At Home, Summer 2010

Getting in shape Manic style The many hues of

GREEN BUILDING

SUMMER 2010

Moose making a comeback Look through the lens of local photographer Don Tudor

PLUS! HOW TO

Whip up Lil’ House biscuits

One Smart Cookie SmartWool president among our favorite Locals

INSIDE: LOCALS

a collection of our favorite personalities | PAGE 31

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2 | At Home | Summer 2010

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Summer 2010 | At Home

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BEFORE 6 | At Home | Summer 2010

Summer 2010 | At Home

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Contents

Features 10 Catch moose fever

Departments 20 Cooking with

Lil’ House’s executive chef shares the recipe for their buttery biscuits

26 Road Trip

Make the most of a whirlwind trip to New Zealand’s capital

Local photographer Don Tudor takes us up close through his photos

22 Green building

The many hues of

North Routt County residents doing their part to protect Mother Earth

31 PLUS! Inside:

A celebrAtion of our fAvorite

Fighter ace Paul Thayer made his mark on skiing in Steamboat

2010 |

LocaLs | 31

Yampatika’s Adult Field Schools take place each week, visiting a different location. They offer the opportunity to safely explore the backcountry with a knowledgeable local guide.

•

• • • •

Escape to cooler country with a Mountain Wildflower Hike!

Trek in the Flattops with a llama Scavenge for Wild Mushrooms, then eat them!

Visit Paleo-Indian sites Get to know our area’s historic Forest Service Guard Stations

Interested in staying closer to home?

Try one of our FREE weekly walks to learn about The Mineral Springs, our Watershed or Yampatika’s Environmental Learning Center at Legacy Ranch.

Visit our web site for program descriptions & dates.

Or call 970-871-9151 • www.yampatika.org

8 | At Home | Summer 2010

Look through the Lens of LocaL photographer Don tuDor

One Smart Cookie SmartWool president among our favorite Locals a collection of our favorite personalities | PAGE 31

On the cover: SmartWool president Mark Satkiewicz keeps in Ironman Triathlon shape by working out at Old Town Hot Springs.

Read about him on Page 58 of Locals.

Photo by Matt Stensland

At Home photographers capture spring in the Yampa Valley

78 Ross Remembers

Moose making a comeback

Whip up Lil’ House biscuits

INSIDE: LOCALS

Manic Training owner Graham Muir gives readers two quick workouts

SUMMER 2010

PLUS! HOW TO

personAlities | 2010

73 Final Frames

GREEN BUILDING

LocaLs

66 Staying Fit

Getting in shape Manic style

From the Editor

Amazing Steamboat

I met David Taylor recently in his basement apartment on Cherry Drive. I’ve actually known David for many years — he was a Steamboat Pilot & Today employee when I first started here — but our early June meeting was the first time I really got to know David Taylor.

And I was fascinated.

At some point in the middle of our informal interview, it struck me that Taylor embodies something remarkably commonplace in Steamboat Springs — amazing individuals accomplishing amazing things. Taylor was, without a doubt, an accomplished graphic designer at the Pilot & Today and Steamboat Design Associates. Every year at the Colorado Press Association’s annual awards banquet, Taylor would end up with a haul of design awards unmatched by anyone else in the room.

But his true passion was fabrics, and at the urging of a friend, he took on his first quilt project in 1999. Less than seven years later, Taylor won the Fairfield

Master Award for Contemporary Quilting from the International Quilt Association.

He’s now a full-time quilting teacher and lecturer, recruited by groups across the globe to come speak at their workshops and meetings.

Taylor couldn’t be happier. And why should he be? He lives in Steamboat Springs and gets paid to do what he loves.

Steamboat Springs and Routt County are full of stories like Taylor’s. Indeed, it’s what makes our annual Locals section such a hit with readers. This year, we’ve moved Locals from a standalone publication and made it the centerpiece of our summer issue of At Home magazine. It’s one feature of this edition that I know you’ll love.

Speaking of locals, 40-year Steamboat resident Don Tudor has spent a career taking stunning photographs of Western landscapes and wildlife. Through all his travels, few subjects have captivated him more than northern Colorado’s growing moose population.

After writing a piece about Alaska’s grizzly bears for the last edition of At Home, Tudor’s words and photos return in this issue with a feature-length article about everyone’s favorite member of the deer family.

The local moose population has become so prevalent in and around Steamboat Springs that hardly a week goes by without several readers submitting their own moose photos to the Pilot & Today.

Having spent several weekends camping in Colorado State Forest State Park near Gould, I’m one of many locals guilty of moose fascination. Gould and North Park are considered the “Moose watching capital” of Colorado, and for good reason.

As Tudor explains, it was there that the Colorado Division of Wildlife began its moose reintroduction program in the late 1970s.

Last year, the DOW relocated moose to the Flat Tops, meaning chances are good that we’ll continue to experience the majesty of moose sightings here in Routt County for decades to come.

Heck, they might be around long enough to be featured in an upcoming edition of Locals.

— Brent Boyer

Mail your comments, criticisms or ideas to: At Home in Steamboat Springs, Attn: Brent Boyer, P.O. Box 774827, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477. You can also e-mail bboyer@steamboatpilot.com.

Suzanne Schlicht Publisher Scott Stanford Director of Sales and Marketing Brent Boyer Editor Meg Boyer Creative Services Manager, design Steve Balgenorth Circulation Manager Photographers John F. Russell, Joel Reichenberger, Tom Ross Writers Zach Fridell, Luke Graham, Mike Lawrence, Blythe Terrell, Joel Reichenberger, Tom Ross, Matt Stensland, Jack Weinstein Advertising Design and Production Suzanne Becker, Meghan Hine, Justin Hirsch, Fran Reinier, Gayle Yovis Advertising Sales Kerry Crimmins, Karen Gilchrist, Deb Proper, Emma Simmins, Blake Stansbery Designer Nicole Miller Copy Editing Christopher Woytko

At Home in Steamboat Springs is published three times a year, in November, March and July by the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

At Home magazines are free.

For advertising information, call Scott Stanford at 970-871-4202.

To get a copy mailed to your home, call Steve Balgenorth at 970-871-4232.

E-mail letters to the editor to bboyer@steamboatpilot.com or call Brent Boyer at 970-871-4221

Summer 2010 | At Home

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10

Mounting a comeback Want to see a moose? You don’t have to go far.

Story and photos by Don Tudor

T I M E L E S S M E N ’ S A P PA R E L HOWELSEN PLACE 7TH AND LINCOLN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO (970) 871-1137 WWW. ZIRKELTRADING.COM

12 | At Home | Summer 2010

S

uddenly, I caught movement directly to my left. It was a cow moose — hopefully a barren cow — and she was no more than five paces away. My wife, Cully Kistler, and I had been searching hard for moose the past few days in the Medicine Bow and Never Summer mountains east of Steamboat Springs, looking for a special encounter and hopefully the opportunity to capture a special image on film or on canvas.

Somehow, I had not heard the cow coming through the thick lodgepole pines, maybe because I was focused on the large bull laying in the meadow grass among the willows just a few yards off the timber. I’m sure it was the same bull we caught a glimpse of the previous morning at daybreak. He was browsing with a cow and a smaller bull at that time but apparently not in the mood to pose for photographs.

Because moose commonly feed in the same general area as long as they have an adequate food supply, we planned to return to the meadow at the end of the day and see whether we could get lucky. It was late in the

afternoon, and the large bull was there. I worked through the willows trying to position myself for a quality shot, but as it goes all too often with wildlife photography, the light went flat and then faded into twilight before I had the chance. Luckily, it wouldn’t be my last chance to photograph the bull. And as Northwest Colorado’s moose population continues to expand, more and more residents and visitors are getting their own photo opportunities with these magnificent creatures.

Return of the moose

I have lived in Colorado all of my life, but the first moose I saw here was in 1969 when I went to the Routt County Courthouse in Steamboat Springs to get license plates for my car.

The 3-year-old bull was on a wall plaque mounted above the stairs as you entered the building. Apparently, it was shot

by George Kemry in 1941 near the top of Mount Werner long before the ski area was developed. According to the inscription on the plaque, the moose was killed in self-defense after it charged Kemry and his elk hunting partner.

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Moose rarely charge, and I remember thinking 40 years ago how much I would have enjoyed seeing that moose in the wild.

Well, not long after, the Colorado Division of Wildlife must have thought the same thing.

In 1974, the DOW initiated the first serious feasibility study to reintroduce the species in our state. Although the Colorado Legislature refused to allocate state funds for the project, approval was given contingent on public donations. The first group of 12 moose were selected from the Uinta Mountains in Utah and released July 23, 1978, in the Big Bottom area of the Illinois River drainage in southern Jackson County near the town of Rand.

In 1979, another dozen moose were captured near Moran Junction in Wyoming’s Teton Range and released in the same area of Jackson County.

Today, the DOW estimates there are 550 to 600 moose in North Park, and their range is constantly expanding. Subsequent herds have been established beginning in December 1991 with the Rio Grande herd near Creede, in 2005 on the Grand Mesa east of Grand Junction, and in 2009 in the Flat Tops near Meeker. Moose now can be found roaming Colorado in nearly every river drainage on the Western Slope, including here in Steamboat Springs.

Habitat matters Moose are the largest member of the deer family, and the largest moose live in

the northern latitudes between the 60 and 65 parallels where the food supply is the most nutritious — fueled by the long hours of daylight. The largest Alaskan moose on record was killed on the Yukon River in 1897. It weighed 1,800 pounds and stood 7 feet, 8 inches tall at its shoulders.

Although Colorado Shiras moose and the Alaskan moose are the same species, they are separate ecotypes — variations generat-

ed by different environments. Because body size is directly linked to nutritional intake as well as climate, Colorado moose in the right environment may not achieve the body size of their Alaskan relatives, but they can come close. Mature bulls in Colorado can measure taller than 6 feet and can weigh more than 1,000 pounds.

