Goooooooood morning Steamboat! My move to Steamboat Springs in late September has brought me many firsts: first time skiing Steamboat Mountain, first time living three minutes from my office, first time being able to take a ski lunch and now first time getting up to set up “No parking” signs up and down Lincoln Ave. before the sun came up. That’s right, it must be Winter Carnival time. This brings me to yet another Steamboat Springs first: My first Winter Carnival.

This is nothing of course when compared to the 97 years the event has been in existence! It’s so cool to be part of such a long standing community tradition! Even though my next two days will also be starting at 5:30 am as the Chamber staff and our group of rockin volunteers bundle up to set up fencing along Lincoln Ave both Saturday and Sunday morning, I’ll be a happy camper because I know all the fantastic and fun street events will soon follow. There are also perks to being up that early…delicious coffee and breakfast burritos from Creekside Cafe! Yippeeee!

Make sure to buy your 2010 gold medal “Living the Dream” Winter Carnival button for $7 to support the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. They are being sold at the Visitor’s Center, various shops around town as well as on the street all weekend. Everyone is wearing one so don’t be left out.

Check the schedule so you don’t miss your favorite street events!

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2010 Olympians with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Ties:

 

Caroline Calve, CAN, Alpine Snowboard Brett Camerota, USA, Combined (2006) Bill Demong, USA, Combined (1998, 2002, 2006) Patrick Deneen, USA, Moguls Taylor Fletcher, USA, Combined Michelle Gorgone, USA, Alpine Snowboard (2006) Tyler Jewell, USA, Alpine Snowboard (2006) Ellie Koyander, GB, Moguls Jana Lindsey, USA, Aerials, (2006)

Todd Lodwick, USA, Combined (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006) Adam McLeish, GB, Alpine Snowboard Michael Morse, USA, Moguls Johanna Shaw, AUS, Alpine Snowboard (2006) Callan Chythlook Sifsof, USA, Snowboard Cross Johnny Spillane, USA, Combined (1998, 2002, 2006) Ryan St. Onge, USA, Aerials, (2006) Kimiko Zakreski, CAN, Alpine Snowboard

The monthly forum series provide a fun and flexible environment for local businesspeople in Steamboat Springs to learn. Last Friday, January 29^th was the first series The Generation Gap: Effective Communication at Your Workplace and it was wonderful.  Karen Goedert from One Steamboat Place described the multiple generations in the workplace and discussed challenges and opportunities for working together and then representatives from each generation answered a series of questions. The generation gap isn’t new so why are there a plethora of books addressing intergenerational communications? Because as older employees defer retirement and new ranks of workers come of age we see more generations melding in the workplace. It was great to learn the different generational traits, how to avoid conflict and bring out the best in each generation.

Join us for the next forum series on February 26^th: Building Organizational Capacity Through Internal Sustainability where Peter Perhac, CEO at Colorado Mountain College Alpine Campus will teach us about how to achieve balance in work and personal life.

Contact Meagan Coates at Meagan@steamboatchamber.com for more information on The Forum Series.

Guest Blogger Chris Tamucci: YPN Member, Big Agnes staff member

The Young Professionals Network event last night was one of those that makes it clear this is a very worthwhile organization to be a part of. The event held at the Arts Depot had great attendance, lots of networking and general socializing, and most importantly some very valuable insight from featured speaker Mark Satkiewicz. Mark’s success as a sales director at Nike and now as president and general manager of Smartwool has provided him a wealth of experience on professional development.

He was gracious enough to pass some of the lessons he has learned on to a standing room only crowd of aspiring professionals. Learn as much about the business you work in, view your relationship with your customers and vendors as a partnership, and always be ready to execute on customer needs were just a few of the nuggets garnered from Mark. His comfortable yet professional presenting style was well received and YPN members had the opportunity to chat with him after the presentation. My membership fee just paid for itself and it is only January! Thanks to all who attended and I look forward to the many events to follow this year.

Blogger Kyleigh DeMicco, Chamber Staff Member

Tuesday, the 26thwas the kick off for the 2010 “Talking Green” events.  It was held at the Smokehouse with a packed room of enthusiastic community members ready to talk about sustainability efforts in the Yampa Valley Community.  “Talking Green” is an educational series that takes place once a month.  It is put on by the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council and Fox Construction.  This year, Talking Green will be held the 4^th Tuesday of every month from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.  Topics such as Zero Waste Initiative and Colorado Carbon Fund are up on the plate and sure to be informative discussions. 

This particular “Talking Green” was an overview of the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC) programs and initiatives.  Membership, Fundraising, Colorado Carbon Fund, Earth Day, Earth Hour, Zero Waste Initiative, Green Building Tours, Youth Education, and the Talking Green Series were amongst the many topics.   Community members from Yampa Valley Recycles, Deep Roots, Community Agriculture Alliance, Routt County Riders, and Yampatika also discussed their sustainable efforts and collaboration in the community.  Individuals from all of Routt County were in attendance.  They were eager to learn more and participate in the various YVSC initiatives.  These initiatives would not be possible without community volunteers – and YVSC needs more help.  To learn more about Talking Green and the YVSC initiative visit www.yvsc.org.

Only two more weeks until the 97^th Annual Winter Carnival! Make sure to mark your calendars to join in the fun. Want to support the event through volunteering to help with the Street Events Saturday and Sunday, February 6^th and 7^th? Contact Courtney Allen, courtney@steamboatchamber.com or at 875-7006.

Don’t forget, to register yourself or your kids for any of this years’ Street Events, registration opens at 7:30 a.m. sharp this Friday, January 29^th at the Steamboat Springs Visitor Center. This year’s Winter Carnival buttons will also be on sale. Come and sign up for all the fun!

If you are looking out your window or have spent anytime outdoors this weekend than it should be pretty obvious that Steamboat has had a good ole fashion dumping of fresh snow. It was my first taste of our trademark Champagne Powder® and I’d say I got to experience it to the fullest. Saturday, I showed off our mountain to some out of town friends. We had a blast running the chutes off of the Morningside lift and discovering the joy of riding through the Aspen trees in fresh snow. Even the groomers were fast with their new blanket of flakes. We closed down the lifts, exhausted but exhilarated. Off we went to refuel at Strawberry Park Hot Springs.

As Saturday evening brought more snow Sunday was the perfect day to haul out some sleds, compliments of my friend Ryan from Liquid Power Sports out of Ft. Collins, CO. We trekked up Buff Pass to discover powder blowing over our heads as we blasted down the trails in search of the perfect spot to unload and take some turns on our boards. And turn we did!  I’ve never had so much fun riding, weaving in and out of trees and floating over untouched snow. We shuttled up and down all day long before succumbing to the pressure of the oncoming white out storm and making our way back down the truck. Enjoying the backcountry safely with good friends and the right equipment is definitely the best way to take in all Steamboat has to offer in the winter.

Guest Blogger Craig Kennedy, Access Anything

 

January 11-14 Steamboat welcomed the fifth annual All Mountain Ski and Ride Camp for People with Disabilities and Wounded Soldiers.  Access Anything and Adaptive Adventures welcomed more than 30 participants with disabilities, including 7 soldiers recently wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan and their families, from as far away as Ireland, Scotland, and Andorra.  As always, Steamboat showed incredible support for this event, receiving donations from more than 60 individuals and businesses and proved once again why Steamboat is the friendliest place on Earth.  And a special thanks also goes out to the local adaptive program, STARS, and all of our volunteers.  We could not have such a successful camp without you.  And look for another guest BLOG from me in March in conjunction with the second annual Stars of Tomorrow camp for children with disabilities.  Until then, see you on the slopes