so it agreed to lease the surplus to the Water Trust at a cost of $140,000, or $35 per acrefoot, resulting in additional flows

Local angler Johnny St. John was one of many locals taking advantage of last summer’s historical Colorado Water Trust release.

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Thanks Steamboat!

Abby, Lindsay and I Appreciate Your Support!

Dr. Karl Heggland Diplomate, American Board Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

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Quick hits

Bananas in winter?

Inside Strawberry Park’s Elkstone Farm

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Houston transplants Terry Huffington and Ralph Dittman, who bought 309 acres in Strawberry Park in 1993 and since have seen their holding grow to 690 acres.

The seeds for the farm idea were planted in 2008 after they met Lisa Benjamin through the Community Agriculture Alliance, with their first planting occurring in 2009.

“We were spending more time here and wanted to do something more with the land,” Huffington says. “We were interested in strawberries initially, but then Lisa introduced us to permaculture, which seemed the right thing to do. It took us a completely different direction than what we originally planned.”

That original plan has since blossomed even more with last year’s addition of passive solar hoop-houses harboring such annuals as salad greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash — and such cold-hardy fare as

carrots, onions and spinach. The steel-hooped structures are topped with two layers of stretched polyethylene, between which air circulates for added insulation.

“We realized that if we wanted to do volume, we’d need some basic row crops, so we made hoop houses,” says Huffington, who plans to build another one this summer. “So far, there’s only been two weeks that we haven’t harvested anything.”

The harvesting picks up even more come summer, when the farm’s fruit orchard blooms with apple and pear trees, which are surrounded by Siberian pea shrubs, currants and gooseberries.

On it are more than 20 varieties of apples, from mainstream MacIntosh to such rarities as Sops of Wine and Sheep Nose.

But it’s the greenhouse that truly sets the farm apart. Inside, plants are packed in varying layers for space efficiency, with a canopy

of trees shading smaller shrubs and ground cover. As part of its sustainable permaculture program, Elkstone employs guilds (grouping plants together for mutual benefit) and layering (stacking a tall canopy of trees, midlevel shrubs and groundcover plants), and recycles all plant refuse for compost — all in the name of bringing bananas and other nonendemic produce to Steamboat.

In short, it’s a labor of love, the fruits of which are tangible in more ways than one. “We’re quite pleased with how things have turned out,” says Huffington, who’s now also making such value-added products as jams and marmalades made from Elkstone produce. “We’ve fallen in love with it. It’s exhilarating to have something you’re so passionate about.”

— Eugene Buchanan

JOHN F. RUSSELL

tep inside the 2,880-square-foot greenhouse at Elkstone Farm in midwinter and you might think you’re in Sicily instead of Strawberry Park.

Even when it’s minus 30 outside, as it was this January, lemons, oranges, figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives and even bananas flourish inside. So does an assortment of herbs, from lavender and thyme to marjoram and mint, as well as such exotic flowers as kangaroo paw and jasmine. And in the far corner are more than 1,000 strawberry plants in vertical resin tubes, a nod to the valley’s namesake crop of yesteryear.

“Even on the coldest winter days, it feels like a Mediterranean oasis,” says caretaker Jeannie Berger, whose ripest produce is picked almost daily to sell to such local eateries as Harwigs/L’Apogee and Bamboo Market.

Now entering its third year, the 7-acre farm is the brainchild of

Bearing Fruit: elkstone Farm’s terry Huffington is gearing up for another successful greenhouse season.

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Quick hits

Climb On!

New climbing area discovered in Muddy Creek they first climbed the area, they found two pieces of old climbing gear from the ’70s. “We’re not the first ones to go in there by any means,” he says. “But people had kind of forgotten about it, and now word is spreading.”

With nearly a half-dozen local climbers helping to set routes, the area now has more than 15 climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.12, consisting of everything from bolted sport and trad climbs to top-rope options. A couple of two-pitch climbs command the valley’s far end, including the aptly named, 120-foot Mosstrum Tower. The first route put up, a 70-foot 5.7, is called Bob Grey Tower, after a name found on a nearby irrigation pipe. The second route, a 5.10 called Mosstrum Crack, has become a local classic.

If you notice a similarity in its marquee names, there’s a reason.

The rock is still a bit mossy and dirty, meaning the more traffic it receives — always with helmets and a sense of caution, says Reed — the better. “It’s really good climbing, with an array of everything,” he says. “But there’s no guide to it yet, so you’re on your own.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Dalton Reed

teamboat’s a far cry from Boulder when it comes to climbing, but it’s a step closer thanks to the discovery of a new climbing area off Rabbit Ears Pass called Muddy Creek.

“It’s a fantastic addition to the area’s climbing options,” local climber Dalton Reed says. “It has a lot of everything, with more that can still go in. Plus, it offers a great concentration of harder routes.”

The region joins The Domes, Seedhouse Road, Cougar Canyon, Hole in the Wall, Butcherknife Creek, Blob Rock and more as local climbing haunts. But it’s better, Reed says, because of its diversity.

Reed, who grew up climbing in Steamboat, and local climber Kevin McGarity hiked into the site last April after hearing about it from local Tim Hatfield. The reason it hadn’t been discovered earlier is that, located just after the Buffalo Park road crosses Muddy Creek, it’s hard to see from the road. “It’s down in a valley, but all the recent beetle kill up there has made it easier to see now,” says Reed, adding that it takes a 15-minute hike to reach.

Reed admits that neither he, McGarity nor Hatfield were the first to discover it. In fact, when

New Kids on the Rock: Sean Kuusinen sending Rage Against Machine (left) and Doug McKee making his way up Mosstrum Crack.

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Dalton Reed

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Voted Best of the Boat 2011, 2012 & 2013 Best for all seasons

roof replacements • roof repairs • seamless Gutters • roof top snow removal

970-846-4385 Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Come explore with Us!

Steamboat Father-Daughter Dentistry in Guatemala

Yampatykes Ages 5 & 6

June 17-21 • June 24-28 • July 8-12 • July 29-Aug 2

Nature Explorers Ages 7 & 8 June 17-21 • July 8-12 • July 15-19

Jr. Naturalists Ages 9-11 including a single overnight at an established campsite July 15-19 • July 22-26 • Aug 5-9

Wilderness Pioneers I & II Ages 12-14 including single & double backcountry overnights (I) June 25-28* • (I) July 23*-26 • (II) Aug 6*-9

*

Wilderness Pioneers meet Tuesday-Friday.

Single Day Camps Ages 5-8 July 1 • July 2 • July 3 • July 5

Visit our website at www.yampatika.org or call 970-871-9151 for program descriptions & dates Yampatika is a permitee of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and an EOE

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Local attorney Randy Salky and his daughter, Miranda, recently participated in a humanitarian dental clinic held in the Guatemalan village of San Martin Jilotepeque. The five-day clinic served 483 patients, many of whom had never before received dental care, and was organized

by Denver-based Global Dental Relief. The Salkys were part of a group of 14 volunteers providing $200,000 in care. “It was a great father-daughter experience,” says Randy, who recently received the third annual Northwest Colorado Pro Bono Legal Foundation Award. Adds Miranda, a high school senior fluent in Spanish: “It was an amazing opportunity to combine my interest in dentistry, travel, meeting new people and bonding with my dad.”

John, Cody’s sister and director of the foundation. “It’s a great way to honor Cody while helping other ski patrollers further their education.” Cody was killed in a car accident in 2007 while driving to Laramie, Wyo., to attend nursing school orientation.

Cookie and the rookie

JOEL REICHENBERGER

Schedule for 2013

GLOBAL DENTAL RELIEF

Yampatika’s summer camp provides children with hands-on opportunities to explore their natural surroundings in a fun, safe and professional atmosphere. All camps take place at Yampatika’s Environmental Learning Center and on nearby public lands.

Cody’s Web When Cody’s Challenge Randonee race comes to Mount Werner on April 6, it will mark the fifth anniversary of the event commemorating late Steamboat Ski Area patroller Cody St. John and raising funds for his namesake foundation, which funds patrollers who are seeking higher medical eduction. To celebrate the milestone, the foundation has rolled out a new website (www. codyschallenge.org), complete with stories from past grant winners. “The support from the Steamboat community for it has been great,” says Corinne St.

Former Steamboat high school basketball player Graig Medvesk has traded his fast moves on the court for fast talking on the mike.

The Colorado Mesa University student, a part-time employee of Fruita’s CP Auctions, recently graduated from Western Auctioneering College and worked with local auctioneer Cookie Lockhart last fall. After hearing him bid call, Lockhart advised him to join the Colorado Auction Association and compete for its Troil Welton First Timers Bid Calling Award, which he won.

Scuttlebutt Spinning your wheels

SPIFFY DOG

BRIDGESTONE WINTER DRIVING SCHOOL

Doggone fun competition

Local pet products manufacturer Spiffy Dog held a Facebook pet photo contest last fall for fans of its new Air Collar. With entries streaming in from around the country (and more than fair representation from Steamboat), the winning entry belongs to Christine Kozanda, of Munster, Ind., and her dog Finn under the caption, “All Dressed Up and Snow Place to Go.” The win earned her a shopping spree to Spiffy Dog.

Former local wins Mugs Stump Award Former local Bryan Gilmore recently received the 2013 Mugs Stump Award to climb Cerro San Lorenzo in Patagonia, Argentina’s seldom-visited Perito Moreno National Park. The award, created in 1993 in memory of climber Mugs Stump, has given $350,000 in grants to teams practicing light, fast Alpinism. One of nine recipients receiving a combined $33,500 in grants this year, Gilmore, along with Mike Schaefer and Josh Wharton, will attempt to climb the formidable east face of the peak, which never has been done. “The proposals this year were as bold and committing as any we’ve seen since the award began,” grant co-founder Michael Kennedy says. “It’s great to see so many motivated climbers getting after it.”

You don’t hit the brakes when you turn 30. If not in real life, that’s certainly the case at Steamboat’s Bridgestone Winter Driving School, which celebrates its 30th year in 2013 as the only driving school of its kind in North America. With a full line of Lexus cars at its signature tracks off Twentymile Road, the school’s 77-acre facility includes three state-of-the-art ice and snowcovered tracks featuring banked and off-cambered corners with a variety of elevation changes. The courses — including the popular Second Gear full-day course and introductory First Gear half-day class — are all taught by driving professionals, including former racers. Skills learned include cornering, acceleration, braking, weight transfer, skid control and accident avoidance.

River doc wins berth in film fest A 15-minute video calling attention to the Yampa River won entry into the 7th annual Colorado Environmental Film Festival in February. Produced by Friends of the Yampa’s Kent Vertrees and Ben Saheb, “The Last One” is a story about the Yampa, which — in an era when most Western rivers have been dammed and dewatered — still runs wild and free. “The Yampa still functions like it has for millions of years,” narrator Cody Perry says. “In today’s world this is unique and something we should never take for granted.” With cinematography

by Steamboat’s Michael Bye, the documentary was filmed during the historic peak runoff of 2011.

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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26 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

we can help lower your overhead.

If you’re on vacation, we can help you make the most of your visit.

If you just want some help with everyday tasks, we’re here.

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Our services help you save time and create new opportunities. $25/hr Flat Fee for personal/general errands. Minimum of 1hr billed.

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Thank You for Making Us Best of The Boat!

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Call to Consign 970-871-8700 • Open Tue-Sat 11-6, Sun 11-4 1120 S. Lincoln Ave. Suite C-2, next to McDonald’s Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Bella Barre

stAYiNG FiT

Unique combination of ballet, Pilates

S

ure, you can mountain bike or skate ski up Emerald Mountain and charge down the slopes of Mount Werner. But can you combine Pilates, ballet and bar-based isometrics without quivering?

Those are the tenets of a new fitness regime called Bella Barre that’s taking Routt County by storm, ballet tights and all.

“It’s spreading like wildfire, both here and across the United States,” says Bella Barre owner Jamie Boeri, who opened her new studio in Steamboat Springs in December.

Before opening her studio, Boeri first introduced the barre method to the Steamboat community by teaching classes around town. It caught on

enough that she was able to centralize her instruction in Curve Plaza.

The reason behind its growth, she says, is its unique approach to fitness. “It’s such a different way to work your body,” Boeri says. “It gets people to step out of their comfort zone.”

Boeri studied kinesiology at California State Polytechnic University. She had been dancing for 15 years, and before moving to Steamboat in 2010, she worked for Disney Corp. for seven years.

She has certifications in BASI Pilates and TRX suspension trainers.

Boeri was introduced to the barre method by her Pilates mentor.

The safe, low-impact workout

Bella Barre owner Jamie Boeri, front, and Kris Barondess hold the bar during a Bella Barre class.

is suitable for all ages, with Boeri describing it as a fusion of three principles. The unique workouts are geared mainly toward women and involve Pilates, beginning ballet techniques and the Lotte Berk Method, which involves tiny isometric movements at the bar. The exercises make legs and arms shake and are followed by stretches to lengthen the body and create a lean physique.

“It targets muscles you’re not always used to working,” maintains Renee Ellis, who fell in love with the workouts during classes Boeri offered at Old Town Hot Springs.

Another convert is Kris Barondess, who comes to Bella Barre classes five days each week. “It’s a low-impact exercise

What: Bella Barre Where: 2093 Curve Plaza, Unit C103 Cost: First class is free. Single drop-in class $15 Five-class package $70 10-class package $130. First month of unlimited classes $100, then $125 per month.

Info: 970-846-0761 www.bellabarrestudio.com that yields incredible results,” she says, describing Boeri as knowledgeable and handson in her instruction. “It’s a good atmosphere that’s warm and welcoming.”

Boeri walking lauran Dodge through the ropes.

Story and photos by matt Stensland 28 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

If you go

by Ali M. Boehm, RMT 306 Oak St., Garden Level www.kneadinghandstherapy.com 970.846.9032

1 Friendship 2 Businesses 3 Years

Also, come visit Kneading Hands herbal inspired shop!

2011

2011

3rd Place Best Massage Therapist

1st Place Best Massage Therapist

3rd Place Best Massage Therapist

2nd Place Best Massage Therapist

Top Three Best Massage Therapist

Top Three Best Massage Therapist

2012

2012

2013

2013

6 Awards

by Erica Olson, CMT 405 S. Lincoln Ave., Ste. C www.heartfiremassage.com 970.819.1074

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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COOKING WITH

Spostas’ Christian Talli W

hen Christian Talli opened Spostas World Sushi on Oak Street nearly two years ago, he had only $167 in his bank account.

But his move to the building that accommodates diners was a big upgrade from the small takeout kitchen Spostas previously operated out of in a downtown alley. And it’s been enough to land him on the podium as a top-three finisher in this year’s Best Sushi category in our Best of the Boat contest.

“I told my nine employees that if I didn’t make any money in three weeks, I wouldn’t be able to pay them,” Talli says at his newer location. “One person walked away.”

Talli figured his unique style of sushi was catching on quickly, and the locals would come. They did, and today he is looking to expand his restaurant model that is a far cry from diners’ common perception of what sushi should be.

For one, the chefs who roll the sushi at Spostas mostly are selftaught.

Kitchen manager Jenny Hines claims to have grown up poor, and thus was forced to master the art of cooking, Talli says. He adds that if a seasoned sushi chef walked into his kitchen today, he or she likely would scoff and proclaim, “It isn’t set up right.” But that’s just

Sushi-making for the commoner Christian Talli stresses that you don’t need to look any further than YouTube and the leftovers in the refrigerator to put together a tasty roll of sushi.

1. Cook the sushi rice (add 1/3 cup rice vinegar to every cup of rice), and julienne cut desired veggies.

2. Place ingredients in fridge until ready to roll, or proceed to Step 4.

Christian Talli admits that he learned how to roll sushi from YouTube.

fine for the chef who learned most of his own sushi-rolling tricks on YouTube.

And his growing menu is well, unique.

“I’d imagine my restaurant goes through more green apples, bacon and chicken than any other sushi restaurant in the country,” Talli says as he gestures to a menu that includes sushi rolls filled with hamburger meat, prime rib and green apples. “We’re very out of the box.”

The menu also features such creations as the tempura-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which can even come with bacon if de-

sired. Another newer creation is a spicy, but not-overbearing, wasabi humus served with flatbread.

Talli takes pride in the fact he learned the tricks of the restaurant business himself, without any formal training. And in the long term, he hopes his sushi speaks for itself and that his skills at the craft take him far.

“When I started downtown, I literally was in the back alley next to the Dumpsters, convincing people the white boy in the back alley was doing a good job with their sushi,” Talli says. “I think people realize now that I am.”

Story by Scott Franz ❘ Photos by John F. Russell 30 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

3. Put wet paper towel over bowl of rice and microwave for 30 seconds or until warm.

4. Take one cup rice and spread 1 to 2 grains thick on seaweed roll. Place on bamboo mat.

5. Add line of desired veggies, sauces and meat (crab sticks, lunch meat, hamburger, salmon, etc.).

6. Roll sushi, using the bamboo mat to compress the roll with each quarter turn.

7. Cut roll.

970.871.0999 (phone) 970.871.0980 (fax)

Voted

Best of the Boat 2012

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Chandeliers of Steamboat

7 fixtures that light up lives as well as living rooms Chandeliers do more than simply cast light over their surroundings. They also tie in a home’s feel, encapsulating its aura and varying features in a pragmatic blend of aesthetics and utilitarian purpose. At times, you marvel at them, and at others you forget they’re even there. We’re here to remind you with a look at a sampling of chandeliers in Steamboat. By Eugene Buchanan

One Steamboat Place

Casting your eyes skyward in the lobby of One Steamboat Place will also make you want to cast a fly rod in the river. The resort’s glass-blown salmon chandelier was designed by Seattle’s Scott Chambers, who has studied at Seattle’s Pratt Fine Arts Center and Pilchuck Glass School. Created specifically for One Steamboat Place, Chambers borrowed skills he learned making glass salmon for the chandelier, developing a “Colorado red” look to reflect the natural trout of Colorado rivers like the Yampa. Each fish was created by hand from molten glass, with Chambers mixing red spaghetti stringers and sterling silver with 2000-degree glass before shaping.

While the mixture still was hot and flexible, Chambers curved each fish to fit the radius needed for its location on the chandelier.

John F. Russell

Salmon chandelier, One Steamboat Place

34 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

REAL ESTATE Spiral chandelier, Over the Edge House Take a tour of the Over the Edge House off BC Skiway and Trails Edge Lane and your head will be spinning as you look toward the ceiling. The 10,000-square-foot house’s spiral chandelier blends in seamlessly with its staircase, providing airy ambiance above and below. “There’s no real story to it; it’s just a cool chandelier we picked out,” says owner Don Redlinger, a contractor who built the house himself. “We wanted something that fit the circular motion of the staircase.”

The chandelier harbors 14 lights and is positioned next to a series of circularly placed windows to light up the room even more.

For this 6,000-square-foot home owned by Ginnie Carlier in Diamond Back Way, designer Susse Budde, of Dimension Fine Homes, went to Los Angeles’ Fuse Lighting for a fixture that was modern and rustic. “It’s very unique,” Budde say about the steel chandelier’s custom-made, 22-inch by 22-inch square lights made from prism glass hanging from leather belt straps. “It’s contemporary, but made of organic materials for a mix of old and new.” Visible over the open entry, the light borrows the aura of two other leather-hung chandeliers nearby, one a 60-inch diameter steel frame and the other featuring handblown glass fixtures. “We wanted three of something, and we wanted to keep the same theme as the home’s two other custom lights,” Budde says. The squares fit the overall ambiance. “We needed all the lights to stand alone but work together,” she says. “We wanted to bring in a different shape, and squares worked perfectly.”

Dave Patterson

Moving Mountain Chalets

Square chandelier, Diamond Back Way

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Porcelain antlers, south Steamboat home Antler chandeliers don’t always have to be made from calcium. This particular fixture, designed by Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Jason Miller, employs antlers made from porcelain. Adorning a south Steamboat home designed

by Robyn Morgenstern Rosenblatt, along with West Elevation Architects, the fixtures were chosen by the client for their rustic but refined nature.