There is not much physical evidence or literary mention of moose living in this

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part of North America until the past few centuries. Moose are not typically afraid of humans, so it is possible that any moose in this area were easily hunted out by the native people and early settlers.

The forefathers of the moose we know today came to North America about 10,000 years ago across the Bering land bridge.

This Eurasian moose was different than its predecessors in a very special way — it had developed an unusual nose. While most herbivores in Pleistocene Eurasia were adapting to a dwindling food supply by developing teeth better suited to grinding coarse-fibered browse, the moose was adding aquatic plants to its diet. The large bulbous nose we see on our moose today is a result of that adaptation, and it serves them well. Not only are they the only 16 | At Home | Summer 2010

member of the deer family that can swallow with their heads underwater, but they also use those sensitive noses to probe the willows for the most tender twigs and branches. Moose also are excellent swimmers and have been known to dive as deep as 18 feet for aquatic plants.

Weathering winter Although the moose that live in this part of Colorado appear to have an adequate diet during the warmer months, winter is different. Moose have, at best, a difficult time finding enough nourishment to get through the winter, when food supplies usually are insufficient to meet daily demands. This shortage is subsidized by breaking down the animal’s store of fat. Even without having to fight off predators and avoid human contact, they are

malnourished and have lost a great deal of body weight by the spring thaw. If you are fortunate enough to come upon a moose in the winter, watch it from a distance that is comfortable to the animal, and do not cause it to expend unneeded energy.

Bull moose shed their antlers sometime between early winter and late winter. The new growth begins again in spring and continues until early September. During this time, the antlers are covered with velvet, which carries the nutrients needed for antler development. The velvet dries up and peels off in a matter of days and signals the beginning of the rut. Mating season begins in September and runs into October, with newborn calves arriving in late May and early June. Cow moose are extremely protective of their calves and can be more dan-

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gerous than a mother grizzly bear.

Although moose can be found in Routt and Moffat counties, Walden is the self-proclaimed “Moose watching capital” of Colorado. Walden is the county seat for Jackson County and is in the heart of North Park. One trip to this area and it becomes obvious why the DOW chose it for the initial moose transplant in 1978. The vast streambeds thick with willows, moderate winter snowpack and sparse human population make for ideal moose habitat. No wonder it has the highest concentration of moose in Colorado. The area also borders Rocky Mountain National Park.

Moose watching

The best time of day to look for moose is early morning and late afternoon. Moose are large, powerful animals and should be given plenty of space and respect. When watching or photographing wildlife, it’s best to be patient and let them come to you. The chance of a moose attacking you for no reason is remote, but you should be very careful when around them, especially if you are hiking with a dog. If a moose lowers its head, lays down its ears and raises the hair on its back, you could be in serious trouble.

Luckily, the cow that walked five paces away from me that morning in the lodgepole pines did not show any of those signs. The big bull I wanted to capture on film was laying 50 feet away with a younger bull.

We had scouted the meadow again at daybreak but saw no sign of the moose. Returning 30 minutes later, I caught a glimpse of antler through my binoculars in the willows a quarter of a mile away. I realized that by using the lodgepole pines as cover, I could get very close to this bull without disturbing him. It was a perfect photo situation.

I had been waiting on the edge of the timber for a half an hour when the cow strolled by. After she passed, she walked slowly out of the woods and into the meadow. As she did, the two bulls got up, and as luck would have it, the clouds thinned, the light was soft, and I got my shot. I was hooked and now spend as much time as I can hanging out with moose.

Longtime Steamboat Springs resident and nature photographer Don Tudor owns Sleeping Giant Gallery in downtown Steamboat with his wife, Cully Kistler.

Visit their website at www.dontudor photography.com or call 970-879-7143.

18 | At Home | Summer 2010

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COOKING WITH

Biscuits built right Lil’ House’s Chris McKenzie perfects the comfort food

C

hris McKenzie has been a chef at a five-star French restaurant and an elite hotel, but his biggest culinary challenge may have come in the form of a biscuit.

“Sometimes the things that seem the easiest to make

are the hardest to execute perfectly,” McKenzie says.

McKenzie and his team at Lil’ House Country Biscuits and Coffee went through nearly three dozen variations of homemade biscuit recipes until they finally got it right — and just in time for the west Steamboat Springs breakfast and lunch spot’s grand opening in February.

Mae Mae’s Buttermilk Biscuits Ingredients 1 ½ C all-purpose flour 3 C cake flour 1 ½ T baking powder 1 ¼ T salt 2 T sugar 6 oz. butter, cold and chopped 12 oz. buttermilk 2 t yeast 3 oz. water, 95-100 degrees Pinch of sugar Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 2. Place yeast, sugar and water in a bowl or cup to hydrate the yeast until it foam s 3. Scald milk in saucepan until the edge s

Story by Brent Boyer ❘ Photos by John F. Russell 20 | At Home | Summer 2010

begin to bubble, then place in an ice bath to cool 4. Combine remaining dry ingredients into a mixing bowl 5. Use hands to rub chopped butter into the dry flour mixture. Continue to rub until butter is pea-sized.

6. Fold in wet ingredients using hands until just mixed. Do not over mix.

Dough should feel like supple leather when ready.

7. Spread into greased baking dish, and score dough into 3-inch squares 8. Proof for 45 minutes or until dough doubles in size 9. Bake at 400 degrees F until golden brown (about 25 minutes)

So why was it so hard to perfect a seemingly straightforward baked good?

For starters, altitude always wreaks havoc with baking recipes. As any Routt County baker knows, it takes patience and practice to find the right balance of dry ingredients, liquid ingredients and leaveners like baking powder and yeast.

Biscuits intended to be the buns for breakfast and lunch sandwiches pose the added challenge of needing to be flaky and airy enough for “good mouth feel,” as McKenzie puts it, while also having enough structure to hold together a sandwich.

So McKenzie combines all-purpose flour to provide the structure, and cake flour to make the biscuits soft. Live yeast creates a strong air-cell structure within McKenzie’s biscuits — the difference between a fluffy, light product and a dense one. Plus, “yeast gives you that homemade country taste,” he says.

When making biscuits, the preparation methods are as important as the proper mix of ingredients. For example, McKenzie rubs cold cubes of butter into the flour mixture, which creates flavorful pockets of butter within the finished product.

Next, scalding the buttermilk kills the enzyme that would in turn kill the yeast.

And finally, McKenzie reminds home cooks to not over handle the dough.

“The secret to a flaky biscuit is to handle it as little as possible,” he warns.

Lil’ House keeps its biscuits square, which means less labor in the kitchen and no waste. Like owner Rex Brice’s three other Steamboat Springs restaurants, Lil’

House is gold-certified through the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association’s Sustainable Business Program.

The popular eatery also makes all its own sauces, soups, gravies, jellies and dressings. Even the chorizo sausage is made special for Lil’ House by Sweetwood Cattle Co. just a few miles north on Routt County Road 129.

That commitment to quality and freshness is what helped lure McKenzie to accept the position as general manager and executive chef at Big House Burgers and the adjacent Lil’ House. Brice owns and operates both restaurants, as well as Mazzola’s Majestic Italian Diner and Rex’s American Grill & Bar. But McKenzie’s biggest move came years earlier, when he left his job at a venture capital firm in Dallas after realizing he needed to be part of something positive. Culinary arts was a logical choice.

“I just thought about all that positive energy that comes from food,” McKenzie says.

Now, the Indiana-born and Texasraised chef finds satisfaction in the challenge of surpassing diners’ expectations of foods they already know well — like hamburgers or biscuit sandwiches.

“Everyone has an idea of what the perfect hamburger tastes like,” he says, “and it’s hard to meet that.”

If his dedication to uncovering the perfect biscuit recipe is any indication, McKenzie should have little problem wowing west Steamboat diners.

The Lovejoy/Ensner home features a post and beam skeleton with exterior walls of straw bales that are finished with North Routt clay.

The many hues of

GREENbuilding

W

hen it comes to sustainable homes in North Routt County, it turns out there are several shades of green.

For Stephanie and Jim Finegan, of Willow Creek Pass, the goal was to wrap their new home in the best-insulated shell possible.

Leslie Lovejoy and her husband, Mark Ensner, of Columbine, emphasized the avoidance of toxic substances — in floor coverings and adhesives, for example.

“We were tired of living in a toxic environment and wanted to avoid off-gassing from chemicals like formaldehyde,” Lovejoy said.

Steamboat Springs is known for its wintry climate, but 25 miles north of the city on Routt County Road 129, residents in the Steamboat Lake area know a different climate. The snowbanks were just beginning to disappear from the north side of homes there June 4.

The Finegan home, set well back from the county road in a stand of aspens, offers

views of Dome Peak and the Mount Zirkel Wilderness from its east-facing deck. The elevation there is 8,000 feet, compared with Steamboat’s 6,700.

The Lovejoy/Ensner home, above 8,000 feet and also facing east, is even closer to Wyoming. It has views of Hahn’s Peak.

Angela Ashby, a Realtor with Prudential Steamboat Realty and chairwoman of the Routt County Sustainability Council, is excited to see two more rural Steamboat homes that reflect an outstanding commitment to sustainability.

“It’s very cool that people like Stephanie and Jim, and Leslie and Mark are doing this without being told they have to,” Ashby said.

She is working through the Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors to establish a standardized nomenclature that soon will be incorporated into the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service so that Realtors and

Story and photos by Tom Ross 22 | At Home | Summer 2010

homebuyers will be able to quickly see a reliable guide to the sustainable qualities of homes for sale throughout the valley.

