Celebrate Steamboat Spring’s Western Charm With Its Winter Carnival

Photo Rory Clow, Courtesy Steamboat Springs Chamber

A combination cowboy-forward ranching community and (trademarked) Ski Town, U.S.A., Steamboat Springs is beloved for its quirky Western charm as much as its storied winter sports history as home to 100 Olympians. Perhaps the hallmark of that mix is the 111-year-old Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival.

It was Nordic ski-jumper turned Barnum and Bailey “Flying Norseman,” Carl Howelsen, lured by the champagne powder, who helped orchestrate the first carnival in 1914, taking it bigger the next year on a steep slope in lower Elk Park—dubbed Howelsen Hill. These days, some 150 truckloads of snow prep the Lincoln Avenue main street for horse-powered fun, including a parade, skijoring and a race with adults riding shovels pulled by galloping horses (pictured). Howelsen Hill events range from snow-bike racing and slalom ballet to a night of skiers flying through fiery hoops and the famed Lighted Man carving turns as fireworks shoot from his backpack.