George Wren skied with a relay team from Morrison Creek into the Rock Creek area, to bring the mail back to Steamboat Springs. That was in the 1880s, when skiing was necessary during the winter months. Conversely, his grandnephew, Gordy Wren, made worldwide Olympic history in 1948 by becoming the first athlete to qualify in four events – cross country, downhill, jumping and slalom, placing fifth in jumping. The history of skiing is abundant in Steamboat Springs. But for most of the town’s citizens, it’s a way of life.
The high country of the Yampa Valley was ideal ranchland, yet winters were harsh and isolated. Permanent settlers were few until James H. Crawford brought his family to the area of the ancient spring waters in the spring of 1875, where they occupied an abandoned log cabin near Sulphur Springs. Crawford believed so much in the area that he laid out a town site.
Buddy Werner, Steamboat Springs champion skier. Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Collection.
During the winter, cross-country skiing was a Sunday family and social affair. Families, including the toddlers, skied to the stone quarry of Emerald Mountain, enjoyed a picnic lunch, played in the powder snow, and skied back to their homes by late afternoon. Strawberry Park was another winter play ground, where parents brought their children there to play, ski and sled amidst the deep snow of the park. Soon, others had ideas and visions of a future for Steamboat Springs and its glorious snow.
It all started with a young man who earned medals and prestige in a new winter sport emerging in Europe. Norwegian Carl Howelsen, who immigrated to America in 1904, grew up with skiing as a necessity, long before it became a sport. In the late 19th century skiing as a sport had become quite popular in the Arctic areas of Europe. By the time Howelsen came to America, he had emerged as one of Europe’s most accomplished skiers, winning the gold medal at Holmenkollen, as well as the cross-country competition, the Nordic Combination, and the Crown Prince Silver Cup.
On the other hand, only a handful of American communities held any interest in the sport. Within two years of Howelsen’s arrival, he had changed that thinking and Americans began to take notice. Howelsen’s American debut occurred at Hot Sulphur Springs, the site of one of America’s first ski competitions in 1911, where Howelsen took first place in the first ski jump competition in Colorado.
In 1913, Howelsen arrived in Steamboat Springs and things really took off. He could always be found in nearby Strawberry Park, where the “Wild Swede,” as he came to be called, performed the craziest ski stunts folks in the area had ever seen. All the kids hung around to watch, and soon Howelsen was teaching them tips and tricks that made skiing fun. Howelsen taught the youngsters how to slick or wax their skis, often using soap. He taught them exercises to strengthen the legs, and especially their knees, and he taught them how to jump. By winter, Howelsen had not only prepared Strawberry Park by building a platform against a hill, but he had the kids and their parents, as well as most of the citizens excited about Steamboat’s first “winter carnival.” People were stunned when Howelsen led off the mountainside, slid off the platform with his skis strapped to his feet, and with gaining speed, hurled himself into the air and sailed over 100 feet before landing and skiing to a stop! No one had ever heard of such a thing, much less witness the event! Thus, ski jumping became a sport in America and changed Steamboat Springs forever.
Carl Howelsen takes off from the Howelsen Hill ski jumps in this undated photo from the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum.
Folks in Steamboat are a pretty close-knit group, so when thoughts of ski competitions world wide took hold, the town banded together. The result was the complete backing of Howelsen and his ideas for winter sports competition. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club was formed, while Howelsen built a bigger and better ski jump on a hill across the Yampa River, just west of town. In 1914, the North American ski jump record was set at 192 feet, on the mountain forever known as Howelsen Hill.
Since that historic jump on Howelsen Hill, history and legends have been made at Steamboat. Gordon Wren, the grandnephew of the pioneer mail carrier on skis, George Wren, won international fame after his historic four event Olympic showing in 1948. Records have been made and broken in Steamboat, from Alpine, to downhill, to jumping, since 1919. In 1950, a new record of 300 feet was set at Howelsen’s ski jump, as Steamboat’s own Gordon Wren again soared through the air. Only moments later the record was broken by a mere 7 feet. The Steamboat audience was thrilled.
It was about this time that Wren, along with Al Wegeman and Marvin Crawford, brought the sport of skiing into the Steamboat Springs school system and set up instructional facilities on Storm Mountain south of town. Within 10 years, more than 70 skiers from Steamboat Springs alone went on to participate in the Junior and National Olympic events. One of the most successful at this time, was Wallace “Buddy” Werner, a native of Steamboat, who started skiing at the age of two. He competed in the 1956 Olympics in Italy and became America’s favorite skier. When he died in a Switzerland avalanche in 1964, at the age of 28, Steamboat residents honored their home-grown hero by renaming their famous ski mountain from Storm Mountain to Mount Werner.
Steamboat Springs has been turning out quality athletes ever since Howelsen’s first jump, including Billy Kidd, who won a silver medal in 1964. Six American jumping records have been set at Steamboat, with more to follow. Steamboat made history again in this new century, when Clint Jones became the youngest American Ski Champion in the history of the sport when he took first place in the 120k jumping competition in 2000 in his hometown of Steamboat Springs. He went on to become the youngest member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic team at age 17 at the events in Salt Lake City. More Steamboat kids have followed, all competing either nationally or at the Olympic level, including Caroline Lalive, Johnny Spillane, Brendon Doran, Tommy Schwall and the current Olympic champion, Todd Lodwick.
And so it goes…a new ski season, a new group of athletes and the splendor of champions from historic Steamboat Springs.