Reflecting personalities

Although the owners of the two homes in North Routt approached their building projects from different points of view, they share several sustainable qualities, including the use of locally harvested beetle-killed pine. Both sets of homeowners will take advantage of the availability of seemingly unlimited dry wood in their neighborhood by incorporating woodburning stoves.

Both homes also have very appealing aesthetics. Jim Finegan, whose skills include sheet metal work, installed custom stainless steel panels behind the wood stove. And he added a stamped tin ceiling in the main-

level office.

Stephanie Finegan is proud of the door-less master closet that admits natural light via a wall cutout near the ceiling that functions like an un-glazed clerestory window.

Like her husband, she is employed in a construction-related job — she works remotely on publications for Boston-based Building Science Corp.

Ensner was the force behind a large foyer and mudroom that does double duty as a ski-tuning bench in winter and a workbench in summer. He runs his own painting contracting business, Picante Painting. Lovejoy got the loft-level art studio she coveted.

The couple practices Buddhism, and the floor plan of the home is driven by a loosely spiraling staircase in the center of the rectangular walls that inspires feelings of well-being among visitors without their really understanding why.

Equally important to using building materials that support human health, Lovejoy said, was employing local professionals in the construction of their house.

Paths to sustainability

The two homes also reflect some significant differences in the materials used in the building envelopes.

The Lovejoy/Ensner home employs straw bale construction, overseen by general contractor John Randolph, of John Randolph Construction, who has developed a specialty in the technique after building his own home. The straw bale walls are plastered with local clay dirt.

Lovejoy said the straw exterior walls (interior walls are framed with dimensional lumber) give them an insulation factor of R-50.

She leaned heavily on the expertise of Jan Cohen and the good nature of volunteer workers in the plastering process.

Lovejoy likes to joke that it turned her and her husband into “sustainable winos.”

“It took a lot of bottles of wine to finish the house, and we’re still married,” she said with a grin.

Peak Construction framed the Finegan home in the traditional way under the supervision of general contractor Bradley Bartels. However, the work of building an exceptionally tight house began before the first 2-by-6 was in place.

The floor plan in the straw bale home of Leslie Lovejoy and Mark Ensner at Columbine was designed around a loosely spiraling staircase in the center of the main level.

Summer 2010 | At Home

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Jim Finegan is a heating contractor and brought his own knowledge of building systems to the project. He insisted on insulating both sides of the foundation, including underneath the slab.

“That was driven as much by comfort as it was by efficiency,” he said. “Many people spend $20,000 on kitchen cabinets in their home, but we spent $10,000 on cabinets and $20,000 on insulation.”

Keeping it tight

The Finegans required that before the framers bolted the first lumber sill plate to the top of the foundation, they run a continuous bead of caulking beneath it. They also introduced the dry-wallers to a new construction technique, insisting that they run caulk on the framing studs before placing the drywall.

However, before they ever installed the drywall, they called in Chad Feagler, of Mountain Energy Consultants, to do a blower door test to determine how much leakage they had.

Only by doing that, Feagler said, can a home-building team and the owners make economi-

cal adjustments.

“Otherwise, you can apply a Band-Aid, but you won’t be able to really fix the problem,” he said.

The Finegan home, with R-45 walls and an R-75 ceiling, has less than half the unwanted air exchange of a typical home, according to Feagler’s testing. Not surprisingly, Finegan installed a highly efficient boiler in the lower level of the home. The concrete slab has in-floor heat, which substantially augments the heating for the home.

The interior trim in the Finegan home is beetle-killed pine milled in North Routt, and the exterior soffits beneath the roof overhangs are made of beetlekill from Utah.

The Finegans’ wood floor is Australian cypress. One might think hardwood flooring that was shipped across the Pacific Ocean doesn’t pass the green test. But Jim Finegan counters that forests can be managed sustainability and that his new floor is more durable than, say, local pine and thus does not need to be replaced as frequently. Similarly, he says the steel roof will outlast other roofing materials.

Jim and Stephanie Finegan are completing a well-insulated home built from durable materials and overlooking the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area from Willow Creek Pass in North Routt County.

879-7614 1625 Mid Valley Drive, #3 (behind Staples) www.hotstuffhearth.com

24 | At Home | Summer 2010

Randolph said the Lovejoy/Ensner straw bale home essentially is built with post and beam construction — the skeleton is composed of 8-inch-by-8-inch Douglas fir posts harvested in Utah and finished by a structural engineer.

The straw bales were imported from the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado, but he is engaged in conversation with the Community Agricultural Alliance of Routt County about baling more straw for use in future homes. Lovejoy’s building materials included kitchen cabinets salvaged from someone else’s remodel and spruced up with attractive new drawer pulls and cabinet knobs.

The sustainable materials in her home include a Paperstone kitchen countertop, a carpenter area in the loft with nontoxic pad and wool carpet, a ground-level concrete floor with in-floor heat and tinted with water-based Soycrete and Trex decking.

The landscaping is all indigenous xeriscape.

Lovejoy and Ensner decided they could do without an energyconsuming dishwasher.

The architect for the Lovejoy/ Ensner home was Todd Young, of Steamboat Springs. The Finegans

relied on Steve Baczek, of Reading, Mass., a registered architect who specializes in green building.

Pro turns to other pros Jim Finegan said even though he has many years of experience in heating systems, it was important to him to involve professionals like Feagler and Bartels.

“Brad was involved from the word ‘go,’” he said. “The architect was on board, too. This is the most difficult job I’ve ever done, but the most rewarding, too.”

Bartels said he learned a good deal from his clients.

“Building a high-performance home requires a genuine team effort, from the architect to the trim carpenter,” Bartels said. “Everyone must be open-minded and willing to learn. Gone are the days of, ‘I’ve been doing it like this for 25 years, and it works fine.’”

Ashby said assembling the design and build team from the beginning is a plus for any construction project but particularly important for sustainable homes.

“Everyone should be at the table in the beginning,” she said.

“You’ll save money in the long run if it helps you avoid change orders.”

Summer 2010 | At Home

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26 | At Home | Summer 2010

Road Trip

Six days in Wellington Cruising New Zealand’s capital

By Blythe Terrell

During my whirlwind

trip to New Zealand, I took in all the capital city had to offer — and it didn’t include bungee jumping or skydiving.

27

Road Trip

A ride on the Wellington Cable Car takes passengers to a beautiful overlook of the city. That spot also offers access to the lush Wellington Botanic Garden. Photo: Morgen Terrell

N

ew Zealand is about more than skydiving and bungee jumping, despite what you might have heard.

This is particularly clear when you spend a week or so in the capital city as mid-autumn edges toward late autumn. I booked my trip to Wellington having done little research, I admit, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

My sister Morgen and I headed to Wellington in mid-May. Our round-trip tickets from L.A. to Wellington, bought on Qantas Airlines through an e-mail deal from Travel Zoo, came out to $942.71 in U.S. dollars.

Wellington is on the southern tip of the North Island. It has the hilliness and damp feel of San Francisco during the rainy fall season. The city also is incredibly lush, vibrant, friendly and beautiful.

For accommodations, Morgen and I went the hostel route. We stayed at a homey, affordable place called Worldwide Backpackers on a street called The Terrace. Free breakfast and a kitchen were part of the appeal. Although older, well-heeled travelers sometimes shy away from hostels, this one has some two-person rooms with a queen bed — perfect for two travelers on a budget who don’t mind communal bathrooms.

Book several weeks in advance.

We found that we could walk anywhere in the city from the hostel, and walk we

28 | At Home | Summer 2010

did. The first day took us to the Cuba Mall, a shopping and dining area a few blocks away. We had drinks more than once at J.J. Murphy & Co. on the mall, and we ate at a tasty Indian spot called Tulsi.

Sightseeing Please don’t go to Wellington and skip Te Papa Tongarewa. It’s unlikely you’ll do so, since the friendly kiwis of the city will recommend the free national museum at any opportunity.

Te Papa is on the waterfront and focuses its collections on art, history, Pacific, Maori and the natural environment. The most talked about highlight while we were there was the giant squid, which we somehow missed seeing. We did watch a pretty incredible 3-D movie about it, however.

In a museum sort of mood, we ambled down the waterfront back toward the city center, coming upon the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, which provides an intimate look at the development of the city and its history. If you plan to take a ferry across the Cook Strait, as we did, it might be advisable to skip the exhibit about a monstrously fatal Cook Strait ferry wreck.

On the top floor, my sister and I found a striking movie about Maori legends. Not being an expert on how holograms work,

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What to do Te Papa Tongarewa: www.tepapa.govt.nz Museum of Wellington City and Sea: www.museumofwellington.co.nz Zest food tours: www.zestfoodtours.co.nz Bluebridge ferry to Picton: www.bluebridge.co.nz Karori Sanctuary: www.sanctuary.org.nz

Embassy newzealand.usembassy.gov

I have no idea how they managed to create the 3-D film on a tiny stage. It’s worth seeing.

Also worth seeing is Parliament and the Beehive, the seat of government in New Zealand. The Beehive is shaped like its namesake and serves as the main office building for workers. Tours of Parliament are free. We learned a lot, and you might also.

This tugboat was a regular sight near Wellington.

On a sunny day, views were astonishing. Photo: Morgen Terrell

If it’s pretty out, buy a ticket for the Wellington Cable Car via Cable Car Lane off Lambton Quay downtown. The short ride isn’t interesting, but you pop out high on a hillside, where views of the city are staggering. Take a walk through the free Wellington Botanic Garden back down to the city.

We were heartbroken that rain kept us away from Zealandia: The Karori Sanctuary Experience, which we’d heard was amazing. The spread of land near downtown provides glimpses of native wildlife, including kiwi birds. It’s not to be missed,

we were told, but I’m afraid we missed it anyway.

