Wild sight in small American town, Steamboat Springs, shocks Aussie
You certainly wouldn’t see this wild American tradition in Australia and that is the best part.
Shooting fireworks while skiing down a steep mountain in the dark. Ski jumping through a hoop lit on fire. Being dragged behind a horse down the middle of the street while riding a shovel.
This is how the residents of Steamboat Springs in Colorado, US have been getting through winter for 112 years.
It is certainly something you wouldn’t see in Australia and that is the best part.
Damian Court, a Sydney man now living in Los Angeles, was one of those daring people holding on to a shovel with all his might, cape and kangaroo flag flapping in the wind, as he was dragged behind a galloping horse this February.
“There’s nothing quite like this in Australia, the Steamboat Winter Carnival,” he told news.com.au.
“We’ve been coming for 14 years and I’ve been trying to get into the shovel race for years now.”
Mr Court, who is president of the Americas for Australia-based company Breville, was only chosen as a participant the morning of the race.
After building up some courage, he had the very important task of buying himself a shovel.
A local sports store then got it race ready with some polish, wax and sand paper.
But what technique does a shovel rider need to bring to the competition?
“I did speak to the past winner and he did say it was about style, so that was the extra shot of Fireball,” Mr Court laughed.
“You just got to lean back, right back and then once you’re up to speed, then you put your arm up and let it rip.
“The guy riding the horse said ‘do you want to win?’ and I said ‘well you better bloody give it a crack because I’m never doing it again.’”
With a time of 7.2 seconds, Mr Court won the day’s shovel race and came second overall for the 2025 competition.
It may be 13,280km away but Australians are actually the biggest international market for Steamboat Ski Resort, the town’s main tourism drawcard.
Tourists head there to lap up the “champagne powder” (the snow averages only six per cent water content), the option of wide groomed runs or tree-skiing, learning at an impressive beginner area, or whipping out tricks at the terrain park and superpipe. There is even night skiing and ice skating.
But a huge appeal is that Steamboat is not just a ski resort and it is not only a tourist town, it is a real community.
A community that gathers in the freezing cold every year to watch local kids ski down the famous Howelsen Hill in the dark with flares and LED lights.
A community who will get up the next morning to line the main street and cheer on more children on skis (as young as six) be pulled behind a horse to see how fast they can navigate a course or how far they can jump.
And a community that will stick around to support groups of teens and adults of all ages dress up in bizarre costumes and race on a pair of 25-foot-long (7.6m) giant skis.
The dedication to snow sports is not just for a laugh, Steamboat has produced more winter Olympians than any other town in the US.
One of those local Olympians is Ray Heid, 87, who news.com.au met while on a horseback ride at his ranch, Del’s Triangle 3 Ranch.
The 280-acre (113.3ha) property was bought in 1962 by his younger brother Delbert, who died in 1985.
Mr Heid said the thing that makes him happiest is knowing that the beautiful area has been put in a conservation easement, stopping subdivision and additional buildings, meaning it “is going to be this way forever”.
The fourth-generation local legend began skiing at age three in Steamboat Springs and still does to this day.
Mr Heid told news.com.au every year since 1952 he has rode a horse 3.5 hours up a nearby mountain, put climbing skins on his skis to climb another two hours up, just to ski five minutes back down to his horse and finish with a 3.5 hour ride back home.
Despite having a recent back injury, he still plans to set out on the annual journey on May 1.
Travelling to Steamboat Springs
The reality is the destination is not close for us Australians, but fortunately, there is a nearby airport (Yampa Valley Regional Airport). That means you can fly into Los Angeles and only get one more flight to Steamboat.
However, it is worth considering a stop in Colorado’s capital city Denver to adjust to the climate, time zone and altitude. It is then a three-hour drive or one hour flight to Steamboat Springs from there.
Denver is nicknamed the “Mile-High City” and sits 1609 metres above sea level. The base elevation of Steamboat Ski Resort is 2103 metres with a summit at 3224 metres. (They even sell canned oxygen in the supermarket for altitude sickness, but the best advice is to drink lots of water!).
Steamboat Ski Resort is part of the Ikon Pass, which gives access to a network of ski resorts worldwide, including Thredbo and Mt Buller in Australia, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt in New Zealand, and Niseko United and Arai Mountain Resort in Japan.
Ikon Pass holders get free night skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort, an experience which otherwise requires a specific night lift ticket. Complimentary “First Tracks” lift tickets (getting you on the Wild Blue Gondola at 8am before it officially opens to the public at 9am) are available on certain days.
The 2025/26 Ikon Pass will go on sale in March at www.ikonpass.com.
What to do if you are travelling via Denver
Denver is home to the NBA’s Nuggets so if the timing is right, you could catch game, or if museums are more your thing, there are plenty of those.
news.com.au visited the Denver Art Museum where you can get up close to works by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, or learn about the history of the region through the Indigenous Arts of North America collection (it includes ancient Puebloan and Mississippian ceramics and 19th-century beaded garments and carved masks) and western American art collection (with works that date back to the early 1800s).
Just around the corner from the museum is Leven Deli Co. Queues out the door at lunchtime prove it is a local favourite for huge sandwiches and bakery goods (“Big Ass Cookies” and “Yuge Brownie” can be found listed on the menu).
The city is proud of its foodie and bar scene, which also includes Michelin Guide recommended restaurant Safta.
However, perhaps most important is making sure you have a nice place to rest your head after a long journey from Australia (this writer stayed at The Ramble Hotel and loved it!).
This writer was a guest of Steamboat Ski Resort and Visit Denver
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