“Two are suspended from the plaster ceiling over the Great Room to give ambient light over the two distinct seating groups,” architect Katherine Kiefer says. “They also used two smaller fixtures of the same design in the informal eating area.”

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36 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

PRuDential SteambOat RealtY

Blinds • Shades Shutters • Awnings Soft Treatments

In this 7,700-square-foot home along the Elk River, plenty of natural light comes in through the windows, augmented in the evening by this chandelier from Romick’s Into The West. Matching cherry floors and cabinets, post and beam construction, lofted ceilings and a 28-foot high rock fireplace, its rustic elegance owes itself to aesthetic materials straight from the surrounding mountains. “Instead of a typical crystal chandelier in a dining room, we wanted something that would go with the Rocky Mountain decor of our house, and this was perfect,” owner Mignon Stetman says. “It’s made of wrought iron and real deer antler sheds, instead of the resin ones you typically see.”

Crisscross steel chandelier, Pearson residence

Dave Patterson

Made from raw steel with pin spot halogens hanging from tracks, this curved chandelier waves and swirls in the living room of the Pearson residence downtown, tying together different components of the home.

“We were inspired to create a simple, modern and elegant light feature, using crisscrossing steel and a dropped track-lighting concept,” says Vertical Arts Architecture’s Rob Nadolny, who designed it with homeowner Brent Pearson.

With the home harboring curved walls and intermingled spaces, Pearson wanted something that could tie it all together. “It flows the home’s curves into the chandelier,” says Pearson, adding that each 16-foot-long arm extends toward the adjacent rooms. “There’s nothing else that could have spanned the space like this.”

The custom chandelier was designed, produced and installed locally, with Rolling Stone Metal Fabrication building the steel curves and HLCC handling its electrical components.

Vertical Arts Architecture

Hand-blown glass, Edgemont For this hand-blown glass chandelier commanding an Edgemont condo owned by Ryan and Jill Ahrens, of Denver, interior designer Sloan Pressly, of Edwards’ Slifer Designs went to New York’s Ochre for something to fit the on-mountain home’s motif. “It had to work with an existing Kyle Bunting hair-on-hide rug that’s geometric and has a cool twist on traditional material,” she says. “The chandelier complements the elements in the room without competing with the rug or floral fabric on the window treatments.” The fixture’s bronze frame harbors solid, clear glass drops that form an elongated S-shaped wave pattern.

Each individual piece of glass, hand-packaged when it arrived, has a pear-shape design that plays off patterns in the rug. “It’s a very cool fixture,” Pressly says. “We needed something that would contrast more than blend in but that also had interesting materials.”

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Steamboat Springs

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Best of the Boat Goes Big!

4,259 surveys, 134,280 questions answered

L

ike a typical tree run down Shadows, there were surprises and new turns in this year’s annual Best of the Boat contest as well as incumbents retaining their coveted crowns.

And it all goes to show that people’s opinions about this town of ours are as varied as our terrain.

While this year’s list was culled to 116 categories, it still included the favorites, from where to eat and shop to the Best Radio Station and Best Place to Work Out. Our popular Community section also continued to prove

a big hit, highlighting everyone from best ski patroller and artist to volunteer and drummer.

In all, this year’s contest yielded 4,259 surveys with a whopping 134,280 questions answered.

Voters selected top three in each category and weren’t shy about writing in their own responses, as well. Any way you do the math, that’s a sizable representation of Steamboat.

The survey encompassed five categories, including Dining and Drinking, Services, Home Services, Shopping and

40 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Community. Locals were given a month to vote and did so with the same fervor as they do pressing glass on a powder day.

A prize incentive of two $500 local shopping sprees helped entice voters to the polls.

New this year, we also opened it up to area middle-schoolers, getting their takes on everything from Best Class and Best Teacher to the top vote-getter, Best Hot Lunch. In all, more than 150 students filled out the survey providing an inside peak into the minds of area youngsters. Also new is our own Best Everything

section, which begins on page 42 and offers a lighthearted look at a few highlights we feel are worth calling attention to in this little hamlet of ours.

But regardless of what we think as we sit here behind our desks, the real strength of this survey is that the results come straight from you, our readers, who took the time to make your voices heard. And the end result is the collective voice of the community showcasing the best of everything Steamboat has to offer.

Best Survey Responses A

s with every year, leaving a few categories open to fill-in responses resulted in a few notso-run-of-the-mill answers From 7-11 receiving votes for Best Hot Dog to Denver earning marks for best place to buy a car, this year’s survey once again showed that our local populace has no qualms about wearing their opinions on their sleeves — especially when the answers come straight from the heart.

Best Asian: “Bruce Lee.” Best Cocktail: “Beer. The only correct answer is beer. Every place is a good place if it has beer.”

Best Internist: “What the heck is that?”

Best Music Venue: “Bring back the Inferno!”

Best Vegetarian Restaurant: “I won’t even dignify this question with a response. If we weren’t meant to eat cows, then why are they made out of delicious food?”

Best Lawyer: “Is this a trick question?”

Best Bank: “1st National Bank of Mattress.”

Best Fly: “Any fly tipped with PowerBait.”

Best Realtor: “Schmoozy McSchmoozer.”

Best Fitness Center: “The Great Outdoors.”

Best Pint of Guinness: “Milk Stout at Carl’s Tavern — Guinness sucks!”

Best Floral Shop: “Wherever he buys them.”

Best Optometrist: “Carrots.”

Best Snowmobile Mechanic: “Wow! These categories are so boring!”

Best Snow Removal Service: “My husband.”

Best Bus Driver: “That one guy with long hair.” “The dude from Jamaica.”

Best Bakery: “My son Peter’s chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.”

Best Grab & Go Breakfast: “Yampa Valley Medical Center.”

Best Gluten-Free Menu: “Don’t know, but it sounds gross.” “Yuk.” “What’s gluten?”

Best Hamburger: “Really, McDonalds and Wendy’s made the list, for real?”

Best Grab & Go Lunch: “Really, again McDonalds and Wendy’s made the list? C’mon now, get serious about #$%&.”

Best Sit-Down Lunch: “Oh, but wait ...in spite of their fully furnished dining areas, no McDonalds or Wendy’s on this list? WTF?” Best Mexican Restaurant: “We want Dos Amigos back!”

Best Server: “The kind that gets you drunk.”

Best Place to Watch the Game: “Gary’s house.” “My couch.”

“Baltimore.”

Best Sushi: “Space Station.”

Best Hot Dog: “Yuk, hot dogs are gross.”

Best Plumber: “One whose pants fit.”

Thanks to all our loyal customers, you truly are the best of the boat

Men’s and Women’s Apparel 970-879-0351 • 828 Lincoln Ave. www.allensclothing.com

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Best of Everything

Susannah Blundell

An inside look at the best Steamboat has to offer

Sure, you all had your chance to vote for Steamboat’s best. Now it’s our turn to call out a few Steamboat highlights, some from the past year and others that are a daily part of living in Ski Town USA. Behold our first best of compilation showcasing what makes living in Steamboat so special.

Badge of Courage Every year, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club hosts its annual Poma Trauma day at Howelsen, where local kids cowboy-up to ride the spring-loaded contraption with-

out launching into orbit or sliding back down like a bowling ball and knocking over other brave tykes and toddlers.

Runner-up: The Winter Carnival Shovel Race Seriously, anyone who enters this event — where you’re pulled behind a horse down Lincoln Avenue while sitting on a metal shovel — without a cup is cruisin’ for a high-pitched bruisin’. While techniques vary for winning, the biggest key to success, if not your future love-life, is simply having large cojones.

Superstition No contest. Knocking the bronze statue of Buddy Werner on top of the Olympian’s namesake mountain for good luck (and hopefully good snow).

42 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Use of Electricity

No, it’s not Yampa Valley Electric Association. It’s Jon Banks, son of Claudius Banks, who started the Winter Carnival’s Lighted Man tradition in 1936. And this year, for the second season running, he added a high-tech LED lighting system to his rig that shined 256 colors from his poles, skis, suit and helmet, all controlled by a microprocessor. Three circuits control poles, suit and helmet, and six are programmed on each ski, so that if any one area has a problem, it won’t affect the entire suit. “LED light technology has gone crazy

BEST...

Our PickS

BEST...

lately,” he says. “It’s a quantum leap better than the old stuff.

Still, we don’t make any drastic changes because we don’t want any drastic surprises.”

Neighborhood Amenity In the winter, it’s as quintessential as a neighborhood gets, with sledding hills and nearly 10K of groomed Nordic trails right out residents’ backdoors.

Groomed thanks to the Steamboat II Metro District and HOA fees from Silver Spur, the trails wind through both neighborhoods in a series of loops and straightaways, drawing people out at all times of the day.

Bonus: views of Soda Mountain and Storm Peak and the fact Fido gets to wag along.

Chance to Breed an Olympian

On Oct. 13, 2012 Olympic moguls bronze medalist Nelson Carmichael married two-time Alpine racing Olympian Carolyn Lalive at Steamboat’s Marabou Ranch (on hand to witness the ceremony: Julia Mancuso). Immediately afterward, Lalive got an inkling of what her future holds with Carmichael dragging her off on a kite-boarding honeymoon to the Ceara coast of Northeast Brazil. “We were in Cumbuco, Ilha do Guajiru and Jericoacoara, kiteboarding all of them,” the newlywed Carmichael says. “It was an amazing trip — warm, windy, friendly and beautiful.”

Debbie ArAgOn StAte FArm inSurAnCe 404 Oak Street • Steamboat Springs, CO • 970-879-1756

Anniversaries Although there are certainly lots of them these days (PerryMansfield Performing Arts School and Camp, Steamboat Springs Orchestra, Emerald City Opera, Steamboat Powdercats and Strings come to mind), our anniversary party hats have to go off to Steamboat Ski Area, which turns the big 5-0 this year, and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, which is rocking 100.

Vocal Chords How can you not give this to Verne Lundquist, known throughout the sports broadcasting industry as “Golden Throat”? The longtime Steamboat local also recently received the National Football Foundation’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award and leads the play-by-play for CBS’s college football and basketball coverage, as well as the Masters and PGA Championships.

Blues Guitarist with Yampa Roots Blues musician Big Head Todd (Todd Mohr) took a big step by filing a marriage certificate to Suzanne Elizabeth Donnelly in the Routt County Courthouse a couple of years ago. But tying the knot locally came naturally for Mohr, who grew up in Yampa and has long called the region home.

“Steamboat is by far my favorite place,” says Mohr. “I married the love of my life there on a snowy Dec. 23, just moments before playing an outside show.

It’s what’s best about Colorado — outstanding people, skiing, fishing and natural beauty.”

P roud to be Best of the Boat! at!

Thank you, Steambo Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Our Picks Building for the Coneheads

Innovation with Local Ties

Can’t you just imagine them walking out the front door of Orange Peel Bicycles as one happy cone-headed family?

Sorry, SmartWool, Point6, Honey Stinger, Big Agnes, BOA and Wing Time chicken wing sauce. For this we have to go with that precursor to knuckledragging: the Snurfer, invented

by Steamboat’s Sherman Poppen in Muskegon, Mich., in 1965. Poppen later licensed the concept to Brunswick and Jem Corps., which sold nearly a million of the hold-on-for-dear-life contraptions through the 1970s.

New Building There’s new suds in Steamboat. Last December, on the 79th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, Mark Fitzgerald and partner Nate Johansing broke ground on their new Butcherknife Brewing Co. on Elk River Road, providing space to brew thousands of barrels of beer annually. Most importantly it has a tasting room.

44 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

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Reason to Pack Handi Wipes

This one’s a clean victory. The Steamboat Mad Mud Run brought more than 500 people from the base of Steamboat Ski Area up through Mavericks Terrain Park in Bashor Bowl before returning to the base, saturated in slime. The 5-kilometer course included such obstacles as a tire run, cardboard climb, wall climb, rail balance beams, mud pit, bungee jumble, crawl, log jam, keg hurdle and fire jump. This year’s event is expected to be longer, harder and muddier.

Our PickS

It used to be easier in the olden days when skis were straight and 203 cm. Now, rockered tips catch the wind, sidecut creates gaps, and fat waists affect uniformity. Our nod to the best ski fence in town goes to what’s affectionately known as the Ski Fence House on the corner of Third and Pine streets, which, at last count, boasted 287 skis in an old school barrier.

Runner-up: The Grahams on Eighth Street.

Home Basketball Court Now this is a home that LeBron might want to lay up in when visiting Ski Town USA. The Over the Edge House skiin/ski-out right off BC Skiway, has a wet bar to die for and lets you play PIG and practice three-pointers after your day on the slopes. (Note: for rental options, visit www. movingmountains.com).

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Rags to Riches

When the 2013 U.S. Snowboarding Team was announced this fall, Steamboat saw its best representation, with five members of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club making the 15-person team.

Matt Ladley and Benji Farrow were named to the U.S. men’s pro half-pipe team; Maddy

Schaffrick earned a spot on the women’s pro half-pipe team; and Taylor Gold and Arielle Gold rode their way onto the U.S. half-pipe rookie team.

The club also has seen its best snowboard results ever, with Justin Reiter taking the silver at the World Championships in men’s parallel slalom, Ladley making the men’s super-pipe finals at the XGames, and Arielle

KaTIe PeRhaI

Ski Fence

Gold winning the gold at the FIS Snowboard World Championship half-pipe event and the bronze in the XGames women’s super-pipe. “We have a long history in Nordic combined and freestyle, and we’re proud of our snowboard program producing top-level athletes, as well,” the Winter Sports club’s Chad Bowdre says.

BEST...

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Our Picks

BEST...

Town Mascots

Rivalry Ski Town vs. Bike Town USA. Don’t laugh. The two-wheeled crowd in Steamboat, which was recently awarded two stages in the 2013 USA Pro Challenge, is making rapid headway against the two-plank crowd, especially if subpar snow years keep up and the winter bicycling craze continues. What’s next? A bronze of Barkley Robinson at the top of Emerald Mountain to whack for good luck?

Luckily, we’re blessed with four: the horses in front of F.M. Light & Sons and on top of the Old West building, the massive bronze elk in West Lincoln Park and the loveable dinosaur at the Sinclair Station. But the most iconic of the bunch has to be F.M. Lights’ equine Lighting, which first commanded its perch on Lincoln Avenue in 1949. “It’s been replaced once,” says store co-owner Ty Lockhart, adding that it goes through two to three saddles per year. “People have fun with it. We get grandparents coming in with their grandkids telling them when they used to ride it.” Lighting has received historical designation from the city and gets rolled into the store

every night out of the elements.

Which is more than can be said for his poor cohort atop Riggio’s, which was placed there decades ago when a Western store occupied the building.

12-28 2013 46 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Our PickS Iconic Town Symbols

Reason to Wear Goggles

This one’s a tie between the venerable signs for the Rabbit Ears Motel and F.M. Light & Sons.

F.M. Light, known for its 100 signs strewn about Northwest Colorado, was founded by Francis Marion in 1905 and is now in its fifth generation of family ownership and management. “Both F.M. Light and its signs have become a fabric of our community,” Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association Public Relations Manager Michelle Kreissig says. Erected in 1953 by original owners H.L. and Evelyn L. Beswick, the 7-fott-6-inch Rabbit Ears sign at the entrance to town celebrates its 60th birthday this year, just six years after being named to the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

The Winter Carnival Street Events still beat a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but manure’s another matter.

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Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Our Picks Reason to Put Up With Another Drought Skiing here is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you’re going to get. Like last year when, in the middle of one of the worst droughts on record, the mountain got clobbered with 27 inches of snow overnight on Presidents Day. Forrest Gump had it right. (Maybe it should be Forrest Dump?)

View Really, is there any better sight than that of returning from a business trip to Detroit and driving down the last, steep decline off Rabbit Ears Pass into the Yampa Valley? We think not.

Reason to Work Here Like they say, size doesn’t matter. Whether it’s three inches or a foot, the local powder clause employed by most businesses worth their salt beats any other perk in the business, be it matching 401(k) contributions or health insurance. But it’s like a stock option. You have to take advantage of it to get a return.

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BEST...

Use of Old Snowboards Some knuckle-dragger with a Ph.D. likely figured this one out — a portable way to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Marketing slogan: The Steamboat Chiminea!

Our PickS Side Work for Starving Artists

Recently Completed Projects

Reason to Visit the Chiropractor

Sign Winter’s a Little Too Long

You hardly notice them as you drive down Lincoln Avenue by Fifth Street or bike the Yampa River Core Trail past the Steamboat Springs Community Center.

But these oft-overlooked murals show that area walls indeed can be converted into canvasses.

The daylighting of Burgess Creek at the new promenade beats the living daylights out of any other improvement to the base area in recent years, providing a much-needed corridor from bars and restaurants to more bars and restaurants (and the new stage rocks also).

Meanwhile, downtown the new 60,000-square-foot, $18 million academic center at Colorado Mountain College — complete with its glowing red lights — is another fine feather in the town’s cap. Plus, it has the coolest geoexchange heating system in the county.

How is it that city plowers can pile up a three-foot berm on every driveway out of just a three-inch storm? It wouldn’t surprise us if local chiros are subsidizing the driveway blockades. Nevertheless, this monthly, weekly and sometime daily shoveling ritual is just part of the price of admission for living here.

At the end of every ski season, skiers and riders of all stripes — even those in striped swim suits — take turns trying to skim across a 75-foot-long pool at the base of Steamboat Ski Area in an annual rite of passage called the Splashdown pond skim that still leaves psychiatrists scratching their heads.

Incentive for Local Nordic Skiers Say no more than the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, where skiers with ties to Steamboat Springs brought home seven medals in Nordic combined.

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BEST...

Promotion of the Year

In November, the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association’s Michelle Kreissig hitched up a Steamboat gondola to the back of a 2012 Ford Expedition and drove it to a parade in Houston for Thanksgiving, braving flat tires, stalkers and more to spread the Steamboat word. “I had people waving, honking and giving me thumbsup signs the whole way,” she says. “It was a conversation starter at gas stations and parking lots, and tons of people wanted their picture taken with it. Houstonians love Steamboat.

I had to check the carriage before the drive back to see if I had any stowaways.”

Rule

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Seriously, in today’s litigiousfilled world, it’s nice to revel in a rule that takes us back to the let-it-all-hang-loose freedom of the ’60s and ’70s — Strawberry Park Hot Springs’ clothing optional decree after dark. But please, guys, no flaunting or gawking. And gals? Remember shrinkage.

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50 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

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You can’t stop your kids, or even adults, from climbing inside the Ski Haus snowcat.

The 1957 Tucker Snow Kitten is owned by Ski Haus owner Rod Schrage, who, after seeing one in Ouray, had to have one and found his in Idaho in 1990.

Although he’s driven it in the Winter Carnival parade and has tooled around on Buff Pass (“It will go through amazingly deep snow, but it’s also amazingly slow,” he says), he hasn’t fired it up for a few years. But all that’s about to change. “The clutch is out, and it needs a little TLC, but it’s on my list to get it running again,” Schrage says. He’s also taken the battery out so it’s safer for kids to play in. “There are kids who come to the store just to play in it,” he adds. “But they’ve pulled all the buttons off the knobs.”

Reason for a Roof Rack The Yampa River flowing through the heart of downtown is one of Steamboat’s greatest amenities, with the Transit Center an ideal take-out for watercraft of all walks. Thankfully, the city reminds us with this road sign to have a roof rack for the journey home.

Bail Out Taking advantage of a statute on the books since 2002, the Colorado Water Trust gets this award for spending $140,000 to lease 4,000 acre-fee of leftover Stagecoach Reservoir water from the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District this past drought-stricken season, resulting in additional flows of 26 cubic feet per second throughout the summer. By June 29, the river rose back up to 70 cfs and never dropped lower than that through September. Who benefitted the most? Tubers and trout.