Eating and drinking In Morgen’s research — she planned most of our activities — she encountered a company called Zest food tours. Morgen is a dietitian, and we both enjoy culinary adventures. She booked a “capital taste” tour for $159 per person.

Our delightful guide was a Danish woman who “fell in love with a kiwi boy”

years ago and loves Wellington. She started us off with a coffee.

Wellingtonians, we were pleased to learn, care a great deal for their coffee. My sister is a professionally trained barista, and I’m a professionally trained caffeine addict.

We ran into culture confusion when the baristas had never heard of “black” or “drip” coffee. We ordered a lot of “flat whites,” which is pretty much a latte, which you can also order. A “long black” will get you what we call an Americano. The Zest organizers thought to provide us a list of coffee terminology. Genius.

The Zest tour took us to Mojo Coffee, a company that roasts its beans in a warehouse on the waterfront and has franchises all across town. We tried New Zealand honey at an art gallery; feijoas, golden kiwis, jams and cheese at a great market called Moore Wilson; and affogato — ice cream coated in espresso — at a great restaurant called Floriditas.

A highlight of the tour was Ciocco, where we sampled chocolate and tried to guess its flavor. The dozens of options including rose, lime chili and sea salt made our heads spin in chocolate-y joy.

Perhaps the best part of the tour was that we wound up with coupons. The tastiest meal of the trip was the three-course, fixed-price lunch at Logan Brown, a top restaurant in town. We probably wouldn’t have gone without the 25 percent off coupon, and Morgen and I were thrilled with our experience.

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| 29

Road Trip

The view of Picton on the South Island from the Bluebridge ferry was something to behold. Photo: Morgen Terrell

Picton Most of the people we met in Wellington asked whether we’d travel to the South Island. It was on our agenda, but only as a onenight stay in the coastal town of Picton.

The Bluebridge ferry took us across Cook Strait and docked at our destination. If the weather’s nice, the trip provides gorgeous scenery. The weather was cloudy for our journey, but we had the opportunity to see beautiful New Zealand images all the same: The in-cruise movie was the first installment of “Lord of the Rings.”

Once in Picton, we checked into the Atlantis Hostel. It’s cheerful and brightly colored and offers a pool (with a fee) and warm dessert at night during the offseason.

After unloading gear, we amused ourselves with a hike along the shoreline. Following the natural curve of the shore past the marina and across the bridge took us to a clearing. Signs mark the Upper and Lower Bob’s Bay Tracks, which took us on a moderate hike around part of the Queen Charlotte Sound to Bob’s Bay. Take a picnic and sit in the clearing on the seashore, watching the sailboats, ferries and other 30 | At Home | Summer 2010

seafaring traffic. We didn’t picnic, but it would have been awesome.

The hike is about an hour round trip. On a sunny fall day, it was unbeatable.

We ambled back and enjoyed a seaside happy hour at 5 Reasons, a little bar attached to the Seabreeze Café at London Quay and High Street. Our friends at the Wellington hostel had suggested an Irish pub, and we stopped by Seumus’s for a drink and to check out the menu. We had a cocktail and then ate instead at The Flying Haggis, a Scottish pub on High Street.

The bartender there was an amiable fellow who called himself A.B. and said his son lived in Aspen. We enjoyed fish and chips, jabbering with the welcoming local crowd.

The night ended back at Seumus’s, where we had drinks and good conversation with locals, a few other tourists and the sassy bartender who hailed from Northern Ireland. Authentic? Oh, yes.

The man could pour a Guinness.

We closed out our night there, heading sleepily back on the ferry early the next morning with pleasant memories of Picton.

The next day took us barreling out of Wellington, already planning our next trip to the islands.

Aboard the ferry on the way to Picton.

Locals A celebration of our favorite personalities | 2010

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Inside LOCALS:

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A celebration of our favorite personalities

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ON THE COVER

LOCALS STAFF

Steamboat Springs art quilter David Taylor is pictured in his Steamboat apartment surrounded by the stacks of fabric from which he gets his artistic inspiration. Find David’s story on Page 42.

Photo by John F. Russell.

Suzanne Schlicht Publisher

Meg Boyer Creative Services Manager

Scott Stanford Director of Sales and Marketing

Ad Design Suzanne Becker, Meghan Hine, Justin Hirsch, Gayle Yovis

Locals is A product of

Brent Boyer Editor Steve Balgenorth Circulation Manager

Advertising Sales Kerry Crimmins Karen Gilchrist Deb Proper Blake Stansbery Emma Simmins Erich Strotbeck

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Editorial Zach Fridell Mike Lawrence Luke Graham Joel Reichenberger Tom Ross John F. Russell Matt Stensland Blythe Terrell Copy editing Nicole Miller Christopher Woytko

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Photo: John F. Russell Story: Blythe Terrell

at

home

in

the

caf é

Katie & D.J. Bessey In the six years they have owned Hahn’s Peak Café, the Bessey family has doubled in size.

Katie and D.J. Bessey run the cozy North Routt County restaurant with the help of their 3 1/2-year-old son, Sal, a beguiling, big-eyed charmer. Their daughter, Ramona, was born in April.

The restaurant keeps the family busy, and it provides a popular hangout spot for the tightknit North Routt community.

“The café I think is definitely a place where everybody feels like they can go, sort of like the old Cheers bar,” said Paul Geppert, of the band 3Wire.

Katie, a Chicago-area native, moved to Colorado in 1994. She eventually moved to Boulder, where she and Boston native D.J. met while

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working at the Bookend Café. They moved to Steamboat in 2002 and married in 2003.

Katie taught at Lowell Whiteman Primary School and then at the North Routt Community Charter School before they bought Hahn’s Peak Café. Katie bakes and bartends, and D.J. does much of the cooking.

The Besseys love being a part of the supportive North Routt world. The night they returned from the hospital with Ramona, Katie’s visiting sisters and mother found the road to their cabin blocked by a tree felled in a snowstorm.

“D.J. just jumped in the car and went to the neighbors and said, ‘Get your chain saw,’” Katie said.

“I had a truck full of neighbors with chain saws,” D.J. said with a grin.

“We’re all in this together up here,” Katie said.

At the café, the Besseys aim to provide a comfortable place where people can eat good food and musicians can perform in an intimate, fun setting.

It’s a great venue, Geppert said.

“They’re just the most gracious hosts running a bar or restaurant that we can think of,” he said. “We love playing up there because, to us, it’s like playing in our living room.”

The family lives above the café, and Sal and Ramona will grow up with plenty of love from locals. For D.J. and Katie, that’s one of the best parts.

“We are lucky to have such great neighbors and friends in this community who have put their hearts into our kids,” Katie said.

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Locals | 37

combining

two

passions

Cheryl Hardy-Moore Cheryl Hardy-Moore said that when she came to Steamboat Springs in 1982, she thought it was just a ho-hum cow town.

The Silver Spring, Md., native sang at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and raised a little mischief with worldfamous photographer Annie Leibovitz when they were middle schoolers. Cheryl moved to Denver in 1976; graduated with a law degree from the University of Denver in 1981; gave birth to her son, Zach, in August of that year; and performed with a top-level Denver chorus.

She had seen a little bit of the world.

It’s fair to say that when Cheryl came to Steamboat for a job in the District Attorney’s Office, she had no idea how much Steamboat had to show her or how much she would give back to the community in the ensuing decades.

After joining a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at the United Methodist Church in the winter of 1983-84, Cheryl helped form a singing group that would become the Mountain Madrigal Singers, now the Steamboat Chamber Singers. A former director of the Madrigals, Cheryl has had a long, loving relationship with the local singing and arts communities and with the church, where she played the pipe organ for years and still subs in occasionally.

“She’s been a real gift to the community here,” Associate Pastor Tim Selby said.

Local arts patrons likely would recognize Cheryl’s voice — a beautiful, vibrant soprano. Cheryl noted, though, that clients at the law office she’s run since 1990 often don’t realize her connection with the arts.

“Most of my clients don’t have a clue that I do this,” she said about singing.

“You know me as one, or you know me as the other.”

People also might not know that Cheryl is a two-time cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 1985 and 2006, once in each breast. Cheryl, 61, knows how fortunate she’s been and is a strong supporter of local cancer-related events. These days, she’s enjoying life with her husband of about 30 years, woodworker Bob Moore.

“We’re trying to travel more,” Cheryl said. She and Bob spent much of June in Italy. “I’m still working too hard.”

Cheryl said the caliber of the arts in Steamboat now is comparable to her experiences years ago in D.C. and Denver.

“Musically, it’s very satisfying,” she said.

“It’s just a kick to see how far it’s come.”

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Photo: John F. Russell Story: Mike Lawrence

2010 |

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a

personal

cause

David Nagel Lee Nagel is proud to claim Steamboat Springs resident David Nagel as family.

“We love him; we get to keep him,” said Lee, who is married to David’s brother Steve in Plano, Texas.

The Nagels have grown closer in recent years since Lee was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in November 2004. Doctors thought the disease would kill her, but after six months of intensive treatment and surgery, it appears that she had beaten cancer. After five years, doctors declared her cured.

“In an odd way, it’s been a blessing,” Lee said about the disease. “The journey started. We all wanted to do something and make a difference in eradicating the disease.”

The journey led to David’s involvement in numerous Lance Armstrong Foundation Livestrong fundraisers. The inaugural Swing Fore! Yellow last summer organized by the Nagel families in Plano netted $325,000.

The journey will continue this summer in Steamboat, where David has enlisted the help of 25 volunteers for the inaugural Ride4Yellow fundraiser.

The 41-year-old Steamboat lawyer hopes to raise more than $150,000 during the event, which features two mountain bike rides Aug. 8. Money raised will be split among Livestrong and local cancer causes.

“I think he decided that he had it in him to make a difference,” Lee said. “I’m so proud of him that he had the courage to put himself out there and do something that affects so many people.”

