Steamboat Ski Area's 50th anniversary season to come to a snowy close
Local forecaster Mike Weissbluth anticipates as much as a foot of fresh powder by Sunday morning, the final day of lift-serviced skiing at Steamboat Ski Area.
Steamboat Ski Area goes big for 50-year celebration
Calorie counters were best to stay away from the base of Steamboat Ski Area on Saturday afternoon as a forklift delivered a birthday cake weighing nearly 700 pounds. It was part of the daylong festivities in Gondola Square to commemorate the resort's 50th anniversary.
Full day of activities on tap for resort's golden anniversary celebration
The Steamboat Ski Area's 50th anniversary celebration culminates Saturday with festivities in Gondola Square.
Lights, fireworks, music highlight Steamboat's 50th birthday this weekend
It was Jan. 12, 1963, when the Storm Mountain Express double chairlift opened for business. The ski area made $13.75 that day, and the temperature was 25 degrees below zero.
Tractors 1st were used to groom slopes in Steamboat
Steamboat Ski Area has groomed its slopes from the early days, but the original machinery used to get the job done bore little resemblance to the sleek Bombardier snowcats used today.
How a herd of cows helped save Steamboat Ski Area
Steamboat always has made a legitimate claim to being a cowboy ski town. What few people recall is that cows came to the rescue in the early 1960s when operators of the fledgling ski area were hard pressed to make payroll.
Having a blast on the mountain
Marti Irish and crew spent summers at the ski area going through pounds of explosives
From the very beginning, Marti Irish and David Crisler had a little extra kaboom in their relationship. Crisler was in charge of the blasting crew on Mount Werner in 1979, when Irish, itching to ditch her desk job, signed on to the original Beaver Crew of seven women who spent their summers clearing the ski trails of brush.
The A-frame: Steamboat Ski Area’s 1st base lodge
Steamboat Ski Area’s original base lodge was an example of classic 1960s and early 1970s ski area architecture: the A-frame.
The dreamer behind Steamboat Ski Area
How Jim Temple envisioned, planned what now is the Steamboat Ski Area
Even before he broke ground on the first trails for Steamboat Ski Area in July 1958, Jim Temple had enlisted the help of some of the best skiers in the valley to explore the terrain high up Storm Peak to determine the best routes down the mountain.
T Barr remembers: Greatest powder day of skier’s life lasted just 1 run
In many ways, the first 50 years of Steamboat Ski Area can be distilled to a collection of memorable days spent skiing deep powder. Glorious days spent carving up perfectly packed snow in the sunshine are uplifting, but aren’t the days that find a permanent place in the frontal cortex of our brains the really big powder days?
Photo turns into an iconic image for Steamboat
Forty-one years have passed since a pair of Steamboat ski instructors who knew how to handle a quarterhorse as well as they could ski the moguls posed for a photograph that endures as the definitive symbol of this cowboy ski town.
Steamboat Ski Area celebrates its golden anniversary
Steamboat Ski Area will begin a celebration of its 50th anniversary this week, and one easily could trace that history by devoting a book to the parade of landmarks like new trails, new chairlifts, changes of ownership and even new snowmaking guns.
Test your knowledge about Steamboat Ski Area
Here's a series of questions about Steamboat and find the answers at the bottom.
Steamboat celebrates 50th anniversary with special beer, cocktail
A specially designed cocktail, called the Golden Antler, features Barenjager Honey Bourbon, peach schnapps, orange juice and ginger ale.
Timeline
Scroll down to explore important dates for the ski area, photos, stories and the memories submitted by readers like you. If you'd like to submit your memories or photos, email share@SteamboatToday.com or use this form
Trivia
Hover over "Answer" with your cursor to see if you're right.
Name the three restaurants that made up the Golden Triangle.
Answer: The Tugboat Grill & Pub, Mattie Silk’s, Dos Amigos
Why did Jean Claude Killy come to Steamboat Springs in 1984?
Answer: Killy came to dedicate Rolex
What was the trail Rudi’s Run known as before it was named after Rudi Schnackenberg?
Name one or two of the chairlifts at Steamboat that was taken down and no longer exists.
How did Steamboat’s famed tree skiing area get its name? Hint: It doesn’t have anything to do with a clergyman.
Who was Ragnar’s Restaurant named after?
Answer: Ragnar Omtvedt, Norwegian ski jumper
Who was Ted’s Ridge named after?
Answer: Former snowcat operator Ted Cordova
Name the sculptor who created the bronze bust of Buddy Werner at the top of Storm Peak. Name another bronze sculpture he is well-known for in Steamboat.
Answer: Jack Finney; Billy Kidd outside Bear River Bar & Grill
At which Winter Olympics and in which event did Billy Kidd win his silver medal?
Answer: 1964, Innsbruck, Austria; slalom
Who is Nelson’s run named for and what is he best known for?
Answer: Nelson Carmichael; bronze-medal mogul skiing in Albertville 1992
Name the female country western performer who was known to give impromptu performances at The Tugboat Grill & Pub during the week of the Cowboy Downhill.