Hope for the Future Seriously, when we’re all six feet under in the Steamboat Cemetery, our kids are the ones who will be up there skiing six feet of snowpack and running this fine hamlet of ours.

Give them kudos every chance you get.

Way to Appreciate Our Forebearers Double the size of the original gallery space, the newly remodeled Tread of Pioneers Museum, 800 Oak St., provides the best blast from the past you can find in the Yampa Valley.

“It’s letting us expand Steamboat’s story and display memorabilia that we didn’t have space for before,” museum Director Candice Bannister says. New features include multi-media interactive learning exhibits; an expanded hands-on kids area; a rotating gallery now showcasing the anniversaries for Winter Carnival, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp and Steamboat Ski Area; and a recently acquired original Barnum and Bailey Circus poster of ski jumper Carl Howelsen (one of only three that has come to auction in the past 30 years).

Pending Project Seriously, is there a better section of real estate in any ski town with more potential than Yampa Street in downtown Steamboat Springs? It’s bordered by a river and bike path on one side and downtown on the other, spelling a corridor that could become a centerpiece for generations to come. “It’s an exciting project to be moving forward,” Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Manager Tracy Barnett says. “The river is one of Steamboat’s greatest assets and to make it more available to the public, while also creating a great entertainment district, will be a draw for locals and guests alike.”

Door Okay, so this category is a little mundane. But that large, curved-glass house you see off to the right as you ride the gondola? Believe it or not, its 800-pound front door is a hand-carved, life-size wooden cowboy. How’s that for a welcoming howdy?

Early Alternative to Subsidizing Airline Flights Forget about subsidizing the airline program. In the olden days visitors got here the real way, by stagecoach, one of which is on display safe and sound outside the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association offices. Of course, the 74-mile ride was anything but. After getting dropped off by train in Wolcott, from 1890-1908 passengers would pony up $6.50 for a jostling, two-day ride to Steamboat, overnighting in Yampa.

Two coaches made the trip, both named after the two newspapers in Steamboat: The Pilot, which could fit 15 people inside and another 9 on the roof, and The Sentinel. Among the rules: spit on the leeward side of the coach; no leaning onto your neighbor’s lap; and if you have a bottle, pass it around. .Birthday Tip your cowboy hat to Billy Kidd. Steamboat’s director of skiing, the first U.S. male to win an Olympic skiing medal, is celebrating his 70th birthday on April 13. “I wore that number when I won the World Championships in 1970, so the numbers 13 and 70 fit well together,” says the septuagenarian. “But they might to be careful of the fire danger with that many candles.”

Sign of Steamboat’s Genuine Western Hospitality ’Nuff said.

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OUR PiCKS Place to Practice Donuts Brody, donut, 360, call them what you will. You won’t find a better place to (legally) practice them than the Bridgestone Winter Driving School, the only school of its kind in the country.

Celebrating 30 years, the school’s 77-acre facility off TwentyMile Road includes three ice-covered tracks littered with banked and off-cambered corners. And you get to upgrade from your Subaru to a Lexus.

Celebrity Sighting We’re not Aspen (thank God), but last year, Justin Timberlake paid town a visit for the mountaintop wedding of a friend of nowwife Jessica Biel, with post-reception dancing at Tugboat Grill & Pub. “They were very low key. Jessica told me they both loved Steamboat Springs and lamented how nice it was to be treated normally,” a server told RadarOnline.com.

Wipeout Watching Every January, in an event started by former World Bareback Bronc Riding Champion J.C. Trujillo, a herd of cowboys migrate up from the National Western Stock Show in Denver to try their hand at riding skis instead of roping steers. The result is the Cowboy Downhill, where carnage is as guaranteed as ski hostesses getting roped at the finish line.

At Ski Haus we know how to help you have more fun, more ways, and more often, than any other shop in town!

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52 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

OUR PiCKS Worst of the Boat Okay, so not everything’s perfectly Mayberry in this fair town of ours. In fact, below are four areas where there’s room for improvement.

Worst Pothole

Worst Left Turn

Though they’ve covered them up a bit, this one’s a tie between the shock-rattling pit heading up High Point Drive off U.S. 40 just north of McDonalds and the Taco Bell trench pothole near Central Park Plaza. In winter, they could solve town’s outdoor ice rink dilemma and in spring each host fishing derbies.

This one has to go to those poor parents who, after shuttling their kids to Strawberry Park Elementary and Steamboat Springs Middle schools, have to try and turn left off Amethyst Drive up onto Fish Creek Falls Road. It’s like playing Space Invaders against the traffic coming down. (Special thanks to those who pull over far enough to the left to let the right-turners sneak by.)

Worst Time to Grocery Shop This one’s a no-brainer.

Sunday afternoon during the busy winter holiday season.

Worst Time to Visit the Post Office Noon Monday to Friday (as well as the holiday rush of slackers sending presents late).

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Dining

Best of WA TUG LLS BOA T

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S R DE PIE’ N E UN RT BA AT S CH OO While our Best of the Boat

contest highlight ed high points from Steamboat’s best taverns, we couldn’t resist thinking what would happen if you could somehow cobble all of t heir best a ttributes together to create the ideal dream bar. Well, we did, and it’s alive in the following Frankenstein of bars.

56 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Not Pictured Old Town Pub: history and character Double Z: coziness BoatHouse: fishability VFW: old-timers Mahogany: local suds Sunpie’s: river scene Slopeside/T-Bar: ski access The Laundry: infused vodka Rex’s: family friendliness

all Bars

Dining

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T E LIS A N I W V E DI F A C

PHOTOS BY JOHN F. RUSSELL DESIGN BY STEPHANIE CORDER

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Dining

Best Burrito: Azteca Taqueria There’s something almost secretive about it. It’s not on any menus, and its patrons often order it in hushed tones.

John F. Russell

Not that cooks at Azteca Taqueria downtown pull burritos out of parted trench coats, but they don’t openly advertise it, either. Only those in the know order fish burritos there “the good way” with cilantro rice, black beans, chipotle sauce, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and — a favorite of co-owner Jonas Gabriel — picante salsa with tomato and corn.

The recipe which applies only to the fish burrito quickly

Not any which way, but the good way.

58 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

has made the concoction one of the restaurant’s best sellers, comprising nearly 25 percent of orders, burrito master Tim Weibrecht says. And that’s no tall order for a company that has been slinging south-of-the-border fare since its founding in 1999.

As for the moniker’s roots, it happened the good way also, by simple word of mouth. “It came from a long time ago,” Weibrecht says. “People started ordering them that way, so we just started making them that way and calling them that to make it simpler. But it’s kind of an insider-type order.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Dining

The Steamboat community has been quick to embrace Milk Run Donut Cafe. The downtown donut shop tops the list for Best Bakery this year after earning runner-up accolades in 2012.

While it’d be easy to credit this to the bacon-covered maple, it’s more due to the dedication of owners Aaron Fulbright and Lindsey Smith, which has resulted in the full support of locals and visitors.

“The community has been really supportive of us,” Smith says.

As well as at their store at 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue, their donuts can be found at 7-11, Space Station, Gondola Joe’s, One Steamboat Place and The Steamboat Grand. When your product is that delicious, you don’t need to seek out contracts.

“They’ve all come to us,”

Smith says, adding that further expansion is hopefully in their future.

The two-year contract with Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. provides stability, she adds, and keeps them open and busy every day of the week during winter.

During summer, they’ll return to taking Tuesdays off. And although the storefront closes at noon, the partnerships mean there now are more chances for people to enjoy a sweet afternoon treat.

Smith says the shop has its everyday locals, its weekly treat stop-ins and a steady flow of visitors.

“A lot of people see our donuts on the mountain and then come in to our store downtown,” she says. “They all say it’s the best donut they’ve ever had.”

— Michael Schrantz

John F. Russell

Best Bakery: Milk Run Donut Cafe

Yummm ... bacon.

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Dining

Best Bar: Carl’s Tavern is simple. “We have something for everyone,” Collin says, “from PBR and chicken wings to high-end scotch or filet mignon with great wine.”

To be precise, Carl’s carries more than 100 bottles of wine, more than 140 spirits, 81 scotches and

John F. Russell

While Norwegian ski jumper Carl Howelsen received recognition at this year’s 100th Winter Carnival, his namesake tavern on Yampa and Seventh streets gets it this year as town’s best bar.

Founded by Noella and Collin Kelley in 2011, the bar’s premise

Doing his namesake proud.

bourbons, 24 packaged beers and eight Colorado-made brews on tap. Throw in a daily happy hour from 4 - 6 p.m., offering everything from 50-cent wings and buck PBRs to $2 drafts and $4 shots (“the happy hour will be here for life,” Collin says), and you have a recipe for a racous good time.

The layout also helps. The draft beers are poured from a horseshoe-shaped bar via an ice-lined, liquid glycol-cooled tap system, while nine perfectly placed high-definition TVs carry every sporting event under the sun. Surrounding the bar are booths and tables for a quieter atmosphere. Carl’s hosts live bluegrass every Wednesday and other bands on the weekends, all playing beneath a life-size photo of his Howelsenness.

Namesake or not, it’s likely a place Howelsen himself would’ve hung his earmuffs after a day of “yumping.” “The name was an obvious fit,” Collin says, relating a story about Howelsen skiing from Steamboat to Silverthorne and back in 72 hours.

Like Howelsen’s reception back in Steamboat afterward, patrons have embraced the tavern with open arms.

“It’s been very humbling,” says Collin, adding that 2013 will see the opening of the adjacent, 800-square-foot Antler Room, offering everything from darts and shuffleboard to pool and private dining. “We didn’t know how town would receive us, but we’ve found a real sense of place.

People think we’ve been here forever.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Thanks for making

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What would a white pizza be like in Austin?

Chopped Garlic with Olive Oil, Mesquite Grilled Chicken, Fresh Roma Tomatoes, Artichoke Hearts, Ricotta & Mozzarella Cheese Order online at sodacreekpizza.com • 970-871-1111

60 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Dining

Best Bartender: Richard ‘Gooch’ Shine, Sunpie’s Bistro Doyle’s longtime service at the Tugboat makes him an easy fit at Harwig’s. His knowledge of bartending is unmatched, as is his ability to relate to customers.

“He knows everyone in town,” bartender Brian Kofke says. “He knows a lot of drinks and he knows all the trends. He knows everything.”

Rain or shine, Gooch has you covered.

Richard “Gooch” Shine, Sunpie’s

Jack Doyle is Irish and wise. What more can you ask out of a bartender?

Doyle, who

managed the Tugboat for years, has a tremendous rapport with customers, which shows in his winning runner-up accolades as Steamboat’s best barkeep. “It’s just the way he is,” says patron Andrea Wingfield. “It feels like he’s your best friend.”

Matt Stensland

Walk into Sunpie’s on any given day and the bald head, big grin and bellowing laugh of Richard “Gooch” Shine is sure to great you. “I go hard and fast,” Gooch says. “I just get it done and have a good time all the time.”

For that and more, he’s earned the title of best bartender in Steamboat.

Shine has worked at Sunpie’s for five years, his personality adding to the charm of Steamboat’s New Orleans-themed bar. Gooch always keeps it interesting and always remembers patrons.

“He’s like Norm from Cheers,” says one patron. “He always knows your name and your drink.”

For Shine, that’s half the battle of being a good bartender. From there, it’s all about his style. “I stick out like a sore thumb,” he says. “And I’ll throw down an occasional dance. Dancing on the bar occasionally can’t hurt.”

Jack Doyle, Harwigs/L’Apogee

To all my friends: Doyle serving drinks with a smile.

John F. Russell

John F. Russell

Rebecca Boucha, Slopeside Grill

Betcha’ want Boucha on your birthday

There’s a lot to like about Rebecca Boucha. As a bartender at Slopeside her popularity is in her quick wit, smile and special treat she gives out if you go in on your birthday.

“It’s embarrassing, but I ’motorboat’ locals on their birthday,” she says. “I think that probably adds to my likeness.”

Boucha, originally from Minneapolis, has been at Slopeside for seven years. With the bar located slopeside on the mountain, the clientele she serves has a wide range. On any given day, she’ll see locals and visitors, giving them all the same smile and service.

— Luke Graham

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Dining

Best Cocktail: Margarita, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant Hurricane, Sunpie’s

John F. Russell

It’s the signature drink of Sunpie’s, the recipe cultivated from former owners Mike and Colleen Miller. On busy weekends, the bar will go through 60 gallons of the concoction and sometimes even more when the grassy riverside lawn is packed during the summer. “It’s 20 ounces of fun,” says bartender Richard “Gooch” Shine.

Matt Stensland

It’s only fitting that a New Orleansthemed bar like Sunpie’s has a concoction like the Hurricane.

The pink drink packs a wallop, offering a taste of Bourbon Street to customers in the Boat.

There’s a reason they call it a Hurricane: It hits you like one.

Gerry’s Berries, Sweetwater Grill Third time’s a charm.

It’s hard to compete with the tradition of the Rio Grande Mexican Restuarant margarita.

The secret recipe, that limits patrons to three per visit, was a runaway winner for best cocktail for the second consecutive year.

The three-marg limit only helps the cause. Whether you order it on the rocks, frozen or with a dash of mango, the Rio margarita packs a punch. And it’s this punch that likely makes it so popular. On the Saturday of this year’s Winter Carnival, Rio served up 463 of the margaritas. The day before, they sold 325.

“It’s the most traditional, classic margarita you can get in town,” Boyd says. Try to sneak in more than the allotted three, and it’s also a recipe for a traditional hangover.

62 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Matt Stensland

It’s the same margarita that put the Rio on the map, which came out of the original Fort Collins restaurant 26 years ago. Rio sells more than 5 million of the 12-oz., salt-lined concoctions a year at its six Colorado restaurants. “It’s sort of our legend,” manager Wes Boyd says. “There’s lots of speculation on the ingredients.”

Try saying this drink’s name 10 times fast.

It really is the taste of summer.

Conceived by manager Gerry Verdoner, Gerry’s Berries is a combination of specialty vodka made in house, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and fresh berries.

The drink even includes a Slurpee straw to sip out the berries.

It’s become such a hit at Sweetwater that it’s become its most popular drink the year round. The reason is its taste, which is pure berry delight.

“You can’t taste anything but berries and deliciousness,” bartender Dmitri Brown says.

— Luke Graham Editor’s note: Worse-for-the-wear writer Luke Graham respectfully requested to be taken off the drink review category next year, after sampling this year’s winners all on the same night.

Dining

Refrain yourself from diving into a freshly delivered Guinness draft from McKnight’s for a moment and you’ll see a nice Irish touch: a shamrock clover carefully inlaid into the foam. It’s just part of the precision involved in pouring this classic stout originating in the 1700s brewery of Arthur Guinness in Dublin.

Made from water, barley, hops and brewer’s yeast and available in more than 100 countries, the beer’s dark color comes from roasted barley. But its trademark thick, creamy head comes from mixing it with nitrogen when poured, a tactic on which McKnight’s prides itself.

“The biggest thing is patience,” says co-owner and manager Kerry Shea, adding that it takes 4½ minutes to pour two-thirds, let it settle and then top it off again.

“We’ve taken it upon ourselves to pour it the right way, and it’s

an educational process for our patrons. The finished product is pretty cool and people like it.”

Another key, he adds, is the 20-ounces Imperial pint glass.

The tapered shape rising to a wider mouth as well as additional volume allows the foam to better disperse and settle. When pourers swirl the glass around at the very end, this lets the signature shamrock indentation naturally settle into the foam.

Moving as many as 25 kegs of the stout a month, which means 2,500 pours and Shamrock insignias (at only $4 per pint during happy hour), gives the barkeeps at McKinight’s a lot of practice. “Most of it relies on the bartender’s skill,” Shea says.

Order enough of them and you might even be fortunate enough to find a four-leaf shamrock in your foam.

— Eugene Buchanan

John F. Russell

Best Pint of Guinness: McKnight’s Irish Pub & Loft

Aye, the shamrock clover; it’s almost a shame ye have to drink it.

Two Great Seasons, One Incredible Restaurant.

Reservations Recommended • 970-879-1190 On the bus line at the corner of Pine Grove Road & Hwy 40 1465 Pine Grove Rd. • www.orehouse.com Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Dining

Best Pizza: Soda Creek Pizza Co.’s Snow in Texas The name alone draws people in. Snow in Texas?

John F. Russell

But Soda Creek’s popular Snow in Texas pizza, winner of this year’s Best Pizza category, draws people in for its flavor more than its moniker. It’s a white-based pie, with olive oil and garlic as well as chicken, tomato and artichokes.

Pizza accolades aside, we’ll take snow in Steamboat.

64 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Part of the charm is in the mesquite chicken. Soda Creek gets fresh chicken and bakes it in house. The pizza is so popular that they cook 25 to 30 pounds of chicken for it every couple of days. And of every six pies that go out the door, one is a Snow in Texas — a far higher ratio than snowy to sunny days in the Lonestar State.

As for the name, it came about a month after the business opened 14 years ago. “We didn’t have names for any of our combos, so we started naming them,” owner Steve Hitchcock says. “Since this one had mesquite chicken and white sauce, we came up with Snow in Texas. The combo is a little improbable, just like snow in Texas.”

Improbable, maybe, but it’s a combo that works. “It still astonishes me that whenever we’re sponsoring Chamber mixers or anything, people will recognize it and point to it,” he adds. “It’s definitely one of our signature pies.”

— Luke Graham

Dining

The key to Double Z’s ribs is a secret.

“It’s probably the sauce,” cook Dallas Tupper says. “People just love our sauce. People come in and buy jars of it.”

Even Tupper, however, doesn’t know exactly what’s in it. He’s asked and prodded and pled to find out but to no avail. “Our owners come in and make it and only they know the recipe,” he says.

So it goes in the barbecue pit of Double Z. Regardless of the mystery sauce, the ribs are fingerlickingly delightful. Double Z offers pork or beef ribs, each of which offers its own appeal. On any given day, they’ll prepare as much as 80 pounds of pork ribs and another 30 pounds of beef ribs.

Come Triple Crown season, they’ll make even more.

— Luke Graham

Matt Stensland

Best Ribs: Double Z Bar & BBQ

Just make sure you ask for extra napkins.

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Dining

Best Sandwich: Backcountry Delicatessen’s Pilgrim Pork carnitas, Cruisers Sub Shop Kris Shea is a sandwich engineer.

The Cruisers pork carnitas might seem like an easy concoction.

But Shea, who owns the bustling sandwich shop in Wildhorse Marketplace, says there’s a style to making it. It starts with marinating the pork. From there they add red onions and sharp cheddar cheese.

Then it’s into the toaster to meld it all together. “Each step,” Shea says, “is pretty important.”

John F. Russell

Add in chipolte mayo, guacamole, lettuce and any extras and you have one of the most scrumptious sandwiches in Steamboat, engineered, of course, to perfection.

—Luke Graham What’ll it be, pilgrim?

Don’t lie. One of the best eating days of the year occurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Taking all those ingredients from the day before and piling them into a sandwich is pure glutton delight. So why not turn that into a regular sandwich?

Backcountry Delicatessen has done just that and the Pilgrim concoction was voted the most popular sandwich in town.

“It’s all comfort food,” co-owner Pete Boniface says. “The Pilgrim is interesting because it’s a common thing with leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches. What sets ours apart is that the turkey is the highest quality you can get.”

The topper, though, is the cranberry chutney. It’s homemade and features a recipe Boniface knows well. “It’s my mom’s recipe,” he admits.

What makes Backcountry Delicatessen one of the most popular sandwich shops in town is what sits between the two pieces of bread.

The ingredients are top of the line. With the Fourteener, that means all natural beef, fresh peppers, horse radish and blue cheese. “The flavor profile is fantastic,” coowner Pete Boniface says.