Community response to the Steamboat event has been tremendous, said David, who has a wife, Aimee, and two children.

“What’s been cool about it is it’s an easy sell,” he said, adding that the sponsorship goal of $30,000 already had been surpassed

by May. Ride4Yellow is just his latest philanthropic endeavor in Steamboat. David, who first came to Steamboat in 1990 for a one-season stint as a gondola lift operator, sits on the Yampa Valley Community Foundation board. He was one of the founders of Impact 100, which introduces young professionals to philanthropy. He is also a commissioner for the Urban Redevelopment Area Advisory Committee, which oversees public improvement projects at the base of Steamboat Ski Area.

“Having a gold-star base area that we can tout,” David said, “I think it’s really important.”

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| 2010

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2010 |

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Photo: John F. Russell Story: Brent Boyer

the

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David Taylor David Taylor always has been fascinated by fabrics, but it took a chance friendship to turn that obsession with material into a lucrative career and international fame.

In the world of art quilting, the stars don’t get much brighter than David, a Steamboat Springs resident who in 2006 won the Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Quilting from the International Quilt Association.

Never heard of art quilting?

Neither had David until he met and befriended Madeleine Vail in Florida in the 1980s. At her urging, he eventually followed Vail to Steamboat Springs. It was also Vail’s suggestion that David take up quilting.

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“Madeleine told me, ‘I just know this is what you need to be doing,’” David recalls. “I always thought quilting was just sewing little squares together.

That doesn’t appeal to me.”

They worked together on his first quilt, and David said he was “like a duck to water.”

Art quilting essentially is making pictures out of fabric. The color of the thread and pattern in which it’s stitched add texture and depth to each work.

A thoughtful look at any of David’s quilts on exhibit this summer in the Steamboat Art Museum reveals the delicate skill and touch he brings to his craft.

That skill has led to a fulltime career as a quilt teacher

and speaker. David is the first to admit that his journey has been an unlikely one. He was one of six kids raised in a Navy family, which meant he lived for stints in Rhode Island, Mississippi, Virginia, Florida and New Hampshire as a child. He eventually attended the University of South Florida to major in theater.

His love of fabric was born early, the result of a mother who sewed most of her children’s clothes. While in Florida, he picked up work in a fabric store and met Vail, who was his boss.

After moving to Steamboat in 1992, David spent 10 years as a graphic designer with the Steamboat Pilot & Today, winning dozens of awards for his

work. But when his passion and talent for quilting was realized, David knew he had to pursue it.

And when he won the Fairfield Master Award in 2006 for his quilt “Sally at the Window,” the phone calls started coming. And they haven’t stopped.

Now, the man who used to ride a road bike 25 miles a day — he’s a four-time veteran of Ride the Rockies — and ski all winter long, hardly has time for anything but teaching and speaking engagements.

“Every day, I can’t believe this is my life,” he says. “I can’t believe this is what I do.

“I’m just a goober who lives in a basement, and I make quilts because I like it.”

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the

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George Hine

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| 2010

George Hine noted on a sunny morning in late May that during the past couple of years, he’s started getting minor “sinus stuff.”

That can be a tough thing for a city arborist.

“Maybe it’s time to retire,” George joked, while checking on blooming Schubert chokecherry trees on Howelsen Parkway.

There’s little chance of an early retirement. George has been Steamboat Springs’ arborist for 16 years, the majority of his 22-year career caring for trees, and is a man who clearly loves his job. He said he’s been interested in trees since he was growing up in Hazlet, N.J., and has probably planted about 1,000 trees across Steamboat since coming here in 1992 “for the mountains.”

Chris Wilson, director of the city’s Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Department, said George brings a personal touch to the city’s forestry program, interacting well with property owners who could be forced to remove an infected tree in accordance with a city ordinance to mitigate impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

“Certainly, George is the city’s Lorax,” Wilson said, referring to the Dr. Seuss character who famously speaks for the trees. “He can understand what people’s concerns are … and that can be difficult with folks losing a tree.”

George is usually at work by 6:30 in the morning with a list of jobs for the day. He said people have been understanding about how to best curb the beetle’s spread.

“Everybody’s been really compliant,” he said. “They’ve been really cool about it.”

In addition to keeping Steamboat a “Tree City USA” — an honor it’s earned for 19 years running from the National Arbor Day Foundation — George, 43, has helped hang and maintain the city’s downtown Christmas lights for years. There was a break in 2009 to enable the city’s switch to LED lighting, but George plans to resume the job in December.

A mountain biker, skier and motorcycle rider, George also is the proud father of Liam, 4.

Wilson said it’s easy to notice the bond father and son have when George brings Liam around the office.

“He keeps me moving,” George said about his son.

So do the trees.

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Locals | 45

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Steve Hitchcock’s career has been a whirlwind tour of jobs with some of the most respected outdoor apparel companies in the world. But Denise Hitchcock has a better job title.

The self-proclaimed “domestic coordinator and engineer” and her husband have spent the better part of the past 12 years carving out successful business niches in Steamboat Springs.

Steve’s story begins in the Midwest. He grew up in Illinois and attended college in St. Paul. But it was a retail job at Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis 25 years ago that launched him on a career path. He realized a passion for retail and launched a rep agency for outdoor apparel companies, including Marmot and Patagonia.

Denise’s story begins in Southern California, where she was raised. She attended Colorado State University and later lived in Nederland.

That’s where Steve and Denise’s paths crossed. She was advertising for a roommate on a liquor store bulletin. He was looking for a room. As they say, the rest is history.

Steve eventually sold his rep agency and was hired by Marmot as vice president of sales. That led to a promotion to senior vice president and a life of air travel.

It reached a point where the Hitchcocks, then living in California, were ready for a change. Steamboat was familiar to both. Steve’s family had often visited Routt County, and Denise had visited during her stint in Colorado.

“This is where we wanted to have a life and raise our kids,” Steve said.

Steve picked up consulting work and then worked for Patagonia, becoming head of retail site selection and leasing.

The couple also started Soda Creek Pizza, which they own and operate.

Eager to get back into retail business and to fill a niche, Steve and Denise opened Zirkel Trading downtown in 2008. The store specializes in upscale men’s mountain lifestyle apparel.

They have two children — Andrew, a rising freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, and Katie, a rising senior.

Steve is an active Rotarian and has served on boards for Mainstreet Steamboat Springs and the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association. Denise has been a master gardener but now spends much of her time juggling mom and store owner duties.

Despite a history of seeking out new opportunities, the Hitchcocks seem content with their Steamboat choice.

“I’ve moved to Colorado three times in my life. I think I’m going to stay this time,” Steve said.

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Locals | 47

helping

out

Janine Pierce The several rooms that make up Brand Spanking Used along Colorado Highway 131 in Oak Creek are packed.

In one room, there are Ziploc bags of children’s toys high and low.

In another, a library that rivals the town’s is ready for purchase at a couple dollars per book.

PEZ dispensers and fishing lures mingle with jewelry at the main counter.

In the middle stands Janine Pierce, smiling and laughing easily in the middle of her creation.

Janine, the creator and owner of Brand Spanking Used, has lived in the Yampa Valley for 12 years and operated the store in the heart of Oak Creek for nine years.

Although there is a wide variety at the store — children’s clothes from 50 cents to $3, pants for $5 — there are some items missing. Those are the goods she bundles up and donates to local and international charities.

Some shoes go to children in Tanzania. Blankets and pet items go to a shelter in Yampa. Spanishlanguage books with English translations go to a school and library in Guatemala. And when the need is there, the items from the shop stay in Oak Creek.

“There’s always a tragedy in town, there are always tragedies.

We have houses that burn down or families who are really in need,” Janine said. “I have always said I open my doors and say, ‘Come, take what you need,’ and I believe that comes back tenfold.”

As a donation-based shop, Brand Spanking Used also benefits from the kindness and loyalty of the Oak Creek community, reselling items like gently used hats and pink boas.

“I think I’ve been extremely blessed. The downturn of the economy has obviously promoted — without me doing a thing — has promoted reduce, recycle, reuse,” Janine said. “I have wonderful, wonderful donators who I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for their donations.”

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Locals | 49

Irlan N eas

Former Steamboat Springs mayor Irlan Neas knows a thing or two about street construction.

In the late 1960s, he pushed through Steamboat’s first penny sales tax so the city could afford to pave a few streets besides Lincoln Avenue. At the time, all of Ski Town USA’s streets — save the main drag — were dirt and gravel.

“It was pretty dirty down here in those days,” Irlan said. “If the snow was deep at spring break-up, it was hard to get around.

The first street to be paved was Oak, followed closely by Seventh, which offered cars a paved route to the high school.

“He’s been a pioneer of this town,” said Jim Simon, of Capital Funding Advisors. “He’s been a great mentor and a great friend. He’s one of the best bankers I’ve ever been associated with.”

Irlan, 81, has been a banker for 69 years, going back to his 12th year, when he cleaned Indianhead State Bank in tiny Chetek, Wis., for his father, the bank president. When he wasn’t sweeping the floors, he filled rolls of pennies, nickels and dimes.

Although he was a child of the Great Depression, Irlan had an idyllic childhood; his family’s home was on the banks of 10-milelong Lake Chetek. The Neas’ fishing boat

Photo and Story: Tom Ross

was at the dock with its trusty little Johnson outboard, and young Irlan knew where to go to catch the walleye pike and sunfish he loved to filet.

The summer he turned 15, he worked laying tracks for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, an experience that was enough to convince him that his future was in banking.

Irlan and Jean were married in 1948, and he left her behind temporarily to answer a listing for openings for bank tellers at Routt County National Bank in Steamboat Springs.

Longtime colleague Holly Rogers said Irlan confessed to her that he never intended to stay in the Yampa Valley.

