Home

Steamboat Springs — From the Thursday, Jan. 9, 1958 edition of The Steamboat Pilot:

C.A. "Bud" Hurd, Steamboat's veteran fish and game expert, said Monday that elk in this area are in excellent physical condition and that this has been one of the easiest winters on them in many years.

"Indications are that elk herds in Routt forest are the greatest since 1888," Hurd said. In that year, he explained, large numbers of the animals migrated into the red desert of Wyoming and never returned.

He also explained that the elk population seems to run on a cycle. According to the earliest known game observations in this area, made by Farnum, the animals were scarce in 1835. They gradually increased to their 1888 peak, dropped off sharply, and are now thriving again.

"It isn't at all unusual to see 50 to 100 of them in an afternoon drive up the Elk River now," he said.

Fish and game employees have been kept busy keeping the huge animals out of unfenced hay, Hurd said, adding that most of the ranchers have been very good about building the recommended fences.

Polio clinics to be held twice more this month

The annual polio clinics arranged by the Farmers Union will be held two days this month. The first will be from 7 to 8 p.m. Jan. 15 and from 3 to 4 p.m. Jan. 17 at the REA auditorium. This will be the third and final clinic.

Dillon Rich now preparing props for ski night show

One of Steamboat's most spectacular events - the Ski Carnival night show - is just about a month away, and Dillon Rich, show chairman, began this week to prepare the myriad fireworks which will flare from Howelsen Hill on Feb. 8.

Cladius Banks, the "Lighted Man" from Vernal, Utah, will be back to thrill spectators as he skis down the hill, lighted from head to toe and carrying 15 pounds of equipment. Tiny lights on his poles and skis make the two runs even more impressive.

Another highlight of the show will be the crowning of the Carnival Queen. Steamboat's outstanding female skier - whose name will not be revealed until Feb. 1 - and her attendants, all carrying 36-inch sparklers in each hand, will start the ceremony with a snake dance halfway down the hill.

Steamboat's top young skiers will make the crowd gasp with their daring jump through a burning hoop. Even the youngest skiers will participate in a junior snake dance as they zigzag halfway down the hill carrying red flares.

Coach Crosby Perry-Smith soon will begin drilling his skiers for the various intricate maneuvers perhaps performed nowhere else in this country. To open the show, about 30 skiers will form a huge, red-lighted "S" on the side of the hill.

Irrigation water to be piped through siphon

Despite cave-ins and below zero weather, four ranchers were to lay a 145-foot irrigation pipe four feet beneath the Yampa River bed this week.

When crop growing time arrives, the pipe will carry water from one side of the river, about six miles south of Steamboat, into the fields on the other. No pumps will be needed, for the pipe is built like a siphon and the force of gravity will make the water flow.

The crew started Nov. 20 by first digging a channel around the river and building an upper dam of gravel and rocks. The detoured river, 300 feet long and 20 feet wide, was then made to flow around the site for the pipe.

The pipe, 30 inches in diameter, will carry about 14 cubic feet of water per second. It is replacing the over-the-river pipe which was damaged by high water last spring.

Pilot opinion: That ski business

For those who think the ski business is just a racket for the bonesetters, we point to a survey just made by the Colorado Bureau of Business Research. It shows that skiing is a $5 million a year annual industry. The 1956-57 season showed state residents invested $2,088,600 in lodging, food, transportation, lift tickets, recreation and miscellaneous items in ski areas. In addition, out-of-staters spent $1,915,300 for the same services. More than $1 million was spent for ski equipment and clothing during the season.

It is an industry that will continue to grow, and Steamboat Springs with its ideal ski terrain, large amounts of snow and ski enthusiasm will continue to gain from this industry, which is yet in its infancy.

Some day, and we hope it is not too far away, the dream of Jim Temple for development of the vast Storm Mountain area will become a reality and Steamboat Springs will be one of the top ranking ski areas of the world.