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"Once you visit the valley your heart will be forever
captivated, and be compelled to return again and again."
Does this sound like a curse to you?
Local legend
says this very curse will be cast upon you after your first visit
to the Yampa Valley where Steamboat Springs resides.
After a picturesque drive over
Rabbit
Ears Pass, we get our first glimpse of Steamboat's dazzling wide open
spaces.
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Unlike some ski towns, where the
mountains and the town are cozied up to each other, Steamboat feels
expansive and endless as an assortment of rolling hills thread their way
over the terrain at the base of the ski mountains.
The Rabbit Ears are a famous symbol of
Steamboat Springs
Famous for it's generous
supply of champagne powder - fluffy, light snow -
Steamboat
Springs was supposedly named when French trappers mistakenly
assumed the "chugging" sound of a gushing
underground spring came from a steamboat.
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Long before
becoming a world-class ski resort, Steamboat's mineral springs, mild
climate and lavish hunting and fishing attracted the Northern Utes
as early as the 1300s. Eventually, fur trading, followed by gold
mining gave way to ranching and coal mining when white settlers arrived
around 1875, but it wasn't until the mid 1900's that skiing was
introduced as a recreational sport.
Today, Steamboat, officially known as
Ski
Town USA, boasts of having produced more winter sport Olympians
than any other town in the United States. Spread out over
five mountains with daring names like Storm Peak and Thunderhead Peak,
the terrain is famous it's variety and wide-open slopes.
In spite of its
fame, the residents take pride in their ranch-town roots, with a modest,
no-frills community. It's a ski town fit for kings and families
alike, and the down to earth values are an attractive welcoming mat. |
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Although
downtown has a genuine feeling of the old cowboy town, there's plenty of
upscale shopping, art galleries and great restaurants. Community is key and each year, around the
beginning of February, the town gathers for Carnival.
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film festival, street competitions, chariot races and a grand finale on Howelton Mountain (the city-owned ski slope) where the Lighted Man and
various ski groups present spectacular events, accentuated with
fireworks on skis and a sensational fireworks show lasting nearly an
hour. |
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Bridgestone Winter
Driving School
Every winter beginning
mid December, the Bridgestone Driving School opens it's one mile,
ten-turn ice and snow covered track with true-to-life winter obstacles,
for anybody who wants to learn how to drive safely on winter
roads! Based
on the belief that panic may be the biggest challenge for winter
drivers, students get in real cars, slip and slide away, go as fast or
as slow as they want! No simulated events here - it's the
real thing. Get Over It! As
they say at Bridgestone, "Get the Thrills & Chills without the
Spills."
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| Summer and winter, there's always plenty
to do in Steamboat, and lots of room to do it. Hiking, fishing,
rafting in the summer, and in the winter, well, skiing, of course, but
dog sledding, hot air ballooning, snowmobiling, snowshoeing,
fly-fishing, cross country skiing, tubing, and on and on. |
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| It's not a bad place to be
cursed. |
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More
about Steamboat |
| It's time to go
exploring. Let's go find that Hot Springs! |
GO! |
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Colorado Ski Country?
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