But Jean soon followed her husband and Steamboat got its hooks in the Neas family.

“I skied every weekend and at night at Howelsen Hill,” Irlan said. “I like the small-town life.”

Irlan tried to retire 20 years ago after 40 years at Routt County National/Wells Fargo (he also put in a stint at United Bank), but discovered he wasn’t good at filling spare time.

He was lured back to work at Vectra Bank and today works at Capital Funding Advisors, where he is a senior vice president.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I like working with people.”

What keeps Irlan a vital part of his company after all of these years?

“It’s the relationships he’s had with all these customers he’s helped over the years that are so important,” Simon said.

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Locals

| 2010

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watwood Read a book or play an instrument? Help herd goats or shoot some hoops? Matt Watwood, fresh off his graduation from Soroco High School, said the best part of the end of high school has been not having anything to do.

It’s definitely a unique sensation for South Routt’s do-everything teenager, who in his senior year landed the prestigious Boettcher Scholarship and will get a full ride to the University of Denver starting this fall.

It takes far less time to name the extracurricular activities Matt wasn’t involved in during his time as a Ram, and maybe one story from his senior year sums it all up rather nicely. A four-sport athlete, he broke his foot during football season but couldn’t have the screw removed as scheduled in February because he didn’t have a week to dedicate to the necessary recovery.

It finally happened in June.

He was president of the Future Business Leaders of America, vice president of the National Honor Society and head boy of the Student Council. He plays two different kinds of saxophone, guitar, harmonica and flute. He sings, played football, baseball and basketball, dabbled in 4-H and domi-

Photo and Story: Joel Reichenberger

nated in track and field.

Matt’s diverse interests ensure he’s many things to many people, but perhaps his best known skill is his magic tricks, a crowd-pleasing ploy he said he initially adopted to help meet people.

Dozens watched and cheered as he landed the longest shot put during May’s high school state championship track meet. An entire track team from a Class 5A school gathered around oohing and ahhing when he broke out a deck of cards and started performing tricks.

Now Magic Matt is enjoying a little time off,

for once. He said he plans to hike more this summer than ever and maybe do a little wakeboarding — at least when he’s not helping his neighbors brand cattle or polishing off a novel.

Then, it’s off to Denver and a post-secondary education. He plans to focus on engineering and music.

“I’m looking forward to the brand new world (college) opens,” Matt said. “I’ll be on a floor with more kids than were in my graduating class and in a building with more kids than were in my school. It’s a chance to meet a lot of new people.”

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Kayleigh esswein Rising Steamboat Springs High School senior Kayleigh Esswein was taken aback when asked the last time she was bored.

Sitting at her house in early June, on the eve of traveling to Mexico to teach English and learn more Spanish, the 17-year-old brunette’s expression turned from carefree smile to one of deep thought.

“Like, actually bored?,” Kayleigh asked.

“Like with nothing to do?”

After a few moments, she determined it must have been during this past spring break on a beach in Mexico. She wasn’t necessarily bored, but it was one of the few times she wasn’t actually doing something. All she had was a good book and the beach.

Kayleigh, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation’s Youth Philanthropist of the Year for 2009, has a schedule that would stress most successful adults, let alone teens.

“But I’m a Type A personality,” Kayleigh said. “I love to make lists in the morning and then do everything.”

There’s no doubt Kayleigh does as much as she can. She’s gone on missionary trips to Zambia, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

For her upcoming senior project, she plans

Photo: Matt Stensland Story: Luke Graham

to return to the school in Zambia that she helped build and support.

“It was the best four weeks of my life,” she said about the first trip to Zambia.

“I was thrilled every day. With the little kids, they’re so bright and lively.”

Kayleigh also is president of Rotary Interact Club at the high school, co-student body president, the presiding officer of the Honor Council and involved in the Culture Club, Link Crew, Youth Group and National Honor Society.

She also maintains a 4.0 grade-point

average.

“She’s a very outdoors, loving person,” said Sandy Evans Hall, executive vice president of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Assoc­iation. “At the heart of who Kayleigh is, is someone who really cares about other people.”

Kayleigh’s intent is to take a year and travel after high school before going to college to focus on international affairs and education.

“Because helping people isn’t really a major,” she said.

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Jim & Judy kendall Jim and Judy Kendall have seen Routt County’s population grow and shift, change and expand.

From their home near Stagecoach Reservoir — they’re not quite in South Routt and not quite in Steamboat Springs, “just Routt County,” Judy says — the Kendalls have seen their little corner of the world grow.

And few have had a better vantage point of that growth than Jim, who has seen Steamboat explode from the cab of his grooming machine, which he mans on the slopes of Mount Werner at night all winter long.

Sometimes it’s been hard, the Kendalls admit, watching concrete truck after concrete truck rumble past the 110-year-old log home where they raised their three children.

Both have deeply rooted connections to the valley. Jim’s family settled in the area in 1939 and ranched on a large swath of land

that stretched along Yellow Jacket Pass. Judy’s family, meanwhile, got its start in Routt County when her coal-mining grandfather moved to the area in the 1940s in search of a healthier climate.

She actually grew up in Fort Collins, but after more than 30 years living in the valley, she said she’s finally starting to settle in.

The couple keeps a few head of cattle to keep their ranching roots alive, and they’re active in the community. During the winter, they plow the driveways of nearby neighbors and during the summer they help a sometimes seemingly endless stream of tourists by pointing them to the lake, helping to change a tire or coming up with a gallon of gas.

They’ve seen the Yampa Valley change, they said. Sometimes it’s hurt, but they both agreed they’ve never been more at home.

“We’re almost not even locals any more,” Judy said with a laugh.

“Now we’re just old-timers.”

Photo and Story: Joel Reichenberger

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Tracie line

More than 400 babies were welcomed into the world at the Yampa Valley Medical Center last year, and Tracie Line is developing a better way to measure just how healthy they are before they are able to go home.

Coming from Dallas in 2000, Tracie was astonished at the number of newborn babies sent home with oxygen masks to help them in their first days.

Working with a professor at Brigham Young University, Tracie researched when exactly babies require additional oxygen.

She found that while there were studies at higher and lower elevations, no good statistics were available for what is typical at Steamboat Springs’ elevation.

More than a year of research showed that babies born in Steamboat typically have a lower oxygen level in their blood — about 93 to 94 percent oxygen saturation — than what is considered typical at sea level, but the babies are still healthy.

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“The implications are really important for us because we think … normal is 97 to 98 percent, which is what normal is around at sea level,” she said.

Before they are sent home, each baby’s blood oxygen level is tested with a small sensor placed on the skin.

The understanding that the oxygen level is different at higher elevations could lead to fewer babies going through unnecessary heart tests, Tracie said.

Hospital spokeswoman Christine McKelvie said the hospital likes to err on the side of extra caution and sends babies home with oxygen if there is any question.

Tracie’s research in Steamboat took measurements — with parent permission — from about 350 babies. She said that research would be presented at a conference in Las Vegas in September. Two weeks after that, Tracie will be married to her fiance and fellow hospital worker, George Detwiler.

Susan

S hoemaker Susan Shoemaker can do anything.

That’s the opinion of longtime friend and local Barb Shipley, who refers to Susan as a one-of-a-kind Renaissance woman.

Susan was known for years as the face of Rocky Mountain Airways, when it ran commercial flights out of Steamboat Springs Airport. She also loves agriculture, 4-H, photography, cooking, traveling and volunteering, Shipley said.

“She has an unbelievable love for this valley,” Shipley said. “She’s been around the world and been to every exotic, wild place you can think of, and she always circles back to Steamboat because this is her home and she loves this community.”

Susan is from Illinois and moved to Steamboat Springs in 1970 after attending school in Boulder. She had a variety of jobs — though she said she came not to be a ski bum but because of the valley’s beauty and the town’s appeal — before starting

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with Rocky Mountain Airways in 1975. She was the welcoming face people saw upon arrival at the airport, Shipley said.

Susan has vivid memories of de-icing planes, checking in passengers and sometimes driving luggage to Denver.

She stayed with the airline, which was taken over by Continental Airlines, until 1993. Susan still takes advantage of her lifetime benefits, having recently visited China, Uruguay and Chile.

“I consider it my duty to get out of town at least once a year on my passes,” she said.

She now devotes most of her time to running her 105-acre Harmony Ranch

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outside Steamboat, where she raises sheep, chickens, ducks and a few horses. Susan also is thrilled with her current volunteer gig, teaching exercise and Tai Chi for the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association’s Aging Well program.

Susan is a passionate local, neighbor and friend. She was instrumental in the land deal that resulted in public access to Emerald Mountain, friend Jim Ficke said.

Susan said she has loved staying in and growing with the valley.

“For all the places I’ve been — and people have heard me say this a thousand times — I’m always glad to come home.”

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Locals | 55

Lynne romeo Some people seek adventure by jumping out of planes or skiing down the face of a cliff, but Lynne Romeo believes adventure is found in everyday life.

“This is just another adventure,” she said about opening Ciao Gelato six months ago.

The family had pursued the idea of a gelato shop for years, and in November, she didn’t let the economy, or her own fears, keep her from jumping in with both feet. “(My son) Mirko told me that if I didn’t do this, it would be something that I would regret,” she said.

So instead of playing it cautious, the family chose to open a shop on Yampa Street just like the ones Lynne discovered while living in Italy.

“When we visited Italy, we fell in love with gelato,” Lynne’s friend Harry Lambart said. “When we came back home, there were lots of places that offered ‘gelato,’ but it was not really Italian ice cream.”

Harry and his wife, Alison, met Lynne while preparing for their own trip to Italy.

The couple wanted to learn Italian, and Lynne offered lessons.

“She has so much energy. She was the

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ideal person for this endeavor,” Harry said about Ciao Gelato.