Part of the charm is the work that goes into a sandwich. The high-end ingredients make a $10 sandwich rival any meal in town. “I want people to bite into it and be like, ’Damn, that’s good,’” Boniface says.

With four locations, all getting remodels, the Pilgrim and Fourteener might have some competition next year. Boniface says the shop has introduced a Cuban, a chicken and a veggie sandwich, all of which could give its existing concoctions a run for their money.

66 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

John F. Russell

Fourteener, Backcountry Delicatessen

Cruisin’ to the podium.

Right Next to

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ous

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970-871-4632 º Located on Lincoln Avenue between 6th & 7th º Steamboat Springs, CO º 970-879-2483

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DINING

Best Après Scene on the Mountain

1. Slopeside Grill 2. T Bar 3. Rex’s American Grill & Bar

Best Asian

1. Noodles & More Saigon Cafe 2. Saketumi 3. Sambi

Best Bakery

1. Milk Run Donut Cafe 2. Winona’s 3. MountainBrew

Best Bar

1. Carl’s Tavern 2. Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill 3. Sweetwater Grill

Best Bartender

1. Sunpie’s Bistro, Richard “Gooch” Shine 2. Harwigs/L’Apogee, Jack Doyle 3. Slopeside, Rebecca Boucha

Best Grab & Go Breakfast Spot 1. Colorado Bagel Co. 2. MountainBrew 3. Milk Run Donut Cafe

1. MountainBrew 2. Steaming Bean Coffee Co. 3. Starbucks at Sundance Plaza

Best Delicatessen 1. Backcountry Delicatessen 2. Steamboat Meat & Seafood Co. 3. 5th Street Market & Deli

Best Family Restaurant 1. Rex’s American Grill & Bar 2. Johnny B. Good’s Diner 3. Ore House at Pine Grove

Best Fine Dining Experience 1. Café Diva 2. bistro c.v.

3. Harwigs/L’Apogee

Best Gluten-Free Menu 1. Sweetwater Grill 2. Bamboo Market 3. Freshies

Best Hamburger

1. Big House Burgers and Bottle Cap Bar 2. Double Z Bar & BBQ 3. Rex’s American Grill & Bar

Best Italian

Best Sit-Down Breakfast Spot

1. Mambo Italiano 2. Mazzola’s Majestic Italian Diner 3. Riggio’s Ristorante

1. Creekside Cafe & Grill 2. Freshies 3. Winona’s

Best Grab & Go Lunch

Best Burrito 1. Azteca Taqueria, fish burrito 2. Creekside Cafe & Grill, Breakfast Burrito 3. Azteca Taqueria, Breakfast Burrito

Best Catering Service 1. The Drunken Onion 2. Steamboat Meat & Seafood Co. 3. Marno’s Custom Catering

Best Cocktail 1. Margarita, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 2. Sunpie’s Bistro, Hurricane 3. Sweetwater Grill, Gerry’s Berries 68 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Best Coffee Shop

1. Backcountry Delicatessen 2. Azteca Taqueria 3. Cruisers Sub Shop

Best Sit-Down Lunch Spot

1. Freshies 2. Creekside Cafe & Grill 3. Winona’s

Best Mexican

1. Fiesta Jalisco 2. Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 3. Cantina Mexican Restaurant

Best Outdoor Dining 1. Sweetwater Grill 2. Creekside Cafe & Grill 3. Sunpie’s Bistro

DINING

Best Pint of Guinness 1. McKnight’s Irish Pub & Loft 2. Carl’s Tavern 3. Slopeside Grill

Best Pizza

Best Server

1. Soda Creek Pizza Co., Snow in Texas 2. Brooklynn’s Pizzeria, Pepperoni 3. Blue Sage Pizza, Spinach stuffed deep dish

Best Service

Best Ribs

Best Place to Watch the Game

1. Double Z Bar & BBQ 2. Steamboat Smokehouse 3. Ore House at Pine Grove

Best Sandwich

1. The Hungry Dog, Chicago Dog 2. The Hungry Dog, Chili Dog 3. The Tap House Sports Grill, Stadium Dog

Best Vegetarian Menu 1. Bamboo Market 2. Sweet Pea Cafe 3. Freshies

Best Wings 1. The Tap House Sports Grill 2. Double Z Bar & BBQ 3. Steamboat Smokehouse

1. Café Diva 2. Creekside Cafe & Grill 3. bistro c.v.

1. The Tap House Sports Grill 2. Carl’s Tavern 3. Slopeside Grill

1. Backcountry Delicatessen, Pilgrim 2. Backcountry Delicatessen, Fourteneer 3. Cruisers Sub Shop, pork carnitas

Best Steak

Best Seafood

Best Sushi

1. Steamboat Meat & Seafood Co. 2. Saketumi 3. Café Diva

Best Hot Dog

1. Daryl Newcomb at Café Diva 2. Kenny Pitts at Rex’s American Grill & Bar 3. Andrea Hukriede at Creekside Cafe & Grill

1. Ore House at Pine Grove 2. 8th Street Steakhouse 3. Café Diva

1. Saketumi 2. Noodles & More Saigon Cafe 3. Spostas World Sushi

Home to $5 Fish & Chips and

Shepherd’s pie Lunch Special

&

the perfect guinness Poured in our signature 20oz imperial pint

Food - SpiritS - pool - dartS - ping pong 685 Marketplace Plaza (next to Sports Authority) (970) 879-7881

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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• Live Mu sic Most nights! •

servinG FooD until

MIDNIGHT

Best of the Boat contest winner and runner up: • • • •

best place to Watch the game best Wings best place to Dance best Hot Dog

70 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

729 LincoLn Ave SteAmboAt SpgS, co 80487 (970) 879-2431

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Best Bike Mechanic: Brock Webster, Orange Peel Bicycle Service If Brock Webster had his way, he’d stuff the business side of running Orange Peel Bicycle Services at 1136 Yampa Ave., in the closet and just tune and fix bikes all day. “If I could just be a bike mechanic I would,” says Webster, 41, a former U.S. Elite rider who founded Steamboat’s only bikes-only bike shop in 1999. “That’s definitely my favorite part of the whole operation.”

With half of his business repair and labor and half rental and retail, Webster rides herd on six other mechanics who keep the shop open seven days a week. When he’s not repairing or running the business, he’s juggling his kids, Olin, 8, and Torben, 3, along with wife, Keri Searls. And sometimes even that overlaps, like at this year’s science fair when he and Olin made a replica of Leonardo DaVinci’s first bicycle.

“I like fixing stuff,” he says. “It sounds easy, but in the bike world, it’s difficult because there’s no standardization throughout all the brands. Plus, the technology continues to change.”

John F. Russell

If he had his choice as to what to work on — something from DaVinci’s day or the 2013 Bike Show — the less modern the better. Which is the sign of a true dyed-in-the-wool, Best of the Boat mechanic. “I like working on old stuff,” he says. “It’s so much more fun to work on a 1970s road bike — they’re simple and elegant, and you can really feel when you do a good job. With sealed bearings, you just put a new part in, and it’s done.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Brock Webster, staying true to form by trueing a wheel.

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ServiceS

Dr. Tim Rinn says he’s seen Steamboat Springs change dramatically in his nearly 34 years as a chiropractor in town.

Those changes include shifts as basic as health insurance. “Many people used to have 100 percent coverage, and we felt bad if someone had a $100 deductible,” he says.

The changes also include the professions of his clients as Steamboat has shifted away from coal mine and ranch-related work to tourism-centric jobs.

The clients themselves and their health care needs, however, haven’t changed at all, Rinn says.

And it’s those clients who once again voted Rinn Chiropractic Center as the Best of the Boat.

An advanced degree as a sports physician helps him stay busy, and a tour through his Anglers Drive office shows it’s

put to good use. Photos of local athletes tearing down slopes or through fields of powder line the hallways.

His No. 1 tip for those hoping to stay healthy enough to enjoy Steamboat’s long list of sports: don’t ignore pain.

“The best thing is to prevent an injury rather than treat an injury,” he says. “People think pain is the problem. That’s like saying the fire alarm is the problem. It’s not. The alarm goes off because there’s a fire. Pain is indicative of something else going wrong.”

That’s as true today as it was when Rinn first showed up and fell in love with Steamboat more than three decades ago. “We’ve been here a long time,” Rinn says.

“We have a good patient base, and we really appreciate the people of Steamboat Springs.”

— Joel Reichenberger

Joel ReIChenBeRGeR

Best Chiropractic Service: Dr. Rinn, Rinn Chiropractic Service

Rinn to Win: The Rinn Chiropractic Center, led by Tim Rinn and Jesse Weigel, above, is Best of the Boat when it comes to backs.

DESIGN • BUILD • MAINTAIN • NURSERY Office (970)-870-3299 | Nursery (970)-871-4280 | Dave@Geckolandscape.com

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Services

Best Winter Fly: Pablo’s Cripple Serious anglers take great pride in hooking trout with hand-tied flies. Local fly-fishing guide Paul “Pablo” Russell has taken that art to another level: his mayfly pattern, Pablo’s Cripple, is carried by the famed Umpqua Feather Merchants in its national catalog because there are times when no other fly will seduce finicky trout.

The fly pattern is meant to mimic a mayfly, particularly the mayfly commonly referred to as blue-winged olives, in distress.

However, some mayfly nymphs are unable to shed their skin and, as Russell puts it, become “stuck in the shuck.”

“That can be a trigger for the fish,” Russell says. “When nothing else works, you put the fly on and catch that fish you just spent an hour working on.”

— Tom Ross

It’s no surprise that the dry fly pattern known as the elk hair caddis tops the list. It’s the preeminent Western fly that mimics the adult (dry fly) phase of one of the most common insects that live in and around Colorado’s lakes and rivers.

Caddis flies flutter over the town stretch of the Yampa River most nights in July. Elk hair is chosen for the wing of this fly pattern because of its buoyant properties. (Ever wonder how elk manage to swim rivers with those little hooves for paddles?)

The elk hair caddis is a great dry fly drifted as still as possible on

the currents, but there are times when the same fly skittered over the surface of a lake teases the biggest trout into going for broke.

Steamboat fishing guide Tyler Anderson says he’s learned that choosing a caddis pattern tied with a touch of flash sometimes can trigger strikes from fish that might otherwise let an artificial fly drift right by.

“The hot butt caddis or sparkle caddis are two awesome patterns,” Anderson says. “It’s more or less an attractor.”

— Tom Ross

John F. Russell

John F. Russell

Aquatic insects go through several stages of life, and one

big transition arrives when the nymphs rise in the water to break the surface, shed their nymphal shuck and dry their newfound wings before flying away.

Best Summer Fly: elk hair caddis

74 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Services

of the art of fly-fishing and, more importantly, pleasing his clients. Anderson reads all the trout literature he can find so he always can answer any question a client throws at him. He’s also learned the importance of using conversation to put his clients at ease.

“That’s when they begin to fish successfully,” he says. “We always have reliable spots, whether it’s in town or on private water. The guide’s objective is to put the client in a beautiful place, and some of those are places where you want to stay all day.”

Helping clients have fun: Keith Hale in front of a fish painting by Kym Hansler.

Entering his 16th season as a flyfishing guide in the Yampa Valley, Keith Hale, of Steamboat Flyfisher, knows one thing for certain — there’s a lot more to a successful trout fishing outing than catching fish.

Don’t be misled. Like all professional guides, Hale always puts his clients over fish and is familiar with the fly patterns that that are apt to work on any given day. But he’s also learned that by relaxing and showing his clients a good time, he always can be assured of a successful day on the water.

Tom Ross

Keith Hale, Steamboat Flyfisher

tom Ross

Tyler Anderson, who works out of Straightline Sports, has made a name for himself among Yampa Valley fishing guides at the relatively young age of 25. But Anderson got a head start on the competition.

“We moved to a house just north of Atlanta with the Chattahoochee River running behind the back yard when I was just 7 years old,” Anderson says. “I was already hooked on fishing. I had seen folks fly-fishing on the river and I was enthralled with what they were doing.”

Anderson put down his spin rod and fashioned a makeshift fly rod out of a dowel and some yarn. He never caught a fish with that rig, but he already had taken control of his destiny. He began saving his allowance for a real fly-fishing setup and would rise at 5 a.m. on school days to put in a fishing session before class. “It took me over a year and a half to catch my first fish in the Chattahoochee,” he says. “When I did, I caught a sunfish.”

Flash forward a decade and Anderson was gaining expertise and with Rocky Mountain trout on family vacations to Steamboat. Today, he’s become a young master

Tom Ross

Best Fishing Guide: Tyler Anderson, Straightline Sports

Fish First: Steve Henderson imparts ecosystem knowledge on each outing.

“You’re teaching them how to have fun outside, and we all know how to do that,” Hale says. “Fishing is just a small part of guiding.

You tend to put too much stress on yourself when you first start.

I really enjoy pointing out things like a mink scrambling along the bank or an osprey flying overhead.

Sometimes, I pick a rock up out of the river, turn it over, and show them what the insects the trout are eating look like.”

Hale takes the approach that he can learn something from all of his clients, whether they’re never-evers or experts who brought him along to tie their knots.

Steve Henderson, Straightline Sports Tyler Anderson has come a long way from his first sunfish.

Steve Henderson, who guides for Straightline Outdoor Sports

through his Henderson Fly Fishing company, moved to Steamboat in 1992 and immersed himself in the fly fishing scene from Day One. He’s worked steadily to help make Steamboat a prime trout fishing destination, and in the past 10 years, he’s seen more people take advantage of it.

His biggest satisfaction, however, comes from passing along an appreciation for the fish and their conservation. He looks at his role as that of a teacher, who imparts his knowledge of the Yampa Valley, successful fly-fishing and perhaps most importantly, how to take care of the trout.

“When you place a fish back in the water and watch it swim away and your client witnesses this for the first time, it’s pretty neat to see.”

— Tom Ross

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Services

Best ER Doctor: Dr. Dave Wilkinson Dr. Dave Wilkinson has worked in the emergency room in Steamboat long enough to have seen it all, from broken bones at the hands of Mount Werner to plane crashes and the explosion of downtown’s Good News building in 1994.

Throughout it all, one thing rises to the surface like his snowmobile in Buff Pass powder: the sense of satisfaction he gets in serving a community he loves.

After skiing Steamboat since 1969, Wilkinson, or Dr. Dave as he’s known, moved here 30 years ago after finishing his residency in San Francisco. “The choice came down to either Steamboat or Tahoe,” he says. “Steamboat’s a better community in every way.”

As well as leading to a life practicing emergency care in the Yampa Valley, that decision also led him to his wife, Lisa, and to fathering three children — Devin, 21, Dylan, 18, and Riley, 15 — and raising them in a community that shares his values.

As for the job that brought him here, it fits his demeanor to a T: caring, friendly and, at times, a bit hectic. “It’s a great job, but it’s pretty dynamic and always has an element of stress,” says Wilkinson, who served on the hospital’s board of directors for 18 years. “You never know what you’re going to get. It can be mundane one moment and super busy the next.”

His obligation isn’t only to the hospital, but also to all the other EMS systems in the county, from search and rescue to Steamboat Ski Area. “We’re the gateway to the hospital,” he says. “If you

have an accident, you usually go through us first.”

In Steamboat, that’s often the only time people interact with the hospital, he says. “In a community like this, so many people are so healthy that they don’t access medical services unless it’s an emergency,” he says. “And it’s not anonymous here, which is a real plus. In places like Denver, you never see your patient again. Here you see them the next day. You may treat them one day and ski with them the next or visa versa.”

And this, he adds, lends itself to an extra level of care — one that has resulted in Wilkinson’s group receiving a 99 percent satisfaction rating in every department, which is unheard of in most emergency medical practices. “If you’re intimately involved with a community, you tend to provide better care,” says Wilkinson, who also completed residencies in Oakland and Detroit. “It’d be difficult to do 30 years of emergency care in a bigger setting. They don’t have

all the extra rewards like a great community. A small town like this is just a great fit for me. No one wants to get hurt or be sick, but there’s a calming effect when patients come in and know you. You don’t get that at larger facilities.”

Making it even better are the facilities and staff at the Yampa Valley Medical Center. “We’re extremely fortunate to have such a great hospital behind us,” he says. “Most people don’t realize how great the people are who work there. It’s truly an exceptional facility.”

He feels the same way about the town.

“The soul of the community here hasn’t changed in 30 years,” he says. “People here truly have each other’s backs. There’s a real positive energy with what people do and who they are. They’ve figured out how to fit together the components of living, working and enjoying life. I can’t imagine better people out there in the world.”

— Eugene Buchanan

John F. Russell

Through Steamboat Emergency

Associates, Wilkinson serves as the medical director of the hospital’s Emergency Department, where he supervises six doctors. When he first started here, he’d work 24-, 48- and sometimes even 72-hour shifts.

Now it’s down to eight to 10 hours, which, if he bundles them right, frees up time for kite-boarding trips to Baja, water skiing trips to Lake Powell and ski trips to Canada.

A man you’d rather see on the slopes than in his office.

76 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Steamboat Medical Group

Steamboat’s Primary Care Clinic

Annual Wellness exams for your whole family!

Check with your insurance as this benefit is often covered 100%

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

• Walkins welcome depending on availability • Same day appointments usually available.

• On Site x-ray services.

• Se habla Español

8 Board Certified physicians specializing in: Family Practice · Orthopedics · Internal Medicine · Pediatrics

Steamboat CliniC

Hayden CliniC

Open 7 days a week M-F 8am - 7pm • Sat 9am - 2pm Sun 9am - 12pm 879-0203

Tuesday & Friday Tuesdays 10am - 2pm Fridays 9am - 12pm 276-4270

www.steamboatmedical.com Taking Care of Families for over 35 Years!

David M. Williams, M.D. • James R. Dudley, M.D. • Daniel H. Smilkstein, M.D. • Louise A. Thielen, M.D.• Richard J. Rende, M.D. David W. Niedermeier, M.D. • Laura D. Mordi, M.D. • Christopher R. Speer, M.D.

Thanks to all our customers BoB’s DownTown ConoCo, InC. for allowing us to provide you with your automotive repair and maintenance needs for over 35 years.

942 Lincoln Avenue 970-879-9735 Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Best Hairstylist: Stephani Weiss, Rocky Mountain Day Spa Stephani Weiss isn’t afraid of playing with boundaries.

She’ll keep her clients turned away from the mirror while she approaches their hair from the perspective of an artist with a blank canvas.

“They might not even know how I’ve switched their color up,” she says. “But I love turning them around and showing them; I love the gratitude of the smile.”

But it’s the relationship with the clients that makes the hair service; getting to know the

person underneath the locks is key to knowing what boundaries are bendable.

“You gather information from each person as you get to know them,” she says. “What they do in the morning and if they’re taking their sweaty hat off, how is it going to look?”

So perfection, she says, isn’t always the goal. “You want to make it so it’s workable and manageable and not heavy maintenance,” she says.

But the Yampa Valley curse called her back more than seven years ago.

John F. Russell

As for her own look, Weiss’ hair is dynamic, morphing from bright reds and oranges into light blonds and playful cuts. “I’m always growing my hair out,” she says.

A little off the top: Stephani Weiss, relaxing between clients.

couches, much to her mother’s chagrin. Thinking she might want to get into fashion, photography or art, in the end it was the art of hair design that captured her heart. Weiss traveled the world after school, setting foot in 29 countries and working on yachts.

She landed in Hawaii for 1½ years where she worked on hair for film sets and fashion runways.

This is a girl who, growing up in Steamboat Springs, used to cut the hair off all her ponies and Barbie dolls and hide it under

Since Decembe,r she’s been a stylist at Rocky Mountain Day Spa at Sheraton Steamboat Resort, where she’s grateful for the creative space and the talent that surrounds her. “I want to be close to my family,” she says. “I love being in my hometown. I love being close to my roots.”

