On our dining room wall we have a print of a painting. The view is looking up Steamboat’s main street straight at Mt. Werner’s ski slopes. In the foreground the street is covered with snow and a crowd of people stand in front of FM Light, Allens, Chief Theater watching as a horse pulls a child on skiis up and over a small jump. Do you know what this is a picture of? A horse, rider and skier participating in the Donkey Jump, one of the several street events that goes on during Steamboat Springs’ Winter Carnival.
On our living room wall we have a photo of our own son, caught in mid-air as he too participated in the Donkey Jump years ago. And I’m sure ours is not the only home in Steamboat to have such a picture on their wall or at least in their treasured collections, because the Winter Carnival with its crazy mix of street events, parade, Night Extravaganza and activities at downtown Howelsen Hill and the big ski resort mountain Mt. Werner is a cherished part of the local’s life here.
Our son is grown now, flying off much bigger jumps now in Europe as a ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete. With the age limit set at 14 years old, it’s been four years since he last did any of the street events. And my husband, retired from the Ski Patrol, no longer joins the other patrollers in their crazy ski jump through a literal fiery hoop during the Night Show Extravaganza.
We’ve outgrown the Soda Pop Slalom and the Parent/Child downhill. but we’ll never outgrow the Winter Carnival as spectators. And as we stood outside of our downtown office with spiked hot cocoa in hand to watch the Night Show Extravaganza last Saturday night, we learned that we weren’t alone – that many tourists and second home owners make sure to visit every year during the carnival, to watch the Lighted Man descend the steep face of Howelsen with fireworks shooting off his back.
I took two short clips of the Street Events and the Parade, finding the crowd with their dogs and babies to be an equally entertaining part of the events and the Parade.
If you’ve missed the Carnival and want a peek view, go to The Shack, my favorite long-time breakfast spot on Lincoln Avenue between 7th and 8th, and look up above the plate-glass windows that look out onto the street. there in all its glory is a large vrsion of the painting I have hanging on my dining room wall. And there at The Shack I believe you can still buy a copy of that painting for yourself.