For 108 years, the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival has proceeded through inclement weather, community growth, and now a pandemic. This year’s show had a different feel to it due to COVID-19 restrictions, but provided the community with a schedule of events that promoted guests to stay safe and socially distanced during the peak of COVID-19 restrictions.

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In a year when crowds could not come together to celebrate the winter, they were instead invited to “come together, by staying apart.” This was achieved by a partnership with the Tread of Pioneers Museum as grand marshals, that allowed for the 108th Winter Carnival to be a reflection of past Winter Carnival Activities and the history of the event.  The week kicked off with an outdoor Opening Ceremony live streamed to the public, and then continued through the five-day celebration with Covid-friendly activities. To safely bring people outside to enjoy the winter, snow sculptures decorated the streets and were carved with social distancing in mind, a Terrain Park Jam with small groups rotating through activities allowed for community involvement, and iconic Steamboat walking tours for small masked groups provided exercise and historical education. To promote staying home, stay-at-home movie nights provided small watching parties, radio interviews of some of Steamboat’s most well-known faces shared favorite memories throughout the decades, and a virtual debut of the World Pro Ski Tour down the face of Howelsen Hill provided energized watch-from-home excitement. 

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Instead of one night of flares and night skiing as tradition holds with the Night Extravaganza, the athletes of the SSWSC performed flare skiing in small groups each night of the celebration in order to keep crowds from gathering but still giving the community the opportunity to watch the night skiing.  Most importantly, each child in the SSWSC was still able to participate in the important rite of passage of holding a flare down a darkened ski run.

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All of the Winter Carnival opportunities at Howelsen Hill were live streamed on social media, helping to bring the community together from our homes and across the country, even through a very drastic life change as a community. Instead of buttons, buffs were promoted as face coverings for those outside (a small number of collectable buttons were still available.) . Together, we navigated the challenges of a pandemic, and still celebrated our love and history of the Winter Carnival. The week was ended with a “watch from home” fireworks show, which went off with the hopeful reminder that next year, the tradition would return in its full historical glory.