— Nicole Inglis

Sending Thanks To Our Wonderful Clients & Their Pets

We Appreciate You! Serving The Yampa Valley for 26 Years Experienced And Compassionate Care

Calles n O ur Sevic o H 24 gency r Eme

• 24 hour on Call Emergency Service • 24 hour Technician Monitoring for Critical Patients • Acupuncture and Cold Laser Therapy • Supplements • Ultrasound • Orthopedic, Laparoscopic and Soft Tissue Surgery • Full Service Dental Care • House Calls by Appointment • Internal Medicine • Preventative Wellness • Vaccinations

(970)879-KARE (5273) • 102 Anglers Dr. • www.petkareclinic.com 78 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

ServiceS

Best Hunting Guide: Lonny Vanatta plenty satisfied, as well, voting him Steamboat’s best hunting guide.

Turns out, it doesn’t work quite like that.

To answer the question he says never seems to go away: Yes, this is all he does. Sure, he’s busiest in the fall, when he’s guiding hunters into the mountains to search for that trophy elk, but the other seasons are full enough, booking hunts, preparing camp, maintaining equipment and getting ready for those sweet autumn weeks.

“I still pretty much do all the hunting for my clients,” he says.

“I just don’t get to pull the trigger or pull back the drawstring.”

He does still get to spend countless hours prowling the rural sections of the county, tracking elk and finding the perfect way to get close enough, and that’s proven plenty satisfying.

His clients have shown to be

“I haven’t been able to harvest as many animals myself, but I get to see a lot of animals taken by other hunters I’ve helped, and there’s a lot of satisfaction in that,” he says.

“I enjoy it and I’m passionate about it,” he says. “No one gets into the outfitting business for the money. You do it for the love

of the job, and I really enjoy what I do. It’s great to get up every morning, watch the sun

come up. It’s great to see the wildlife. It’s a pretty special job.”

— Joel Reichenberger

CouRtesY

Lonny Vanatta grew up hunting the mountains of Routt County, but even as friends began trying to tap into his vast supply of local hunting knowledge, he was hesitant to commit and become a full-time guide, afraid the hobbies he’d grown to love, hunting and fishing with his father, would become work.

Home on the range: Lonny Vanatta, town’s top hunting guide.

Ron, Sheila and Dana; You’re all the “BEST” in our book. · · · Love · · · Audrey, Autum, Abby, Amy, Mehana, Heidi, Rachel, Lisa & Nikki

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Pediatrician [ pēdēə’tri sh ən ] noun: Kid’s Doctors

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See more at PediatricsofSteamboat.com Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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ServiceS

Best Insurance Agent: Debbie Aragon, State Farm move to Steamboat Springs and break out on her own, opening a State Farm branch.

“I kept calling my family, saying,

Joel ReIChenBeRGeR

Debbie Aragon spent 23 years working for State Farm, behind a desk in Greeley as an underwriter before she opted to

Vo

Like a good neighbor: Debbie Aragon and her employees shedding their insurance stripes to hit the slopes.

d .. te

’You wouldn’t believe how good it smells here,’” she says.

Now Aragon’s a 17-year veteran of the Steamboat market, and this year was elected the Best of the Boat.

Living in Steamboat comes with certain dangers different than other parts of the country, and that makes being an insurance agent in town unique.

Aragon says calls for help most often involve frozen pipes that lead to extensive water damage, or car accidents, many caused by slippery roads and others by deer or elk streaking across the highway.

“Our No. 1 motto from day one was to provide service that exceeds above the competition,” Aragon says. “I wanted to make insurance a pleasant experience.

It’s a novel idea, and it really wasn’t that way for a lot of other

agencies.”

Aragon’s agency has expanded to six agents, and she says the team has benefited from the construction of a new downtown building on Oak Street. She’s tried to set the group apart from the competition by engaging customers on at least an annual basis, calling them in every year or two for reviews of their policies to make sure they’re still in the best plans.

She also encourages her employees to take time off work — paid time away from the office — to volunteer for local charities. “I’m a firm believer in community service, and I’m involved in a lot of activities,” she says. “This helps take my community effort and multiplies it times six.”

— Joel Reichenberger

.

Sleeping Bear Pediatrics 12th Anniversary

Steven A. Ross, MD, FAAP 970.879.2327 • 405 Anglers Drive, Suite A • Sundance @ Fishcreek • www.sleepingbearpediatrics.com • Find us on Facebook 80 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

ServiceS

Best Internist: Dr. Mark McCaulley, Yampa Valley Medical Associates The glut of free time — a phrase that surely needs an asterisk — has been dedicated to hobbies McCaulley and his wife, Marilyn, first fell for years ago.

Just try to become a patient of the three-decade veteran of Yampa Valley medicine. Sure, he consults new faces if they’re suffering from something in which he has a particular expertise. That includes upper endoscopy and colonoscopy or “both ends of the digestive system,” as he puts it.

But he no longer takes primary care patients.

That means evening trips to Buffalo Pass to Telemark ski. It means more time with books — medical texts, local authors, outdoors titles and Abraham Lincoln research often are gobbled up four titles at a time. Mix in a little woodworking and guitar, and McCaulley finds himself no less busy than he was a decade ago.

“I spent my first 25 years here working 70-plus hour weeks, so I’ve tried to have a more livable schedule,” he says. “I’m down to 45 hours a week, which is pretty humane compared to how it used to be.”

He says Steamboat always has been a unique place to practice internal medicine and that what makes it unique has changed in his time. These days, it’s become a town small in size but overflowing with talented medical practitioners.

“Steamboat has a very nice complement of physicians across various specialties,” he says.

“That makes practicing here a

really nice thing, to be in such a beautiful place and have such high-quality colleagues.”

— Joel Reichenberger

Joel reIchenBerGer

The voting numbers say Dr. Mark McCaulley is Steamboat Springs’ favorite internal medicine doc — but that’s far from the only evidence.

The doctor is in: Dr. Mark McCaulley taking a rare breather at the medical center.

Lyon Drug Store and Soda Fountain ...

A great experience for the entire family.

Stop in today!

Kathi

Danielle

Wendy

Jennifer

Dannelle

CarolAnn

Jill

Your Local Friendly Pharmacy Great Gifts · Old-Fashioned Soda Fountain · Downtown Corner of 9th & Lincoln

970-879-1114 Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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ServiceS

Scott Franz

Best Snowmobile Mechanic: Gary Eubank, Extreme Power Sports

Keep your motor running: Gary Eubank practicing what he preaches.

Gary Eubank grew up tinkering. He did auto repair.

He managed a parts house. He built ski lifts in Oregon.

Today, he’s happy to keep snowmobiles and ATVs in Routt County zipping through the area’s remote powder stashes and picturesque trails.

“The more you work on these machines, the more you learn,” he says in his snowmobile and ATV shop in Steamboat’s historic Brooklyn neighborhood. “You learn all the tricks.”

The mantra at Extreme Power Sports is “everybody rides on the weekend.”

“We do everything we can to make sure we can get someone’s ride ready for the weekend,” Eubank says. “It doesn’t always happen, but it’s always the goal.”

2 hour & half-day horseback rides available along Silver Creek

half-day adventures at Silver Creek Outfitters Wilderness Camp

The repair store on River Road — which also sells snowmobiles, prowlers, dirt bikes and ATVs — has a long history in Steamboat. Eubank’s dad opened it as a dealership in the ’50s. After years of working on all sorts of vehicles, Eubank opened the current store in 1994, and his brother, Terry, serves as the lead mechanic.

Back when the store first opened, snowmobiles had about 95 horsepower and the suspensions weren’t as light.

Today, they run with the power of more than 160 horses.

“Most of the people I talk to are good for 3 to 5 miles a day on skis,” Eubank says. “On a sled, you can do 80 miles.

You see a lot more country in a day’s time than you can on skis.”

— Scott Franz

Ask about our Overnight Camping, Fly Fishing, Hiking or Guided Elk & Mountain Lion Hunting Trips

970-846-5877 www.silvercreek-outfitters.com huntsilvercreek@aol.com 82 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Best Men’s Haircut: 10th Street Barber Shop Barb Porteous served pecan waffles and huevos rancheros at The Shack restaurant for 20 years before entering the barber business with her husband by launching 10th Street Barber Shop at 941 Lincoln Ave. downtown. Turns out, serving hash browns and trimming sideburns aren’t too far removed from each other; it’s all customer service, which has propelled 10th Street to the top spot in this year’s survey.

“Owning a barbershop was always my husband’s dream,” Porteous says about husband Kenny, a local property manager.

“It’s everything that we expected, and growing every year.”

The opportunity arose after The Family Barbershop closed its doors downtown. A year later, the Porteouses opened their operation Nov. 7, 2008. “Ken

and Jane retired the year before, which allowed us to pursue it,” says Porteous, who moved here from Fargo, N.D., in 1986 and met Kenny the same year. The company now has six employees and specializes in men’s haircuts as well as hot towel face shaves with a straight edge and shaving the back of men’s necks.

the same

They do it all while still ridding herd on four children, including daughter Paige, 20, who works at the shop, and daughter Hanna, who’s in school for barbering in Fargo. Boys Palmer, 13, and Landen, 10, also keep them plenty busy — especially when they come into the shop for a cut themselves.

“They’re not too particular,” she says. “They’ll let anyone here cut their hair. But most of the time, it ends up being mom.”

— Eugene Buchanan

all new styles John F. ruSSell

Come see what is new at Steamboat’s oldest store!

Open Daily 8:30 am - 10:00 pm 830 Lincoln Ave ✦ Downtown ✦ 879-1822 Straight edge shave and a trim: Barb Porteous and her 10th Street entourage.

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Services

Best Oral Surgeon: Dr. John Lupori, Alpine Oral & Facial Surgery His office has grown more high-tech in the past decade.

And his procedures have become easier and more comfortable for patients. But Dr. John Lupori’s mission at Alpine Oral & Facial Surgery remains the same.

“The best part is providing specialized care to patients who have either lost (jaw) function due to trauma or cancer or structural problems and reconstructing them back to function,” Lupori says.

Scott Franz

Lupori, who started his practice here in 1999 after being drawn to the mountains, decided to become an oral and facial surgeon when he was serving in the Navy from 1989 to 1993.

Watch your mouth: John Lupori in his oral office.

84 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

He said the exposure to facial and oral trauma inspired him

to learn to help those who were suffering.

“It’s a blend between the medical and dental professions,” he says in his office that is part of the Yampa Valley Medical Center campus.

“We’re a specialized practice that does both reconstruction of facial trauma and oral surgery.”

The doctor has participated in several international clef palate medical missions, and has three children in Steamboat.

When he’s not in the office, he’s enjoying the outdoors and playing the guitar in the Brian Smith Band, a group composed of other medical professionals.

— Scott Franz

ServiceS

When Steven Ross is having a bad day, he goes to his patients to help him get through it.

“I go back into the room with the children,” the pediatrician says in his office at Sundance Plaza. “They revive me. They put me in a better mood. It all makes sense around the children.”

Ross moved to Steamboat Springs 12 years ago after his wife, Bridget, took a job as a ski instructor at Steamboat Ski Area. She previously served as a park ranger at Denali and Yosemite national parks.

The Ross’ two daughters, Katie and Shannon, are accomplished skiers.

“Be careful who you date because sometimes it can have a big influence on your life,” Ross jokes as he explains why he’s glad his wife’s job lured the family to Steamboat.

Before moving to the Yampa

Valley, Ross lived in South Carolina, where he served as the chairman of the St. Francis Women’s Hospital’s department of pediatrics. Earlier in his career, he traveled to such places as Bethlehem to work with orphan children in refugee camps.

Today, he says there’s enough of a need for medical services in the Yampa Valley to keep him plenty busy as pediatrician. He started Sleeping Bear Pediatrics and works with children from their birth to when they turn 21 months old.

All it takes is a look at the photos hanging in his office to see why it’s all worthwhile; it’s a wall of smiling faces, portraits of the children he’s helped to keep healthy. “What I enjoy most about it is just watching children grow and develop,” he says.

— Scott Franz

Scott Franz

Best Pediatrician: Dr. Steven Ross, Sleeping Bear Pediatrics

Watching them grow: Steven Ross at his Sleeping Bear Pediatrics headquarters.

new patients welcome

Conveniently located in downtown Steamboat, 100 Park Avenue Suite 212 ∙

970.879.7572

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Services

Brady Worster was losing the last 10 pounds of an 85-pound goal when she started to pursue a career as a personal trainer. She wanted to help others navigate the complex, and sometimes difficult, task of becoming healthier.

“I wanted to pass what I learned on to others so they didn’t have to figure it out for themselves,” she says in an office at Anytime Fitness, where she recently started as a personal trainer.

On her desk is a before-and-after photo showing off the dramatic results of her three years of workouts.

Worster, a Steamboat native, glows when she talks about nutrition and the workouts that help people get in better shape or stay active, even when they’re coping with an injury. She also clearly knows why she does what she does.

The workouts she fosters “change

peoples lives” and “make them feel stronger about their self worth.”

They also reduce anxiety. But it’s not just about doing squats and curling iron.

“Everyone has their own issues, and everyone has their own tough times,” she says. “To be able to make exercise help them through those hard times has helped me as a person become more passionate, compassionate and caring.”

She recently helped a client with a fractured foot stay active during the injury. She also spends time explaining the reasoning behind doing all those squats and curls in the gym.

“People want that ’why,’ she says, adding that her own weightloss story enables her to more easily relate to clients. “I enjoy seeing people move out of their boundaries and find that they are stronger than they believe.”

— Scott Franz

86 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Scott Franz

Best Personal Trainer: Brady Worster, Anytime Fitness

When not helping clients, Brady Worster is often working out herself.

Best Salon: Wildhorse Salon If ever anyone has a winning formula for a salon, it’s Christine Brunner, who owns Wildhorse Salon at 690 Marketplace Plaza.

Instead of a rental booth system, she empowers her seven employees to succeed, whether it’s in the salon’s bread and butter hair services or eyelash extensions, nails or waxing.

Of course, she’s also had a lot of practice. Moving to Steamboat 27 years ago from Denver (“My family had a ranch in Meeker, and we used to always visit,” she says), she owned and operated Perfect Touch salon in Sundance Plaza for six years before closing it to attend Salon Summit Business College in Minneapolis.

Absorbing a bigger role with Redken products, she returned to open Wildhorse six years ago.

Steamboat Veterinary Hospital, P.C.

Large & Small Animal Medicine & Surgery

All that’s not to say she doesn’t find time to enjoy the reason she moved here and raised daughter Lisa, 28, in the valley she loves.

When not running the salon, she and her husband, Monte, a third generation local who owns Cross Seven Excavating and Snow Removal, can be found traipsing around the local hills as often as they can.

“We have everything here, and I love the change of seasons we have,” says Brunner, who rides four-wheelers, snowmobiles, motorcycles and more during every single one.

— Eugene Buchanan

John F. Russell

The schooling has paid off. She says business has grown every year, with sales up 12 percent last year. Brunner runs the business with everyone a member of the team, setting and meeting goals.

New employees start as Level Ones, and if they meet their goals, they can rise to Level Four status where they become part of the salon’s profit-sharing plan.

“It’s a performance-based system that allows everyone to truly excel,” says Brunner, who works fulltime behind the manicure chair while also managing the operation.

Galloping to the podium: The hair, eyelash and nails crew at Wildhorse Salon.

• Acupuncture • 24-hour On Call Service • Animal Health Store • In Business Since 1952

1878 Lincoln Ave, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 (970) 879-1041 SteamboatVeterinaryHospitalPC.com Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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ServiceS

Best Bank: Yampa Valley Bank and 16 in its Craig branch.

Overseen by a 16-member board in Steamboat and 12-person advisory panel in Craig, its mission is to put the community first.

Founded by Scott Borden in 2000, the bank employs 37 people in its Steamboat location

“It starts with an ownership group of about 50 local families,” President P.J. Wharton says

Matt StenSlanD

Genuine Hometown Banking.

That’s what Yampa Valley Bank hangs its hat on, and that’s what customers get when they do business with Steamboat’s community-owned bank.

Drive-through or walk-in, Yampa Valley Bank banks on community service.

about the bank’s community involvement. “We’re not necessarily a fee-based bank, but one that offers fair banking and encourages community involvement among our employees.”

Living up to that credo, between its ownership and employees, Yampa Valley Bank is involved in 25 local community organizations and nonprofits, from the Rotary Club to the Yampa Valley Community Foundation. It also sponsors such signature events as the Winter Carnival, 4th of July parade and fireworks, United Way’s $10K Day (which last year raised $39,000) and the Boys & Girls Club.

“An advantage of being locally owned is that, where bigger banks make decisions by formula in another state, we understand and know the people here,”

adds Wharton, who has been on the bank’s board for nine years.

“We make local decisions and represent the community.”

It’s a successful mix. Wharton says the company never has downsized, even during the recession, and that in 2012 it set a record for overall earnings. And despite flat lending years from 2009 to 2011, last year’s lending numbers were up, which reflects positively on the community. “If no one’s making loans, it restricts the growth of the community,” he says.

For Yampa Valley Bank, that community support is paramount. “We give back to the community in terms of dollars and time,” he says.

“We’re absolutely committed to Northwest Colorado.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Where your smile matters!

Curtis J. Comeau, D.D.S., P.C. • Steven Diehl, D.D.S., P.C. • William R. Schwartz, D.D.S., P.C. 1475 Pine Grove Road, Suite 107 • “Next door to Ski Haus” • 879-1959 88 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Services

Best Wedding Planner: Lindsey Grannis, One Fine Day Productions one-stop location for everything from flowers and planning to invitations, cake and more. She now helps with more than 45 weddings per year, 90 percent of which are destination based. And 10 percent of those, she says, have no local connections but choose Steamboat for the same reason she did: they love the town.

“I love seeing a wedding through from start to finish, being able to put all sorts of different ideas into reality, and seeing it go off without a hitch,” she says. “It’s great making it a seamless, flawless day for the bride and groom.”

The one thing she can’t control, she admits, is the weather. But she always has a plan B and in 10 years of wedding planning she’s only had to move a ceremony indoors five times.

— Eugene Buchanan

John F. Russell

Like many who get married here, Lindsey Grannis, came to Steamboat for the summer.

“I randomly visited and walked down Lincoln Avenue in the summer and decided I needed to live here,” says Grannis, 43, who moved here from Boston in 1993.

Grannis worked in-house for Marno’s Custom Catering for five years, where she first got exposed to the business of weddings, before moving on to manage One Fine Day, a full retail shop, florist and wedding planning business, in 2003. Then she bought it in 2004 and business began to bloom like her flowers.

In 2001, she closed the retail side and moved to a new studio at Fifth and Oak streets with a new focus on planning and floral design. She shares a commercial kitchen with wedding cake baker Life is Sweet, creating a perfect

Going the extra smile: Lindsey Grannis helping another couple plan their nuptials.

