It’s getting close to that time again when the mountain air in Steamboat is filled with the sound of music. Mark your calendars and join us at the ski area base for Saturday afternoon’s Bud Light Rocks the Boat Music Series. As always it’s an eclectic line up, so ditch the boots and put on your dancing feet, for a little apres ski boogie. Concerts are free and bands start playing at 3.30 p.m.

Feburary 14 – No BS! Brass Band: Prepare to dance your feet off with this Virginia based group. Hugely original the music mixes elements of James Brown, John Coltrane, Michael Jackson and Led Zepplin.

March 7 – The Groovetrotters: It’s all about the funk, from Reggae and Blues to Rock and Jazz. What started as plain old family fun jam sessions, morphed into major live performances.

March 14 – Nahko and Medicine for the People: Compared to Bob Marley by the Huffington Post, Nahko plays hip-hop, folk and jazz music inspired by tribal and cultural influences derived from his own childhood.

March 21 – 6 Million Dollar Band: Step back to the 80’s with an eclectic rendition of time honored favorites delivered by five key boards, drum and bass, blazing guitar solos, and four part vocal harmonies.

March 28 – The Wheeland Brothers: Two Southern California boys bring their “beach rock reggae” to the mountains. Making waves on radio stations nationwide, they have received commercial syncs with Forever 21 and Hollister Co.

April 4 – The Motet: Denver based the Motet blends American funk, afrobeat and jazz. Known for their high energy performances, the band has released seven studio albums.

April 12 -Steel Pulse: Spreading a message of love and justice to all people, this British reggae band plays their grammy award-winning music all over the world. Prepare the end ski season with style. 

This question had to earn the last spot on our twelve days until Christmas countdown. Believe it or not, it the most frequently asked silliest question every winter. The answer is of course, we put them in a gigantic storage unit outside town.  Seriously? NO of course not, but it’s asked year in year out!

Merry Christmas to all our wonderful readers, may your holidays be blessed with champagne powder and fable filled après ski.

Over decades the answer has stumped many gondola riders. If you ask General Manager Ben Franco he will tell you “walls here talk, come for drink and you might walk away knowing the answer”. Not to burst their bubble we’ve decided to share our best guess. To find out for sure stop in for happy hour and let us know if we’re on the right track. While it seems logical heat tape is the obvious answer, upon closer inspection there is still a layer of snow making that theory impossible. We believe it is done by a very nimble employee who manually creates the sign without leaving tracks?

During construction of a chairlift (below thunderhead on skiers right), a tower in the area got away from workers and fell. To get equipment into the vicinity to repair the damage, the ski area had to get approval from the forest service to create another run. Due to the unplanned nature of the run’s existence, it was named “Oops”.

Ski area president at the time Hans Geier had been looking at competitor resorts and noticed upscale restaurant options appearing at the likes of Aspen and Vail. He was told a deck at Thunderhead was leaking which would need to be fixed. As he stood looking out admiring the view, he thought it might be possible to “kill two birds with one stone”. The deck was enclosed and reopened as Hazie’s Fine Dining.

Strawberry Park Hot Springs has a clothing optional policy after dark. Located outside town alongside Hot Springs Creek, these spectacular natural pools are a must stop for soothing aching limbs. The facility has been modernized in recent years offering restrooms, a tipi and heated cabin for changing (clothing is mandatory in daylight). Massage is also available at the springs.

The answer to this question is actually a century old, so if you’d like to amend the timeframe try it for yourself and let us know. In the early 1900’s it took 2 weeks to ski from Steamboat to Denver. Pioneers would break their cabin fever by making the journey in order to collect mail, lying undelivered when the train stopped running during winter.

The Lighted Man – the most anticipated performance in the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Carnival. Claudius Banks the original lighted man started the tradition in 1936 after persuading the Club to let him ski with 100 pounds of battery operated lights and roman candles. A tinkerer by nature with a passion for pyrotechnics his gear evolved over time becoming more and more elaborate. After his last appearance in 1978 he handed the torch to son Jon who continues in his father’s footsteps.

Ranchers use their fence wires to measure snowfall. By late January or February of a typical winter the third wire is covered standing usually at 48 inches high. On March 2, 1929 30 inches of snow fell onto 27 inches already on the ground in a 24 hour period, making it the record.

Built to combat prohibition in the late 1890’s a small community was developed on the other side of the river known as Brooklyn. The first saloon opened in 1898 and was joined rapidly by 4 more. While the most famous known as The Capitol banned women, the area became known quickly as “the red light district”. In 1914 state liquor laws changed and Steamboat residents set about cleaning the area up, ending the future of Brooklyn’s saloons.