Lynne’s connection to Italy began when she decided to study abroad in 1980 as a sophomore at the University of Colorado.

“I fell in love with Italy after just three days,” she said.

For the next 21 years, Italy was home.

She lived in Calitri, where she volunteered to help victims of an earthquake, and Courmayeur, where she met her future husband, Massimo, while working in a small café he frequented.

The couple married and lived in an 18th-century winery in Massimo’s hometown, Rovereto, where she taught English to middle and high school students.

But Lynne was torn.

She loved her life in Italy, but she also wanted her children, Mirko and Gabri, to know what it was like growing up in the United States.

The family moved to Steamboat Springs in 2001, and Lynne worked as a waitress, started the Colorado Center for Learning and worked at several banks. But with a little encouragement, she is ready to embark on her latest adventure.

Ben saari

Whether it’s creating a business or restoring his 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser, Ben Saari is at home when he is building.

“It seems like I’ve always had a wrench in my hand,” Ben said.

He restored the vintage SUV with his father, Mike. Memories of four-wheeling with his family enticed Ben to restore the classic.

“It was a long process that took about five years,” Mike said. “We found it, totaled, in a vacant lot in Hahn’s Peak. It was a rewarding father-son project — we learned a lot about each other.”

Ben also enjoys driving great ideas.

A graduate of Cherry Creek High School near Denver, Ben came to Steamboat Springs in 1996. He earned a degree in business and marketing from Colorado Mountain College and gained an appreciation for life in Steamboat.

His experience from a part-time job with Routt County Landscaping in college helped him start his first business, Mountain Property Designs, in 1999. He sold the business in 2008.

“The goal was to preserve the environment. We didn’t plant a lot of exotic trees. …

We tried to blend what we were doing with

Photo and Story: John F. Russell

the natural landscape. That’s what made us unique,” he said.

Ben also was working on another idea — one that reflected his passion for skiing and snowboarding.

“One of the worst parts of skiing, when I was growing up, was renting skis,” Ben said.

“I wanted to make it easier and more convenient. This way, the parents can sit back and relax while we fit the kids.”

He started Door 2 Door Ski Rentals in 2003 and quickly filled a niche in the resort community. Ben watched his idea, which turned vans into individual ski shops, expand

to seven locations in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In the winter of 2005-06, Ben teamed up with Christy Sports to form Door 2 Door by Christy Sports. The move helped the company continue to grow.

Ben married Kimberly Conrad in August 2003, and they live in Old Town with their three dogs. Ben still enjoys Steamboat’s active lifestyle, manages and plays on a men’s softball team and stays involved in the community.

“Steamboat has always provided me with great opportunities,” he said. “I’ve just tried to take advantage of them.”

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Mark

satkiewicz

Photo and Story: Matt Stensland

In a quest to meet his goal of biking to work for 200 days this year, it was not unusual to see Mark Satkiewicz blazing down Fish Creek Falls Road in February on his bike wearing a snowboard helmet and goggles.

When other people were headed to work in the morning, Mark likely had already finished one of his favorite rides, a 55-mile loop taking him from Steamboat Springs to Oak Creek and back. Swimming and running help round out 15 hours each week of training that would allow him to complete an Ironman triathlon today. To add to life’s challenges, Mark travels two weeks on average each month doing his job as president of the Steamboat-based SmartWool sock and outdoor apparel company.

Still, even when logging an average of 250 miles on his bike during the summer months, “I think family is his No. 1 priority,” said his wife, Amy, with whom he has two children.

“You really do like me,” Mark told Amy when he came home one June evening, after learning she had nominated him for Locals.

Mark admits that most would think his standards “are not normal,” but it’s how he leads by example.

“Our company is so aligned with that aspiration,” said Mark, 41. “Get outside, enjoy life, have a career, enjoy everything.”

In July, he will lead members of his team on a 350-mile ride to the Outdoor Retailer expo in Salt Lake City.

Mark never regrets trading in his bag of Nike shoes to go work for a sock company.

After receiving his master’s of business administration from Loyola University Chicago, his 12-year career in sales at Nike had taken him to five cities — primarily flat ones. He found himself running up any mound of dirt he could find, imaging he was on a mountain trail similar to the ones he enjoyed during his short residency in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Mark spent nearly 15 years trying to figure out how to return to the mountains, and SmartWool provided the opportunity with the vice president of sales position in June 2006. He became president three years later.

“I wanted to be in the mountains and be outdoors and still have a career and work hard,” Mark said.

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2010 |

Locals | 59

Mix & Karen beauvais

Photo and Story: Tom Ross

Ah, fate. Had it not been for an early’70s promotional film — “Steamboat, We Like it Here” — Mix and Karen Beauvais might never have gotten together.

More than three decades later, they are virtually inseparable.

“We’ve been together for 34 years, and we’ve been apart for six nights,” Karen said.

The couple plays golf together, cheers for the Broncos together, has been on more than 60 cruise vacations together and sells real estate together.

They even share the same client list without quarreling — really.

And it’s all attributable to a party invitation Karen received to watch a ski movie in suburban Chicago.

“I watched it and thought, ‘Wow. Does Steamboat really look like that?’ I saw the movie on a Saturday night, and I moved that Tuesday,” Karen recalled.

The year was 1971.

What she could not have known was that her future husband played a role in the creation of the film. Mix took a job as director of sales and marketing at Steamboat Ski Area after working for

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Gordy Wren during the construction of Jackson Hole Ski Area. His job included working on the Steamboat promo film.

Karen was working days in the office of a real estate company and serving cocktails in the Thunderhead Lodge. She recalls first setting eyes on Mix. “I just walked up to him at the bar and told him, ‘You are absolutely gorgeous.’ I always say, ‘If you see something you like, take it and run.’”

So, off Mix and Karen ran, putting all their energy into their real estate agency, Coldwell Banker Silver Oak. (Yes, it’s named after that California cabernet.)

Longtime friend Vicky Hanna said the Beauvais work very hard.

“Karen used to give us grief because we didn’t work on Christmas Day,” Hanna said. “When she stands up at the Tuesday (Realtors) meeting, it’s like a stand-up routine.”

This fall, Mix and Karen will set off on their 69th cruise, or is it the 70th? No matter because they’ve already made friends with the maitre d’, and they’re confident they’ll get that window-side table for two they covet.

Eddie keiser

As Eddie Keiser picked at a muffin on a sun-soaked June morning, it was hard to take the smile off the self-made man.

His skin was tan, his hands were calloused, and here was a man thinking about his last eight years in Steamboat Springs.

“I just love to be involved,” Eddie said.

“I mean, people out here live for the simplicity and pure joy of this place.”

That simplicity and joy have made Eddie the person he is.

The Bethel, Maine, native came to the Yampa Valley in 2002 to ski with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

As a freestyle skier, Eddie was skiing NorAms when the injury bug became too much. He had multiple shoulder dislocations and injured his ankle. By 2006, it was time to do something different.

He bounced around jobs, doing carpentry, working at Sport Stalker and in a tube hut on the river. Finally he started working for a friend’s family on a ranch, doing ranching and fencing work.

With summer approaching in 2007, Eddie decided to start his own business: Great Divide Fencing.

“It was an exciting time. It wasn’t scary,” Eddie said. “I think with this town, most of the challenges are just based on the environment. The business seems to run itself as long as you do a good job and are honest with people.”

Eddie doubled his fencing business last year and said he plans to do more this summer. In the winter he coaches all ages of freestyle skiing for the Winter Sports Club, saying it’s his way of giving back to the sport.

“He’s a joy to be around,” friend Jeremy Bailey said. “He’s always upbeat, and he’s a self-starter. He’s always doing something. There is never a dull day with Eddie.”

Eddie said he has no plans to leave Steamboat, as demonstrated by his purchase of a home. And why would he? Eddie’s found the perfect place and perfect situation for a self-made man.

“Being able to coach with the Sports Club and have my own business is a great balance,” he said. “It allows me to be able to live the dream in Steamboat Springs.”

Photo: Joel Reichenberger Story: Luke Graham

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Shaunna

Photo and Story: Matt Stensland

watterson

The North Routt Community Charter School’s inaugural class of kindergartners graduated from the eighth grade in May. Without Shaunna Watterson, the students may not have had the chance.

North Routt resident Jack White, who worked with Shaunna and her husband, Brian, and other local families to start the school, said the Wattersons’ energy was “invaluable” during the process.

“Shaunna and Brian were really the instigators of the whole thing,” White said. “With her local roots, she had a real attachment to getting it going.”

Shaunna, a fifth-generation Routt County resident, can trace her lineage back to the late 1800s when her great-great-grandparents Henry and Carrie Mae McPhee homesteaded on land that is now part of Fetcher Ranch.

She grew up in Steamboat and was the Steamboat Springs High School class valedictorian in 1976. After living away from the county for about 20 years in Denver and Orange, Calif., Brian said his wife wanted to return home.

“She definitely has her heart and soul in Routt County,” Brian said. “She threatened to shoot me if we didn’t move back.”

In 1999, the Wattersons returned to North Routt. Like many other families, they had two young children and wanted them to attend school in their community. So they did something about it.

With other parents, they found a site in the 85-year-old Clark school, conducted a feasibility study, wrote a charter application to the Steamboat Springs School District, designed a curriculum and worked out various legal issues.

Less than a decade later, the school is planning the development of a new facility and has a waiting list for students.

“I’m just really proud of it, what it’s become and continues to be,” said Shaunna, who also served as the school’s first board president.

Shaunna’s commitment to her community didn’t end when the school opened. She and Brian started the annual North Routt Chili Cook-off, which celebrated its eighth year in May, to raise money for the school.

And as a testament to Shaunna’s family legacy in Routt County, she has had a hand in winning the annual Yule Log hunt more than a dozen times.