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SERVICES

Best Attorney 1. Kris Hammond, Hammond Law Offices 2. Adam Mayo, ESQ 3. Drew Johnroe, Drew Johnroe PC

Best Auto Maintenance & Repair Shop 1. Bob’s Downtown Conoco 2. Elk Mountain Automotive 3. Westside Automotive

Best Bank 1. Yampa Valley Bank 2. Wells Fargo 3. Alpine Bank

Best Bike Mechanic 1. Brock Webster, Orange Peel Bicycle Service 2. Chris Johns, Wheels Bikeshop 3. JR Thompson, Blue Room Velo

Best Chiropractic Service 1. Rinn Chiropractic Center 2. Sanford Chiropractic Clinic 3. Liberman Wellness

Best Dental Practice 1. Pine Grove Dental Arts 2. Sunshine Dentistry 3. Avant Garde Dental

Best ER Doctor 1. Dr. Dave Wilkinson 2. Dr. Nathan Anderson 3. Dr. David Cionni

Best Internist 1. Dr. Mark McCaulley, Yampa Valley Medical Associates 2. Dr. Charlie Peterson, Yampa Valley Medical Associates 3. Dr. Kevin Borgerding, Yampa Valley Medical Associates

90 | STEAMBOAT LIVING | Spring 2013

Best Family Doctor

Best Fishing Outfitter

1. Dr. Jim Dudley, Steamboat Medical Group 2. Dr. Brian Harrington, Yampa Valley Medical Associates 3. Dr. David Niedermeier, Steamboat Medical Group

1. Steamboat Flyfisher 2. Straightline Sports 3. Bucking Rainbow Outfitters

Best Fishing Guide

1. Old Town Hot Springs 2. Anytime Fitness 3. Manic Training

1. Tyler Anderson, Straightline Sports 2. Keith Hale, Steamboat Flyfisher 3. Steve Henderson, Straightline Sports

Best Winter Fly 1. Pablo’s Cripple 2. San Juan worm 2. Kenny Loose 3. Bead head prince nymph

Best Summer Fly 1. Elk hair caddis 2. Pablo’s Cripple 3. Blue-winged olive

Best Fitness Center or Gym

Best Floral Shop

1. Tall Tulips 2. Steamboat Floral & Gifts 3. City Market

Best Graphic Designer

1. Karen McLane, PostNet 2. Greg Effinger, Creative Bearings 3. Todd Bischoff, 3Bischoff/Justin Hirsch, Steamboat Design Associates

Best Hunting Guide

1. Lonny Vanatta, Vanatta Outfitters 2. Dirk Vanatta, Vanatta Outfitters 3. Rowan “Perk” Heid, Del’s Triangle 3

SERVICES

Best Music Venue 1. Ghost Ranch 2. Strings Music Pavilion 3. Sweetwater Grill

Best Men’s Haircut 1. 10th Street Barbershop 2. Wildhorse Salon 3. Salon M

Best Hair Salon 1. Wildhorse Salon 2. Hair On Earth 3. Brio Salon

Best Hairstylist 1. Stephani Weiss, Rocky Mountain Day Spa 2. Heather Jette, Wildhorse Salon 3. Shana Thomas, Brio Salon

Best Insurance Agent 1. Debbie Aragon, State Farm 2. Dax Mattox, State Farm 3. Brown & Brown Insurance

Best Personal Trainer 1. Brady Worster, Anytime Fitness 2. Sarah Coleman, FusionFit 3. Chris Voyvodic, Old Town Hot Springs

Best Pharmacy 1. Lyon Drug Store 2. City Market 3. Walmart

Best Physical Therapy Practice 1. SportsMed at Yampa Valley Medical Center 2. Johnson & Johnson Physical Therapy 3. Kinetic Energy

Best Printing Shop 1. PostNet 2. Northwest Graphics 3. Element Print & Design

Best Ski or Snowboard Best Massage Therapist Rental Shop 1. Erica Olson, Heartfire Massage 2. Ali Boehm, Kneading Hands 3. Pamela Peretz, Life Essentials Day Spa

1. Ski Haus 2. Christy Sports and Door 2 Door Ski Rentals 3. Steamboat Ski & Bike Kare

Best Nursery or Gardening Store

Best Place for Ski or Snowboard Tunes

1. Windemere Landscape & Garden Center 2. Gecko Landscape & Design 3. Kinnikinnik Lawn & Garden

Best Optometry Practice 1. Mountain Eyeworks 2. Helm Eye Center 3. Steamboat Vision Clinic

Best Pediatrician 1. Dr. Steven A. Ross, Sleeping Bear Pediatrics 2. Dr. Sheila Fountain, Pediatrics of Steamboat 3. Dr. Ron Famiglietti, Pediatrics of Steamboat

Best Oral Surgeon 1. Dr. John Lupori, Alpine Oral & Facial Surgery 2. Dr. Scott Eivins, Dentistry of Steamboat Springs 3. Dr. Karl Heggland, Northwest OMS

1. Ski Haus 2. Christy Sports 3. EdgeWorks

Best Snowmobile or ATV Mechanic 1. Gary Eubank, Extreme Power Sports 2. Randy Osborn, The Motorcycle Shop 3. Terry Eubank, Extreme Power Sports

Best Snow Removal Service

1. Native Excavating 2. Shuv-It Services 3. Mountain Roots/Schreiner, Inc.

Best Spa

1. Rocky Mountain Day Spa 2. Waterside Day Spa 3. Life Essentials Day Spa Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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SERVICES

Bill loves Steamboat all year long.

Best Travel Agency

1. Steamboat Reservations & Travel 2. Steamboat Central Reservations 3. Magic Carpet Travel

Best Veterinarian

Best Wedding Reception Venue 1. Catamount Ranch & Club 2. Steamboat Ski Area 3. Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp

1. Pet Kare Clinic 2. Steamboat Veterinary Hospital 3. Animal Healing Center

Best Wedding Planner

Be like Bill. Plan your Steamboat activities with ExploreSteamboat.com.

PROPERTY & CASUALTY

1. Lindsey Grannis, One Fine Day Productions 2. Jill Waldman, The Main Event 3. Nikki Knoebel, Catamount Ranch & Club

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92 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

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Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Best Electrician: Geoff Coon, Coon Custom Electric No, they don’t thread lightbulbs counter-clockwise in Australia.

Which means that Melbourne native Geoff Coon, winner of this year’s Best Electrician category, has had no trouble plying his trade here in Steamboat.

Coon, 45, moved to Steamboat from Australia in 1993, promptly met his wife, Ann (“on a walkabout,” he says) and perfected his career calling just as quickly, in 2000 founding Coon Custom Electric. Like on his walkabouts, he hasn’t looked back since. Coon and his crew are familiar with some of town’s coziest crawl spaces and attics, tackling jobs big or small — from complete lighting control to troubleshooting problematic baseboards — with Down Under determination and an eye to client value.

rather deal with circuitry than in Steamboat. It lets him raise kids Lucas, 11, Will, 12, and Jack, 14, in a great, outdoorsy environment, even if it means volunteering countless hours with the youth hockey and soccer associations.

“I love the people here more than anything,” he says about the community and his clients.

“You couldn’t find nicer, friendlier people anywhere. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

When not juggling kids or voltage requirements, he can be found grinding away on his bike up Emerald Mountain, hitting the local links or schussing down the slopes of Mount Werner. That and still traipsing around on the occasional walkabout.

— Eugene Buchanan

John F. ruSSell

He can’t think of anyplace he’d

An electrician’s eye: Geoff Coon and his conduit.

94 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Best Landscaping Service: Gecko Landscape and Design Dave Ince says that the trademark of Gecko Landscape Design is communication and that he makes it a priority whether he’s in the office or taking a couple laps on a powder morning in February.

“The other day, I was taking phone calls from the chairlift about snow plowing,” he says. “I’m up there talking to customers while sitting on the chairlift, then talking to our plow drivers. Something as simple as answering the phone and taking care of someone’s needs can make all the difference.”

He and partner Mike Higgins started Gecko in 1997. At the time, they had nothing but a truck, a trailer, a few wheelbarrows and shovels and a loan from the bank. That quickly changed; however, and

they began to add staff and crews. “In two years, we had hired one guy. Then we hired three guys, and next thing you know, it’s 25,” Ince says.

ANNIE’S

home consignments

“It’s Never the Same Store Twice!” ™

The company now offers everything from landscaping installation and irrigation to lawn maintenance and a full retail garden center. Five years ago, they gave up working winters in local restaurants and dipped into the snow plowing business. All these services and more, with a constant eye toward communication, has helped make Gecko the Best of the Boat.

“It’s as simple as returning a phone call and being responsive,” Ince says. “We want to be responsive for our customers so it happens today, not next week.”

— Joel Reichenberger

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Specializing in Fireplaces, Masonry Veneer, Stone Floors, Patios, and Retaining Walls

Call Today For Your Complimentary Quote

970.879.1715

www.SteamboatAnnies.com Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Homes

Best Real Estate Agent: Cam Boyd, Prudential Steamboat Realty

Jon Wade, The Steamboat Group (Colorado Group Realty)

Cam Boyd, 50, kicked a lot of tires before settling into a real estate career in Steamboat. When he first moved here in 1985 after graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder, he worked as a ski instructor, silkscreener, roofer and painter.

But it was his business degree that opened the door to getting his real estate license in 1987, working for local real estate broker and attorney Peter Forbes.

“He taught me a lot of things that would have taken me a long time to learn otherwise,” says Boyd, who has grown from that advice to become town’s Best Realtor.

In 1990, he began working for Trimontane Real Estate, which became affiliated with Prudential in 1991. Boyd and partner Pam Vanatta took over the business in 2000, forming Prudential Steamboat Realty, which now has 72 licensed agents and 10 support staff in its 10,000-square-foot office building in Wildhorse Plaza.

Combined, the company’s agents sold more than 500 units in 2012, making it easily the largest real estate firm in the valley.

“I’ve always enjoyed the business aspect of it,” says Boyd, who is married to wife, Jill, and has two children, Bridger, 13, and Sydney, 14. “We never really set out to build a big company like this, but we work very well together. As we continued to build our own,

personal business, people wanted to come along with us.”

Like Boyd and Vanatta, their brokers also follow their philanthropic lead, donating time and funds to such organizations as the Sunshine Kids, United Way, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, Hospice and CourtAppointed Special Advocates. “So many of our agents are involved with charities throughout town,” says Boyd, a loyal member of the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs for the past 12 years. “Everyone’s pretty generous with helping support this community we all love.”

When not working to help others share in their dream of settling down in Steamboat, Boyd can be found taking advantage of the lifestyle it offers, whether it’s hitting the ski slopes or Nordic tracks, chasing the pack on his mountain and road bikes, scaring elk away during hunting season, fine-tuning his slapshot or hiking one of Colorado’s fourteeners.

But, without exception, his favorite activity is spending time with his family.

“If you would have told me 27 years ago that I’d still be here with a family and great job in a community I love, I never would have believed it,” he says. “I pinch myself all the time and realize how lucky I am. People work all their lives just to come visit here, and we get to live and play here every day.”

96 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Pam Vanatta, Prudential Steamboat Realty Pam Vanatta came to Steamboat Springs in 1979 from Denver how a lot of women did.

“I followed a boyfriend,” she says.

“He left. I stayed.”

Lucky for her. Vanatta, 56, who reveived her real estate license in 1986 and started selling for Trimontane before co-founding Prudential Steamboat Realty in 2000, has emerged as one of town’s top brokers, largely for her commitment to her clients. In 2007, she was named one of Prudential’s top 10 agents in the country, out of more than 65,000, and consistently has placed in the Top 100.

“I love the business,” says Vanatta, who is married to hunting outfitter Lonny Vanatta. “I especially like the challenges and accomplishments that come with it, and that it lets me become friends with great people from all over the country.”

While she admits that the past four years have shown how hard the business can be, it also shows that if you’re good at what you do, you can succeed. And she credits most of her success to referrals, perhaps the biggest proof of her professionalism.

Throughout it all, she also manages to find time to enjoy everything there is about the town she loves, from golfing and road biking in the summer to skiing in the winter and cooking and entertaining all year long. “I love the diversity here and being able

Courtesy

Matt Stensland

Matt Stensland

to do different things in all the different seasons,” she says. “I just like doing everything that everyone else enjoys doing here.”

Jon Wade of The Steamboat Group, part of Colorado Group Realty, moved here with wife Wendy in 2005 after a 16-year career with Hewlett Packard in Boulder for one reason: “It’s the best place we could possibly imagine to raise our kids,” he says.

If they’re doing a good job with Alden, 9, and Neve, 7, he’s also doing so with his real estate career.

After leaving HP, he earned his real estate license and signed on with Colorado Group Realty, the team atmosphere of whichwas a perfect fit. Since then, he’s helped countless people realize their dreams here, as well.

“I like the people here more than anything,” he says. “I like helping them shape their lives by where they live. And I understand that better than most because I did the exact same thing.”

An active volunteer for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association and Urban Renewal Authority, he also takes time to give back to the town.

“I was never very involved with the community in Boulder, but here I am all the time,” he says.

“When I was 7 my grandpa told me that if you take care of others, you’ll never have to worry about yourself. That’s a mantra I try to follow every day.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Best Mortgage Broker: Kathryn Pedersen, PrimeSource Mortgage Kathryn Pedersen decided to step out on her own this year, and it looks like the risk is paying off.

Well, maybe not completely on her own — she’s part of PrimeSource Mortgage, a large, publicly traded company — but Pedersen has set up her own branch and been able to focus solely on mortgage work and her customers. And now, she has been voted the best mortgage broker in Steamboat Springs.

“I felt that I was strong enough in the market to leave,” Pedersen says about ending her 10-year tenure with Yampa Valley Bank.

“I view my clients as friends.”

Her focus on relationships and building referral partners has been important, she adds, and those connections have grown

with her business. “When you take care of people, they want to hang out with you more,” she says. “It’s been a really good change, and I have some great mentors in the company.”

In creating her own space but having the resources of a larger company, Pedersen says she has the best of both worlds. “Even though I was taking the leap on my own, I’ve been really well supported by my office,” she says. “I have a huge support system but can do things how I need them to get done for my market.”

✦

CollECTIoN oF

✦

Restaurants

FoR A TRulY mEmoRABlE NIGHT ouT, ENjoY THE pREmIER DINING ExpERIENCES oF STEAmBoAT.

Dining at Ragnar’s begins with a nighttime ride in the steamboat Gondola, followed by a snowcat driven sleigh ride under the stars and across the mountain to the warm, inviting restaurant. Enjoy a gourmet dinner and live acoustic entertainment.

And it always helps when you like your job as much as Pedersen does. “I feel pretty lucky,” she says.

— Michael Schrantz

A nighttime ride up the gondola tells you this is not going to be an ordinary night out. And Hazie’s is anything but ordinary. An exceptional wine list, stunning views of the Yampa Valley 2,000 feet below, and a dazzling menu of New American cuisine are all yours at Hazie’s.

Dash through the snow as a pair majestic draft horses pull a sleigh around the Yampa Valley’s rolling hills before settling down to a delicious three-course dinner with all the trimmings.

Enjoy drinks and appetizers prior to your sleigh ride, then upon your return dine on a menu of prime beef, free range chicken or fresh seafood.

Diners can choose from two seatings every Wednesday through Sleigh ride dinner at Sunday evening.

haymaker

For the perfect family night out, ride the Steamboat Gondola to a delicious Western Style all-you-can-eat BBQ Buffet with a live western dance band and a fun family setting looking out over the lights of the valley below.

John F. ruSSell

Inside the beautiful Steamboat Grand Hotel, The Cabin is the Grand’s premier dining experience, with a unique ambiance that’s the perfect setting for a romantic dinner or a special night out with the whole family.

The menu has been designed with a focus on fresh and local foods.

Saving people points: Kathryn Pedersen at her new PrimeSource office.

ReseRvations foR all the steamboat collection of RestauRants can be made by calling 970-871-5150 Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Homes

Christy Belton

Best Real Estate Agent for Ranches and Land: Christy Belton

Land Lady: Christy Belton at home on her ranch in the Elk River Valley.

98 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

If you’re going to sell ranches and land, it helps to walk the walk. Or rather, saunter to saunter.

That’s certainly the case with Christy Belton, voted this year’s Best Real Estate Agent for Ranches and Land. Together with her husband, Matt, and son, Tell (a sixth-generation Routt County resident), Belton runs a 1,500-head yearling operation in the Elk River Valley and leases or owns permits for more than 30,000 acres in the valley. She also used to own a pack-in wilderness outfitting company.

After moving to Hayden from Texas 30 years ago, Belton has been involved with real estate for the past nine years, first with Steamboat Real Estate, then Prudential Steamboat Realty and most recently as a broker associate for Ranch Marketing Associates.

Combine this with 12 years of commercial cattle operations and

she has a well-rounded approach to understanding her customers’ needs.

“I’ve been very fortunate to work with companies here that, in my opinion, are the best,” she says. She adds that she loves the variables involved, from the intricacies of water and mineral rights to easements and livestock operations. “I like the challenge of each transaction,” the president of the Routt County CattleWomen’s Association says.

She also likes being able to help people get a foothold in an area she loves. “One of the things I love most is being able to help introduce people to our area and helping them become a part of our community,” she says.

“There’s something different with every deal. It’s a never-ending educational process.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Homes

Best Title Company: Land Title Guarantee Co.

“We really understand our market,” Urban says about the seven employees who staff the Steamboat office of the Colorado-based company.

Urban says the level of service offered along with title insurance and escrow services is what sets Land Title apart in Steamboat.

“A lot of people use us exclusively,” he says about the company’s loyal client base. “We really try to be a third party to make sure

everything is done properly.”

More than just doing things properly, Land Title has made an effort to be active beyond the office. “I think it’s how we interact with the community,” Urban says about rising to the top of this year’s voting.

Examples include the Penguin Plunge, Tread of Pioneers Museum and Steamboat Springs Ski Town Lions Club in addition to other charitable endeavors as ways employees have become involved in the community. “We love being here. It’s a great community,” Urban says. “It has a hometown feel. I really appreciate that.”

Matt Stensland

In 2000, Land Title Guarantee Co. opened its Steamboat Springs branch.

In the years since, branch manager Stan Urban says, the office has gone from zero percent of the market share to 42 percent.

— Michael Schrantz Title Team: The crew at Land Title Guarantee Co.

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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HOMES

Best Architect 1. Joe Patrick Robbins 2. Bill Rangitsch, Steamboat Architectural Associates 3. Brandt Vanderbosch, Vertical Arts Architecture

Best Electrician

Best Landscaping Service 1. Gecko Landscape & Design 2. The Lawn Lady 3. Kinnikinnick Lawn & Garden

Best Mortgage Broker

1. Geoff Coon, Coon Custom Electric 2. Don Kuntz, Current Electric 3. Fred Grippa, Midwest Electric

1. Kathryn Pedersen, PrimeSource Mortgage 2. Holly Rogers, Yampa Valley Bank 3. Josh Kagan, Cornerstone Mortgage

Best General Contractor

Best Plumber

1. Fox Construction 2. Gerber Berend Design Build 3. HLCC Holmquist Lorenz Construction Co.

Best Interior Designer 1. Irene Nelson, Irene Nelson Interiors 2. Lynne Bier, Home on the Range 3. Christine Loeb, CWC Designs

1. Ken Roche, Total Service PHD 2. Ken Finch, Ken Finch Plumbing 3. Jeff Herfurtner, JEFFS PLUMBING LLC

Best Real Estate Agency 1. Prudential Steamboat Realty 2. Colorado Group Realty 3. Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties

Best Real Estate Agent 1. Cam Boyd, Prudential Steamboat Reality 2. Pam Vanatta, Prudential Steamboat Realty 3. Jon Wade, Colorado Group Realty

Best Real Estate Agent for Ranches and Land 1. Christy Belton, Ranch Marketing Associates 2. Shelley Stanford, Colorado Group Realty 3. Bo & Sue Stempel, Colorado Group Realty

Best Roofing Company 1. Tin Man Roofing 2. Wilson Roofing 3. Revelation Roofing

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102 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Shopping

John F. Russell

Best Liquor Store: Central Park Liquor

Something for everyone: Central Park Liquor leads the pack in libations.

The train that circles the interior of Central Park Liquor is emblematic of the business itself. It just keeps chugging along, stronger than ever.

Opened in 1986 at its same location in Central Park Plaza, the store now occupies 8,600 square feet of wine, beer and spirits-filled splendor, continuing its goal of offering something for

everyone who walks through its doors. “Our model is based on having the largest selection in the entire Rocky Mountain area,” says co-owner Greg Nealy, who joined the ownership team in 2001 after working as general manager since 1996. “Our motto is to have everything people want all the time, with full shelves and multiple choices.”

104 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

One of the 20 largest liquor stores in the state with 33 employees, the business was purchased in 1998

by Greg Stetman and is owned

by Stetpro Corp., consisting of Stetman, Nealy and Patty Vargas, who became a partner in 2005.

Nealy bases the store’s success on a tremendous local following, which it rewards every year with its Thank You Steamboat Sale, held in December. Now in its 27th year, “It’s grown into a complete monster,” says Nealy, largely for its mark-up just slightly over cost. “It’s our way to say thanks to all our customers who shop here all year long.”

The company thanks the community in other ways, too.

Stetman was named 2012’s Philanthropist of the Year, and Central Park Liquor donates more than $30,000 to local charities each year, from the Rotary Club through

the annual Ski Town Classic golf tournament to United Way. It’s also the official headquarters and anchor sponsor of the annual Steamboat Wine Festival, which draws as many as 3,000 attendees each year.

Of course, the G-gauge electric train zinging around inside from 3 to 7 p.m. every day draws just as much fanfare. “Everyone loves it,” says Nealy. “It’s a classy addition to the store.”

It’s also yet another example of going the extra mile. “We couldn’t have gotten to where we are without the support of the Steamboat community,” Nealy says, adding that he gets compliments on the store from distributors and suppliers all the time. “We’re extremely lucky to be able to be involved with such a great community.”

— Eugene Buchanan

Shopping

Best Art Gallery: Steamboat Art Museum Rehder Building for seven years. The nonprofit museum showcases fine art with a focus on Northwest Colorado and its heritage, and the current exhibit holds true to that vision.

John F. Russell

Through mid-April, the museum hosts an exhibit from local painter Jean Perry and local sculptor Curtis Zabel, whose prolific works have become synonymous with Yampa Valley art. After a hiatus in late April and May for refurbishment, the museum will reopen in June with the expressive and playful cowgirl portraits of Donna HowellSickles.

Steeped in Yampa Valley heritage and Western imagery, the Steamboat Art Museum has been welcoming guests into the historic downtown

In addition to the historic gallery space and special events and workshops, the museum gift shop carries a host of fine art supplies and art memorabilia.

Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat

Wild Horse Gallery

The Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat is a new experience every time you set foot in the door. A collaborative gallery managed and operated by the 26 artist members, the downtown location offers a glimpse into the myriad of artistic talents present in the Yampa Valley, from fused glass and fine art photography to woodwork and every medium of painting imaginable.

The Artists’ Gallery is a First Friday Artwalk favorite, offering a great opportunity to catch each month’s three featured artists.

Shirley Stocks, who owns the downtown Wild Horse Gallery along with painter Rich Galusha, says the cozy, downtown gallery focuses on Yampa Valley and Western culture. “We sell contemporary realism with an emphasis on images of the area,” Stocks says. “We have Western art, and we have a lot of fishing bronzes and paintings.”

In addition to locally renowned landscape artists, Wild Horse branches out into regionally recognized names like the new works from Grant Redden and Elizabeth Robbins, and offers workshops with visiting talent. Discerning collectors also can find sculptures, blown glass, jewelry and limited-edition prints.

— Nicole Inglis

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Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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SHOPPING

Best Art Gallery 1. Steamboat Art Museum 2. Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat/ Wild Horse Gallery 3. Images of Nature

Best Bike Shop 1. Steamboat Ski & Bike Kare 2. Orange Peel Bicycle Service 3. Ski Haus

Best Carpet and Flooring Store

Best Clothing Consignment Store

1. Carpets Plus 2. Affordable Flooring Warehouse 3. The Carpet Shoppe

1. Deja Vu Boutique 2. Boomerang Sports Exchange 3. Finders Keepers

Best Children’s Clothing Store

Best Gift Shop

1. Walmart 2. F.M. Light & Sons 3. Dragonflies

Best Furniture Consignment Store 1. Annie’s Home Consignments 2. Steamboat Moxie Home Consignments and Design 3. Steamboat Home Consignment

Best Liquor Store 1. Central Park Liquor 2. Ski Haus Liquors 3. Arctic Liquors

Best Men’s Clothing Store 1. Allen’s Clothing 2. Zirkel Trading 3. Urbane

1. Lyon Drug Store 2. Steamboat Art Co. 3. All That Jazz

Best Sporting Goods Store

Best Home Decor Store 1. Annie’s Home Consignments 2. Romick’s Into the West 3. Ace Hardware

1. Ski Haus 2. Sports Authority 3. Christy Sports

Best Jewelry Store

Best Women’s Clothing Store

1. Hofmeister Personal Jewelers 2. The Silver Lining 3. Steamboat Art Co.

1. Moose Mountain Trading Co. 2. Urbane 3. Kali’s Boutique

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822 Lincoln Ave.• Downtown • 970-879-1400 • www.moosemtntradingco.com 106 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

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Community

Runner-up Best Artist: Greg Block the attention of the art world and helped land him on this year’s Best of the Boat podium behind first-place finisher Susan Schiesser.

Block’s first show at Gallery 1261 in downtown Denver last summer sold out, and ever since then he’s had a long list of commission requests from across the country.

Schiesser, a local artist and coowner of RED Contemporary at the base of Steamboat Ski Area, has represented Block for three years. The first time she saw his work, he had brought her several abstracts he painted with coffee grounds. Since then she’s watched him evolve and grow through a wide breadth of styles and mediums from thoughtful expressionism to reconstruction (literally, he tore up several old paintings and formed the shreds into new work) and realism.

“He’s a magnificent multitalented artist,” Schiesser says. “He takes the best of everything and artists and appropriates it into his own style so seamlessly.”

Everyone told him he was a talented artist as he was growing up in the South Routt School

District. But it wasn’t until last summer that he began to believe them. “I thought they just knew me and wanted to say nice things,” he says.

But he always remembers art was a passion. “I really enjoyed it,” he says about painting when he was a child. “I have no memories prior to having it be a part of my life.”

At Colorado College, Block studied biology, but he says he knew all along he was going to be a painter. “I didn’t feel I had to study it as a subject,” he says.

“It was a life study.” And science shares a lot of qualities with art, most importantly the skill of observation.

“The reason I love painting so much is it gives me an excuse to look very closely at things,” he says. “The painting comes second.”

In his brilliantly lit studio above the garage in his rural home, Block sleeps on the floor on a mattress among his subjects.

There are hats, aging fruit, wine glasses and bottles set precariously around the studio,

John F. Russell

Greg Block is completely deadpan as he describes the creative process behind his latest new art medium.

“One of the greatest parts of the process is when people see me rooting around in the singlestream recycling bin,” he says.

“Every time I say, ’I’m an artist,’ this look of clarity comes over their faces.”

Block’s mischievous side has gotten him into a bit of trouble with the recycling company, but it’s also resulted in large-scale art maps made from the beer cans he finds on his Dumpster-diving adventures. He cuts up the cans and burns them over an open flame, resulting in various tones and tints, which he then arranges into geographically correct images of the United States and the world.

And the aluminum can works aren’t even the main focus of Block’s work — it’s more of a creative outlet secondary to his still life contemporary realist painting.

But it’s the entire breadth of the 26-year-old’s work that’s captured

Contemporary Realism: Greg Block in his rural Routt County home and studio.

110 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

unable to be moved until the painting of it is complete. It’s his attention to the objects themselves that drives his meticulous work.

“After I spend a day or a week looking at them closely, I get really attached to them,” he says.

“I think I get more attached to the objects than the paintings.”

Schiesser adds that Block is attracting collectors left and right, and she sees a lucrative and prolific future for the young artist.

“I predict his next phase, after he’s thoroughly done with his bout with realism, is a return to abstract expressionist work that’s going to knock the socks off the world,” she says.

Block says he thinks about his abstract work a great deal, even when focused on representing a realistic object on canvas or wood panel. “I think about the representative work from an abstract point of view,” he says.

“This is why I’m still doing the aluminum can stuff. It’s paring down the painting experience to the colors and the shapes and moving them around.”

— Nicole Inglis

SCOTT FRANZ

Best Bus Driver: George Morris

George Morris says every shift behind the wheel of a Steamboat Springs Transit bus is an adventure. “The slow and quiet days are like a vacation,” says the town’s top bus driver, as voted in our Best of the Boat contest. “We get to see a lot, and we’re trained to see a lot.”

and enjoyable journey.

Riders also are exposed to Campbell’s vast iPod library of 10,000 songs. Some days, his playlist is classical. On others, it includes operas and oldies dating back to the 1940s. “But I don’t play rap or hip hop,” Campbell says. “When I’m driving, I try to make it a good place to be and relax. Most people like the music I play.”

Like many of the city’s drivers, Morris, who started driving for the city in 2006, has a good sense of humor. And he uses it every day he’s behind the wheel while keeping passenger safety paramount. “I’ve always had fun in my jobs, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing them,” he says.

Campbell’s humor isn’t limited to the driver’s seat. He spends his lunch breaks at the transit center joking with the other veteran drivers. The former Chicago Bears linebacker says he started driving buses 12 years ago when was looking for something to do in the winter. Although he admits there are a lot of things you have to think about, it’s also the easiest job he’s had in his life — and far easier than sacking quarterbacks.

“I’ve had a good journey and it just continues here,” he says.

“This is as much fun as I had when I was younger.”

— Scott Franz

Morris found his way to Steamboat Springs much like his passengers getting off at one of his stops. On his way to work in oil fields in Sidney, Mont., he stopped to visit some friends in Greeley. That stop led to another in Steamboat, where he stayed.

You usually can find Morris behind the wheel of the city’s new hybrid bus on the Yellow Line. But like most other drivers, he drives multiple routes. “Every loop is an adventure.” he says.

Gary Campbell

“If you’re on my bus, you get treated like you’re a member of my family,” Campbell says, adding that the occasional joke helps fulfill his daily mission of making sure riders have a safe

SCOTT FRANZ

If you’ve ever gotten on a bus at the Gondola Transit Center and jokingly been told you’re heading to Craig instead of your condo, Gary Campbell was your driver.

Spring 2013 | STEAMBOAT LIVING

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COMMUNITY

Best Coach: John Aragon

Holding Court: Aragon at the Steamboat Tennis Center.

For John Aragon, coaching isn’t just a lifestyle. For the man who has shaped tennis in Steamboat Springs, it has become his livelihood.

It started in 1978, when Aragon graduated from college. He

immediately was drawn into coaching, siting several coaches as big influences in his life. For the past 16 years, Aragon has coached the high school tennis teams in Steamboat to unprecedented heights.

Auto • Truck • 4X4 Foreign • Domestics

I thought, ’I’ll give it a shot.’ It’s seemed to play out pretty well.”

Tollar is in his first year as the Steamboat Springs High School hockey coach. He says that while he oftentimes gets the credit, a big part of coaching is surrounding himself with good people.

“Great players and great kids make great coaches,” he says.

“You’re only as good as the rest of the staff. You do better the more you surround yourself with good people.”

JOEL REICHENBERGER

JOEL REICHENBERGER

“The main thing is to be fair with each athlete,” he says. “Treat them on equal grounds whether it’s the top athlete or someone just barely coming along. You give them opportunities to learn and succeed.”

Aragon says that when he was in high school in Albuquerque, N.M., coach Mark Ochsner pushed him to be his best in football, wrestling and track.

“Each time he made sure you worked hard and pushed,” Aragon says. “Win or lose, he loved you the same.”

Aragon recently celebrated his 60th birthday and is not sure how much longer he wants to coach.

One of his sons is preparing to have a baby, and Aragon wants to see his grandson as much as possible.

Given his immense track record, he might even offer him a few coaching techniques.

Redfern training on a local trail.

MATT STENSLAND

Neill Redfern, lacrosse

Tollar in his ice office.

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Brent Tollar, Steamboat Springs hockey coach When Brent Tollar looks back at his sports career, there always is one thing that stands out: the coaches.

“I had great coaches my whole life,” he says. “It was something I was thinking about doing. So

It’s become common during the summer to see children walking around town with lacrosse sticks over their shoulders. A big part of that owes itself to Neill Redfern. The longtime director of Steamboat Youth Lacrosse helped bring the game to Steamboat. This past year, he stepped down as the director and left it to Jake and Andy Flax — two players that grew up in his organization. But Redfern’s influence on lacrosse in Steamboat, however, won’t go unnoticed. It’s the most popular sport at the high school, with most of the players growing up under Redfern’s watchful eye.

— Luke Graham

COMMUNITY

It was a hot, dusty summer evening July 13 at the base of Howelsen Hill. A crowd of thousands spread across the green grass, lounging on blankets and munching on food near the back of the venue and up front, writhing and stomping their feet to the furious chop of bluegrass blaring from the speakers.

Up on the Steamboat Free Summer Concert Series stage was a quintet out of Duluth, Minn. — an unlikely home base for an up-and-coming indie-folk band. But the fast-picking and tight harmonies of Trampled

by Turtles fit perfectly into the mountain landscape of Steamboat Springs in the summertime.

It was the band’s first appearance on the Free Summer Concert Series stage, a coveted headlining spot in the 21-yearold Steamboat summer tradition.

That stage — which splits its time between Howelsen Hill and the base of Steamboat Ski Area each summer — has been graced with names like Michael Franti & Spearhead, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, John Hiatt and String Cheese Incident.

Mandolin player Erik Berry says they’d played in Steamboat before at a gig at the Ghost Ranch, which helped set the stage for their future. “That was the second gig we ever played standing up,” Berry says. “The change occurred in Crested Butte the day before, but it was in Steamboat that we decided OK, this was not just a one-time thing. Because we were so used to sitting down, we didn’t expect how much more comfortable it was playing some of the fast songs.”

Two years later, in Steamboat this past summer, the band

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES

Best Free Summer Concert: Trampled by Turtles

From Letterman to Howelsen: Trampled by Turtles trampled the competitions in this year’s survey.

was fresh off big-time festival dates and an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” And once again, the Turtles’ appearance was one to remember, enough that it earned them top marks as Best Summer Concert.

“What I really like about playing outdoor shows is that it’s really easy to see the crowd,” Berry says. “I like looking back 100 to 200 feet and looking at what everyone is doing.”

The answer on July 13: dancing.

— Nicole Inglis

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COMMUNITY

Best Drummer: Eric Barry says. So throughout his years in school, he joined every band there was: jazz band, concert band, marching band. Next on the list was rock bands.

MATT STENSLAND

Barry is a staple in the local music scene and performs almost weekly with bands like Me and Ed’s Music Machine, Throwdown, the Worried Men, Chamberlin Birch and the Steve Boynton Jazz Trio. His latest stint in Steamboat has lasted eight years, but every once in a while the musician leaves town to pursue his dreams of rock stardom — or at least professional musicianship.

I just want to bang on my drums all day: Eric Barry doing what he does best.

Before he was even in kindergarten, a young Eric Barry was pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards of his Steamboat

Springs home and banging on them with spoons.

“My mom knew early on I was going to be a drummer,” Barry

“I want to make a living, eventually, doing nothing but playing,” he says.

That drive resulted in a recent trip to Los Angeles to audition with an emerging artist, and he

plans to move out there soon to continue following his calling to the recording industry.

But Steamboat always calls to him. “I grew up here, and it’s home,” he says.

Barry, who also plays guitar and piano, says there’s something special about jamming with the talented local musicians he’s played with for 20 years here in his hometown.

“The neat thing about it is when you’re jamming, and you’re having a good time, and you look out, and people are smiling and dancing and enjoying themselves, that’s what makes me feel good about music,” he says. “I was born with music and it’s part of my soul. It drives me to move further.”

— Nicole Inglis

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MATT STENSLAND

Best Philanthropists: Sara and Michael CraigScheckman, Craig-Scheckman Family Foundation

Giving, and then giving some more: The Craig-Scheckmans in their Yampa Street office.

Since moving to Steamboat with husband, Michael, from the hustle and bustle of New York City in 2003, it hasn’t taken long for Sara Craig-Scheckman to leave her philanthropic mark in the Yampa Valley.

assets of more than $4.5 million.

Returns on the investments are used to fund the annual giving.

“We try to run it so we can give a little more than 5 percent,” Michael, the foundation’s finance director says.

In 2005, the Craig-Scheckmans founded the Craig-Scheckman Family Foundation with $2 million of their own funds to support youth advocacy efforts. The foundation recently surpassed $1 million in contributions to community organizations and announced that its Youth Advocacy Project for Routt County now would be giving away $300,000 in grants annually instead of $175,000, which is “significant news,” Routt County United Way Executive Director Kelly Stanford says.

Sara’s vision is for the foundation’s annual giving to eclipse $500,000. For now, it will continue to give $25,000 to three local organizations annually. Previously, $50,000 also had been given out twice yearly, but that dollar amount has been increased to two $100,000 grants. The foundation also has added an additional $25,000 annually in discretionary funds.

The money has been given to dozens of schools, nonprofits and government agencies that provide services to special needs, at-risk and low-income youths.

Sara, who has put her law degree to work by committing herself to youth advocacy work, runs the foundation out of her office in The Olympian building at Fifth and Yampa streets. The foundation is now going into its eighth year and, including Sara, has three full-time employees and

“We feel so fortunate to live in a place like Routt County, and people really genuinely care about these issues here,” Sara says. “We don’t like to toot our own horn. This is our pleasure to do this work.”

— Matt Stensland Spring 2013 | STEAMBOAT LIVING

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COMMUNITY

Best Radio Station: 105.5 KFMU

JOHN F. RUSSELL

Yampa Valley from solar panels located up at the transmitter site.

Making Waves: KFMU prides itself on playing mountain music.

KFMU’s transmitter, nestled in the mountains near Stagecoach, was one of the first alternatively powered radio transmitters in North America — but it’s not like they had much of a choice.

There was simply no other way

to get power to such a remote location.

The station first was powered by a wooden windmill when it was launched in 1975 and now gets energy to broadcast alternative music throughout the

With its mountainous roots, it’s no surprise that KFMU has evolved into a station that shares a mountain rock sound with its listeners. Located in an office building on Walton Creek Road, KFMU’s cozy headquarters features walls lined with CD jewel cases and decorated with signed posters and specialedition singles. Longtime local radio personality Eli Campbell is the general manager of the station and has been working there on and off for seven years.

John Johnston began working at KFMU in 1998 and says the station is technically an “adult album alternative” format, known as AAA in the radio industry. But the director of programming says KFMU has evolved with the times.

“We have some artists that we’ve played for 35 years, like the Beatles,” Johnston said. “The thing is, the stuff that was our bread and butter for years now is top 40.”

Case in point: It used to be that Mumford & Sons was considered an indie band — perfect for KFMU’s listeners. But the folk rockers have Grammy Awards under their belts and a growing mainstream following, so KFMU turns to the band’s more obscure songs and non-singles from their albums.

And then there are the staple artists that KFMU will often play, like John Hiatt, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Johnston says, all of whom have one thing in common: “It’s that mountain sound,” he says.

— Nicole Inglis

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COMMUNITY

When Eric Nilsson worked to find the materials that would lower the weight of a General Motors concept car and still keep it strong enough to run an engine at higher temperatures, he didn’t know he was on course to become a science teacher.

The new career path also wasn’t quite visible when he worked as a plutonium engineer for the U.S. Department of Energy.

“I never considered becoming a teacher. I thought I’d be an engineer forever,” Nilsson says in his classroom at Steamboat Springs High School. “But I got to a point where I wanted to inspire the next generation. It’s their turn, especially with all the issues the world is facing. We need kids interested and excited about all this stuff.”

Nilsson, who moved to Steamboat from Michigan,

currently is in his sixth year of teaching at the high school.

He was spurred to become an educator after he participated in a Department of Energy outreach program that had him teaching math to at-risk students in Denver.

Nilsson’s students benefit from his storied career as an engineer.

Lining the counters in Nilsson’s science lab are contraptions his students made to keep eggs safe in a collision. Nilsson’s final exam has students constructing cardboard vessels they race across a pool at Old Town Hot Springs.

“The engineering background is, ‘Let’s do it,’” he says. “Let’s build stuff. There’s a real connection between building it and seeing it on paper.”

— Scott Franz

SCOTT FRANZ

Best School Teacher, grades 9 to 12: Eric Nilsson

Energetic Educator: Eric Nilsson in his science lab.