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Summer 2010 | At Home

| 65

STAYING FIT

Going

Come in.

Work hard.

Get out.

W

hether training for a specific race, sports, or life’s everyday activities, dozens of Routt County residents have found Manic Training is helping them achieve their goals.

“They come in and know they have an hour, and they’re going to work hard and get out,” said Graham “Bushy” Muir, a longtime rugby player and coach who opened Manic in Steamboat Springs in July 2009.

He called the first year of Manic in Steamboat a positive start. In June, Muir expanded into a 2,300-square-foot space.

The facility still lacks the traditional exercise machines you find in most gyms. Instead, the walls are lined with Manic’s tools, including a variety of bars, free weights, sand bags, kettlebells, medicine balls, rowing machines, ropes and boxes. Similar setups are becoming increasingly popular with training facilities across the United States, Muir said.

66 | At Home | Summer 2010

Lauren Zajic and Scott Kempers bring their knees to their elbows for a core exercise.

10 by 10

Andrew Rumph uses poker chips to keep track of how many sets of pushups he has done.

Graham Muir broke in the new Manic Training facility with this lung burner that he learned from renowned trainer Ross Enamait.

■ 100 jump ropes ■ 10 push-ups ■ 10 squats ■ 10 burpees (Kick your feet out and go into push-up position. Do push-up, stand and jump) Repeat these four exercises ten times as quickly as possible. Aim to finish in under 25 minutes.

Use poker chips or something similar to help keep track of sets completed.

Scott Kempers performs a Turkish get-up using a kettlebell.

Alexis Rauso does a box jump.

Andrew Rumph uses the ropes during a core workout.

67

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www.bestpaintingsteamboat.com 68 | At Home | Summer 2010

STAYING FIT

TABATA

Knee Hug

Do each exercise for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds and move to next exercise. Complete circuit a total of eight times with 90 seconds of rest between circuits. Start second circuit with exercise No. 2 and end on No. 1. Start third circuit with exercise No. 3 and end on No. 2, etc.

■ Push-ups ■ Squats ■ Knee hugs ■ Up downs (from standing position, kick feet in back of you and stand back up) ■ Lunge jumps ■ Mountain climbers (Keep your butt down and alternate knees, kicking them toward you elbows) ■ Locomotive (knee to opposite elbow) ■ Burpee 180 (Kick your feet out and go into push-up position.

Do push-up, stand and jump while rotating 180 degrees.

Rotate to starting position)

Mountain Climber

Burpee

Up Down

Locomotive

Lunge Jumps

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Summer 2010 | At Home

| 69

STAYING FIT

Names of exercises are foreign to newcomers, but after doing a renegade man maker, burpee or Turkish get-up just once, you will remember the exersice forever.

Training consists of two or three intense one-hour strength and conditioning classes each week. Muir offers multiple classes a day, five days a week.

The goal of Manic is to increase strength,

power, endurance and durability, Muir said.

The program has attracted some of Steamboat’s most elite athletes, those recovering from injury as well as people who have not run a mile since high school. Everyone attends the same classes because no matter what shape you are in, the workouts are designed so they cannot be beaten, Muir said. For example, if the workout calls

for a set of 10 pull-ups, resistance bands can be used to get people through the set.

Stronger athletes can strap on weights if they want to push themselves.

“The beauty of the workouts is being able to put the weight on,” Muir said. “You can’t really top out. Basically, anyone can do it.”

Classes are limited to 12 people.

“With other people working hard next to you, you obviously pick up your own game,” Muir said.

Women often outnumber the men at classes, which Muir attributes to a group setting where both sexes feel comfortable pushing themselves.

Carol Davidson, who works as the vice president of marketing at SmartWool, is one of the women who has taken up Manic.

The active 50-year-old has been attending classes during her lunch breaks for the past three months and said she wanted to get back in shape “in a big way” since having a child seven years ago.

“I’ve never seen the results like I’ve seen from doing this,” she said. “It fits into the lifestyle you want to live here.”

Anyone who wants to try Manic can do it at no cost for a week. After the initial week, it costs $100 per month. Muir offers free training to active members of the military.

Manic Training is located at Yampa Valley Business Park, Unit B, on Downhill Drive in Steamboat. Call 773-729-0428 or visit www.manictraining.com.

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club invites you to become a member of our course. New membership options are available for the first time. don’t miss this opportunity.

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For a limited time, purchase either of our memberships and receive a Family Season Pass for the 2010 season, a $4100 value.

Please call Brian Thorne, Director of Golf at 879-1391 for details.

Steamboat’s Premier Event Rental Company Tables | Tents | Chairs | Linens | Tableware (970) 871-6786 • ColoradoEventRentals.com

Summer 2010 | At Home

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AvantGarde Dental

Services Offered

Where Every Smile Is Art

* Wheelchairs * Oxygen * Walkers * Shower Chairs * CPAP/BiPAP

Jeffrey B. Piaskowy DMD 970-871-0033 www.avantgardedental.com

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Final Frames

A collection of old license plates hang on the side of a barn in Routt County.

Photo: John F. Russell

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Final Frames

It may be summer, but visions like this taken in Feburary near Vancouver, British Columbia, remind us all why we enjoy the winters so much.

Photo: John F. Russell

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Summer 2010 | At Home

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Final Frames

An owl keeps an eye on things below while sitting in a tree in Steamboat Springs this spring.

Green grass and blue sky mix to create this one-ofa-kind backdrop in Strawberry Park.

Photos: John F. Russell

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Gary Fresques, DDS, PC Summer 2010 | At Home

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Tom Ross remembers

Paul Thayer made his mark Fighter ace brought ski area into modern era

P

aul Thayer had the drive and vision 40 years ago to propel Steamboat Ski Area into the modern era. But it’s understandable that many current residents of Routt County know little about him.

In fact, you might not recognize Steamboat Springs today had Thayer not arrived on the scene when the ski area was desperate for millions of dollars of working capital.

“Who knows where we’d be today if he hadn’t stepped up to Longtime local the plate and done writer Tom Ross those things,” longtime has called friend Jim “Moose” Steamboat Barrows said recently.

Springs home since 1979.

“All these people in Steamboat have no idea what he did for them.”

Thayer was a decorated World War II fighter ace who remained in aviation after the war, first as a transport pilot for Trans World Airlines and then as a test pilot who challenged the sound barrier.

However, it was his transition to the corporate office suite that would unalterably change Steamboat’s course as a resort town.

Steamboat Ski Area had its pioneers — Jim Temple, Gordy Wren and John Fetcher among them. But it was Thayer, as CEO of the Texas aerospace company Ling Temco Vaught, overseeing its subsidiary, LTV-RDI (Ling Temco Vaught/Recreation Development Inc.) who acted swiftly in 1970 and 1971 to bring Steamboat its first gondola, the first resort hotel at the ski base and a designer 18-hole golf course.

Thayer died May 6 in Dallas at the age of 90.

He was born in 1919 in Henryetta, Okla., and went on to study petroleum engineering at the University of Kansas. In 1941 he enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program, and was on his way to the Pacific Theater where he had six confirmed kills of Japanese planes and was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, according to his obituary published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Thayer worked his way up from test pilot to executive at LTV, but the company was on the verge of bankruptcy when he was named CEO. Thayer had influenced the company’s purchase of the ski area in 1969 for $4 mil-

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lion, which included $500,000 in cash and stock options, according to Sureva Towler’s book, “The History of Skiing at Steamboat Springs.”

“The ski area was in a precarious situation at that time,” Barrows said.

Fortunately for Steamboat, Thayer’s attention was not distracted by his aerospace company’s difficulties. Even as he pulled off a dramatic turnaround at LTV, he financed the $2.5 million Bell gondola.

The Steamboat Village Inn and the new golf course designed

by Robert Trent Jones were part of a $6 million capital campaign in 1971.

Thayer brought in fellow test pilots John “Mac” McGuyrt and Glen Paulk to run the business in Steamboat. Among his strokes of genius, Barrows said, were signing Billy Kidd fresh from his World Championship medal to represent Steamboat, and pro golfer Tom Watson, about a month before he won the British Open, to make the Steamboat Village Country Club (now Rollingstone Golf Course) Watson’s signature course.

Thayer lined up Wilson Foods and the old Frontier Airlines to help sponsor World Pro Skiing Races here, but he loved golf even more than skiing.

He recruited Barrows to start an annual golf tournament and insisted that it benefit a local nonprofit organization, which turned out to be the scholarship fund of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. Olympic ski racer Hank Kashiwa was recruited to lend his name and his culinary skills (he hosted large salmon bakes for the guests) to the event, which became known as the Thayer/ Kashiwa Golf Tournament.

Thayer had the influence to make sure the tournament was studded with NFL names like quarterback Dan Pastorini, Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, Super Bowl MVP Jake Scott, Broncos quarterback Craig Morton and Ray Scott, the voice of the Green Bay Packers’ glory years. Actor James Garner (Maverick) also was a frequent participant.

A dark cloud came over Thayer’s life

about a year after President Ronald Reagan appointed him deputy secretary of defense in 1982. He served a prison sentence after being implicated in an insider trading scandal. Media outlets reported this spring that Thayer pleaded guilty to insider trading, but Barrows said that was not the case. His good friend pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice to avoid a trial and protected other people by doing so, Barrows said.

His legal troubles aside, Thayer’s role in transforming the fledgling Steamboat Ski Area is undeniable. And by anyone’s measure, he was larger than life.

While in prison, Thayer established a program for educating the children of inmates with jobs in the aviation industry.

“He led an incredible life,” Barrows said. “If there was adventure or adrenaline involved, count him in. He was 74 when he and two other pilots flew a Learjet around the world in record time.”

S T E A M B O AT

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