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COMMUNITY

COURTESY

The title of best community volunteer in the Boat is shared, because, well, they’re both too selfless to take it all for themselves.

Shannon Lukens received just as many votes for her work with the After Prom program for Steamboat Springs High School students as did Maggie Smith for her work with the Routt County Humane Society.

Smith has been working with the humane society since 1999, when she moved to Steamboat.

“Who can resist helping animals?” she says.

Now, Smith is a co-president of the society. And her love of animals extends to her art — she’s an artist at Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat — with the portraits she does of pets.

Although her typical medium is printmaking, Smith paints oil

JOHN F. RUSSELL

Best Volunteers: Shannon Lukens and Maggie Smith

Selfless Steamboaters: Volunteers of the Year Shannon Lukens (with son Penn), left, and Maggie Smith.

portraits of people’s best friends and longtime companions.

“The humane society is a great organization to volunteer for, and you get to work with a great group of people — and with animals,” she says.

In addition to her many other volunteer commitments across Steamboat, Lukens is a cochairwoman of After Prom, a program organized to give students something to do after the big dance.

“It’s a huge event,” Lukens says.

“I feel it is the most worthwhile thing for which I volunteer.”

It keeps the students safe and out of trouble, she adds, and it helps that it’s loads of fun.

There are games, a dodgeball tournament, prizes and plenty of things to keep everyone occupied till the doors close at 5:30 a.m.

Lukens says the community has supported the program with donations and volunteers (donations can be delivered to the high school at 45 East Maple St. marked “Attn: After Prom”).

After this year’s party on May 18, Lukens will take a break from organizing the event until her next child is old enough to take part.

But she says she loves doing it.

“It just makes a huge impact,” she says.

— Michael Schrantz

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COMMUNITY

Best Artist

Best Philanthropist

1. Susan Schiesser 2. Gregory Block

3. Michelle Ideus

1. Sara and Michael Craig-Scheckman 2. Susan and Jim Larson 3. Verne Lundquist

Best DJ 1. Brian Alpart, DJ Also Starring 2. Kip Stream 3. Melissa Baker, DJ MelRae

Best Guitar Player 1. Randy Kelly/Steve Boynton 2. Jon Gibbs 3. Jay Roemer

Best Local Drummer

Best Place to Work, more than 20 employees 1. SmartWool

2. Yampa Valley Medical Center 3. Steamboat Springs School District

Best Place to Work, less than 20 employees

1. Eric Barry - Worried Men

2. Mark Walker - Loose Change 3. Pat Waters - Missed the Boat

1. Debbie Aragon, State Farm Insurance

2. Alpine Bank

3. Moose Mountain Trading Co.

Best Volunteer 1. Maggie Smith/Shannon Lukens 2. Catherine Carson/Debbie Curd 3. Alice Klauzer/Andy Kennedy

Best Free Summer Concert

Best Steamboat Springs Transit Bus Driver

1. Trampled by Turtles 2. Michael Franti & Spearhead 3. The Beatles Tribute 1964

Best Ski or Snowboard Patroller 1. Kyle Lawton

2. John “Pink” Floyd 3. Craig MacDonald

Best Ski Instructor 1. Nancy Gray 2. Trish O’Connell 3. Chip Shevlin

1. George Morris 2. Cheryl Talbot 3. Gary Campbell

Best Coach 1. John Aragon, tennis

2. Brent Tollar, high school hockey/ Neill Redfern, lacrosse 3. Chris Adams, middle school, youth baseball

Best School Teacher, grades K to 8 1. Grady Turner 2. Tracy Bye 3. Laura LeBrun

Best Radio Station

Best Snowboard Instructor

Best School Teacher, grades 9 to 12

1. 105.5 KFMU 2. 96.9 KBCR 3. 94.1 KEZZ

1. Abigail Slingsby 2. Tom Barr (“T-Barr”)

3. Dylan Davidson/Scott Anfang

1. Eric Nilsson 2. Larry Gravelle 3. Cindy Gay

STEAMBOAT EMERGENCY ASSOCIATES, the award winning nurses, techs and the emergency department team at Yampa Valley Medical Center are committed to providing

THE BEST

medical care

for this community and for Northwest Colorado.

From all of us, our sincere best wishes to our good friend Mona

Thank you, BEST of Steamboat Spring 2013 | STEAMBOAT LIVING

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We can fit your needs, BEST! •Budget •Brand •Size •Design •Taste •And Smell!

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Established in 1890 as a mercantile Montgomery’s is among the oldest, continually-operating, general stores in Colorado. We have what you need!

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The Carpet Shoppe

Quality, Value & Service Since 1969

Mon-Fri: 9:30 - 5:00 Evenings and Weekends by Appointment

879-0103 2680 Jacob Circle www.steamboatcarpet.com Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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LIVES ARE AT STAKE.

More than 240 people are killed and 4,000 are seriously injured in alcohol-related crashes each year in Colorado.

CHOOSE A DESIGNATED DRIVER.

Don’t put yourself and others at risk. Plan ahead and designate a sober driver before you go out.

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122 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

sChooLs

What the Kids Think W

ant to really know where to take your children to lunch or what artist to download on their iPods to brighten their days? Want to know what hot lunch might be enticing enough to get you out of laboring over a cold lunch the night before?

The answers are before you in the results of our first Best of the Boat school survey.

When we decided to open up this year’s survey to students at Strawberry Park Middle School, we weren’t quite sure what to

expect. Would they actually have a favorite bus driver or class? Did they even care?

Turns out, they did. With help from Principal Tim Bishop, we devised a strategy to take the pulse of our area middleschoolers: Print flyers with 14 categories for them to vote on, hand them out during two lunch break sessions, and then watch the results roll in.

Categories ranged from the conventional (Best Teacher, Best Coach, Best Bus Driver) to the not-so-regular (Best Musical Group, Best Video Game, Best Hang Out), all designed to shed light on what today’s younger generation feels about school

and Steamboat. While we expected a handful of scribbles and misspellings, what we weren’t prepared for was the deluge of responses — between all three grades, more than 165 kids filled out the forms. While this might largely be due to the carrot of five $25 Chamber Bucks gift certificates awarded to responders, it also shows that just like adults, area adolescents are plenty opinionated about school and Steamboat.

Cliff Notes of the survey include Ciao Gelato saying arrivederci to the rest of the crowd as Best Lunch Spot (garnering four times the next nearest vote) and Best Restaurant; One Direction

blowing doors off Taylor Swift as Best Musical Group; Art nudging out Math by 20 votes to win Best Class; pizza besting pasta by 10 votes for Best Hot Lunch; coach Chris Adams receiving eight times the tallies as the runner-up in Best Coach; and, in the closest category, teachers Tracy Bye and Susanmarie Oddo virtually neck and neck, with Bye edging Oddo by a one-vote nose.

As could be predicted, there also were a few more humorous write-in answers, which we highlighted below each applicable category.

So while the teenage mind is hard to gauge, behold a glimpse into the enigma.

Best of the Boat Special School Section Results!

Best Class

Best Ski Run

Best Musical Group

1. art 2. math 3. PE

1. Why Not 2. See Me 3. Tomahawk

Best Hot Lunch

Best Lunch Spot

1. One Direction 2. Taylor Swift 3. Justin Bieber Quirky responses: not One Direction

1. pizza 2. pasta 3. hamburgers Quirky responses: cookie dough, ice cream

1. Ciao Gelato 2. Freshies 3. Tie: Subway/cafeteria/Johnny B. Goods/Backcountry Delicatessen Quirky responses: my house, on the grass, table

Best Bus Driver 1. Steve Schibline (bus No. 6) 2. Larry Monger (bus No. 9) 3. Bethany Aurin (bus No. 24) Quirky responses: not mine, my mom

Best Local Restaurant 1. Ciao Gelato 2. The Tap House Sports Grill 3. Mambo Italiano Quirky responses: Fuzzywigs

Best Coach

Best Local Hangout

1. Chris Adams 2. Wendy Hall 3. Tie: Jacob Girty/Todd Wilson

1. Bud Werner Memorial Library 2. Lyon Drug Store 3. River and mountain Quirky responses: Walmart

Best Teacher 1. Tracy Bye 2. Susanmarie Oddo 3. Jeff Ruff

Best Video Game 1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 2. Mario Kart 3. Minecraft

Favorite Sport in Which to Participate 1. skiing 2. soccer 3. Tie: basketball/volleyball

Favorite School Sporting Event to Attend 1. football 2. basketball 3. volleyball

Favorite Thing to Do on a Friday Night 1. hang out with friends 2. movie/TV/pizza 3. have a sleepover

Other Friday Night Favorites Want to know what else kids these days like to do come Friday night? While responses ranged from bike riding and visiting the Boys & Girls Club to reading books, bowling and watching basketball, following are a few other activities receiving top votes: 4. Ski Howelsen: We’d expect nothing less from kids growing up in Ski Town USA; 5. Sleep: Well, duh...; 6.

Party: We’ll just pretend that it’s all harmless confetti-tossing.

Other fill-ins receiving votes include going to the school dance, which tied playing video games; ice skating/going to Rock on Ice; and going to open gym (with a sleepover afterward).

And, of course, there were a few responses that stuck out for their originality, including “Get down with the ladies;” “Chillax;” “Hang with my bestie;” “Stay up all night;” and “Do what I want.”

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

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Road Trip

Touring, With Benefits Heli-bumping at North Cascade Heli

A

s the yurt in Washington’s North Cascades comes into view, pilot Scott Murray banks the French-made A-Star B-3 helicopter — the only craft to land on the summit of Mount Everest — into a turn and lightly touches down. We’re only on the ground for a second to unload gear before it takes off again. A minute or two later, he drops us off on a peak 1,500 feet above our accommodations for the next four days. Welcome to North Cascades Heli and the new trend of heli-assisted backcountry touring.

While many backcountry aficionados traipse to Canada for weeklong heli-accessed hut skiing trips, those come with limitations. They’re hard to

get to and the trips run a solid week, spelling a big hall pass with added travel time. And the helicopters are used for hut transportation only, not for dropoffs on adjacent peaks.

North Cascade Heli, which operates in a 300,000-acre permit area in Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness Area, is pioneering a new way of earning your turns by combining heli-skiing with hiking. Accessible by driving from either Seattle or Spokane, its yurt trips are packaged into just four days, meaning only five days away from obligations back home. It’s the only company of its kind offering heli-accessed hut trips in the Lower 48.

Although the company’s bread

124 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

and butter is traditional daytrip heli-skiing, it also uses its chopper to shuttle backcountry skiers into the wilderness and offer an occasional lift ride as well. Clients can skin all day in remote terrain and then get flown back out at the end of the day. For an extra fee, tourers also can get a “heli-bump” for more turns.

Consider it touring with benefits. We’re getting four days of it at their private yurt at 6,200 feet in the Cascades.

“It’s definitely a growing part of the business,” says co-owner Paul Butler. “The touring community is realizing that it’s a great way to access otherwise unreachable terrain.”

To make it all work, Butler juggles bird time between his traditional heli-skiers bagging 3,500-foot runs off Silver Star Peak and backcountry and yurt trip skiers from his quaint, log lodge in Washington’s Methow Valley. About 75 percent of his business is traditional heli-skiing, he says, with 10 percent coming from heliassisted backcountry day-trips and 15 percent yurtbased. All this is managed by nine guides who split time between the operations. “It combines the best of both worlds,” Butler says. “Our backyard is an immense chunk of wilderness, and helicopters get you into its best terrain.”

There’s no need to convince us of the system’s merits. Flanked by

Road Trip majestic crags, we rip fresh turns off the peak’s backside before skinning back up to the ridge.

From there, legs still fresh from our heli-assist, we skin up another ridge before laying tracks in near darkness back down to the yurt.

Although similar trips in Canada offer guide-less options, here they’re required because of a permit with the national park.

Fortunately, our guides are worth their weight in Honey Stinger bars, taking us straight to the choicest lines.

Ward wears his feelings about the area on his Gore-tex sleeve.

“The Cascades have consistently good snow combined with

Y

NORTH CASCADE HELI

Jeff Ward, 39, has worked as a ski guide in Europe, Canada and Alaska, and guides on nearby Mt. Rainier. Brad Sawtell is a former avalanche forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and climbing ranger in Yosemite and Olympic national parks.

With a 300,000-acre permit area, North Cascade heli has plenty of terrain to lay tracks.

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Road Trip dramatic terrain,” he says. “Those are the two factors you look for.”

This year’s “consistently good snow” can be seen in the carved steps leading down to the yurt’s front door. Taking my skis off and sticking them upright in the snow, I grab my pack and head in.

EUGENE BUCHANAN

Inside is pure cozyville, a series of bunks and beds along the right side, a living room with two couches and a coffee table near the fireplace in the center, and a kitchen area and dining table on the far side. While the eight of us grab berths, the guides take their gear downstairs to a basement room.

elevator Going Up: The shuttle rig that takes you to both peak tops and your accommodations.

Once we hang our skins and other gear to dry, we crack the beers and settle in. The coffee table is littered with ski magazines and one of our party, pro skier Bryce Phillips, is in almost every one — The Ski Journal highlights a trip of his to Europe and Powder

shows him skiing an extreme line in Haines. The fact he just returned yesterday from a trip to Switzerland and is now here reaffirms the location’s status.

So does the fact that two pro groups already have been here this season, one from Burton and another from goggle-maker Anon.

The trip is fully catered, meaning appetizers and dinner every night, breakfast burritos and French toast waiting in the morning, and a build-your-own sandwich bar for lunch on the go. Tonight it’s lasagna, salad and French bread.

Food coma taking hold, Phillips passes out on the couch early.

While we’d like to think it’s from skiing a half-day with us old guys, it’s most likely from his Switzerland jet lag. Tired from our own day — we left my friend John’s house in Fall City at 5 a.m., arriving at the lodge six hours later — we soon follow

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Road Trip suit. I take the second couch and everyone else scampers elsewhere.

In the morning Phillips has recovered and leads the charge up to runs called Champagne Brunch and Chubby before we top out on Tamarack Peak.

After taking in southern views of Ballard and Azurite peaks, we de-skin and ski down from the summit, schussing through trees straight out of the Sherwood forest. One giant larch, standing tall in the middle of an avalanche path and draped with veils of light green moss, is close to 1,000 years old.

Taking our gear off outside the yurt at the end of the day, Ward reads his altimeter. “Ten feet short of 6,000 vertical,” he says.

Two quick visits to the latrine above the yurt help me eclipse the mark.

On day three, we tour up Barron Basin, taking an exposed uptrack we’d never touch in

Colorado. While the snowpack here is known for its stability — a rarity in avalanche-prone Colorado — this year it’s even more bombproof than usual, allowing us to ski chutes and couloirs the guides only access 10 percent of the time. The yurt, says Butler, sits in the magic powder window of 6,200 feet, meaning rain rarely gets up this high. “We worry more about people’s conditioning than we do rain,” he says.

For good reason. With this type of terrain — couloirs feeding into wide-open bowls — a 6,000-foot day is par for the course, with barely even a break for lunch.

You’re lucky if you can wolf down half a sandwich while putting your skins back on.

On one ridge, all eight of us fan out, each selecting our own couloir. Our last run ends about 1,000 feet below the hut, the snow’s gloppiness the only thing from keeping us from

descending farther. We don our skins and head back up to beers and enchiladas.

If You Go

On our final day, the snow markedly lighter from another three inches falling overnight, we head back up the ridge above the yurt to a series of cornices and couloirs. Phillips and I take one on the far right, and he lets me go first. McConkeying my poles above my head with a crisp clank, I drop in, adopting Phillips’ new-school style in long, sweeping turns. He follows, straightlining them into dollar signs.

• Start with your left foot when going down the steep stairs to the bathroom.

It’s an appropriate symbol.

Our next run is called Money Shot, and it’s the most aesthetic line yet. One by one, hoots and hollers echo off the surrounding peaks as we drop 3,000 feet in one consistent pitch all the way to the valley floor far below, our tracks in full view of the next party already flying in.

— Eugene Buchanan

• Stop by Hank’s Market in Twisp for beer and lastminute provisions (like fresh Mazama apples). Bonus: the best taxidermy display you’ll find anywhere.

• Plan an extra day to skate ski. The Methow Valley is home to more than 200 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails, the most extensive system in the country.

• Heli-assisted day trips cost $375 per person per drop, with additional heli-bumps costing another $85 per person. Four-day guided yurts trips cost $900, including all meals and a peak drop-off as part of the program.

• Info: 1-800-494-4354; www.heli-ski.com

P o o l s | F i t n e s s C e n t e r | Wat e r s l i d e s • Fitness Center

• Rock Climbing Wall

• Child Care

• Exercise Classes

• Kiddie Pool (summer)

• Suit, Towel Rentals

• Waterslides

• Massage

• Pro Shop

• 25-Yard Lap Pool

• Tennis Courts (summer)

• Hot Mineral Pools

• Snack Bar (summer, winter)

Open Daily - call for hours

136 lincoln avenue - downtown • 970-879-1828 • www.oldtownhotsprings.org

Spring 2013 | Steamboat living

| 127

Five Minutes With

Corey Kopischke

Wave Sport founder Chan Zwanzig

128 | Steamboat living | Spring 2013

C

han Zwanzig’s “WS” earring says it all; although the founder of Wave Sport kayaks is 64, the lifelong fun-hog and 40-year Steamboat resident still is all about life’s bling. While Steamboat is known for its snow sports, Zwanzig put it on the map for another sport relying on precipitation and gravity. Selling his kayak company in 1998, he’s far from living the typical life of a retiree, kayaking when not skiing, snowboarding or motorcycling near his home in Blacktail.

— Eugene Buchanan A college friend was skiing out here so I came in 1972 from New York’s Oneonta State College to ski. I brought my two motorcycles with me: a BMW cruiser and a ’57 BSA that I turned into a dirt bike.

I laid water and sewer pipe by hand for two years, then started driving heavy equipment.

Running a 300-foot crane is like fly-fishing with a really, really long rod.

The town trapped me. Back then, you could do anything you wanted and no one would stop you. We used to flat track race dirt bikes at the rodeo arena every Friday night.

Back then, people were paddling in windbreakers and wool sweaters. It was a bunch

of adrenaline junkies who had a high tolerance for discomfort.

in town, Cross Mountain Gorge or Gore Canyon on the Colorado.

I started Wave Sport in 1987.

I wanted something different. I paddled Nepal’s Dudh Kosi off Everest with some Brits, and we talked about improving the Perception Dancer. We called our first boat the Lazer and imported it to the States. Then I built a mold and an oven and started making them myself. Eventually our factory in Oak Creek grew to 9,000 square feet.

Steamboat has a very pervasive culture of fun-hogs. It’s a year ahead of most other communities when it comes to pursuing new forms of outdoor recreation. If something new and fun comes along, it happens here first.

The sport went off from 1994 to 1999. It was the freeride culture coming to paddlesports.

Steamboat always has had hot paddlers. The paddling season lasts from March until Thanksgiving whether you’re on the Yampa

Steamboat was a great place to test new products. We’d give new boats to high school kids, and they’d put them through their paces downtown.

Downtown is developing a mountain beach culture that has spun off from kayaking. It’s great to see people hanging out by the river. It’s no different than California. But the city could do a better job at providing access to the river

and opening it up to the bike path like they have in Salida. The Yampa is truly a great resource.

I used to kayak about 80 days a year. Now it’s not as much; in the winter I’d rather be skiing and riding powder. Whenever I do something more than three days a week, it starts to feel like a job.

And I don’t really need a job.

My life has always been about how much fun I can have. When I started paddling, it was 100 percent about adrenaline and scaring myself. That’s what I thought fun was. Then adrenaline became a bad thing because as your skill set improved, you were only scared when your life was in danger.

Now I’m at the point where fun transcends adrenaline.

— Chan Zwanzig

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