Welcome to Steamboat, where Stetson hats and cowboy boots are the fashion and world-class skiing is the standard.

Nestled 7,000 feet up in the Colorado Rockies near Steamboat Springs in northwestern Colorado, the Steamboat ski area, known as Ski Town USA® is one of North America’s largest ski resorts. With 142 trails, 3668 vertical feet, and nearly 3,000 skiable acres on six peaks, the area provides terrain to suit any skier’s athletic ability and to challenge the best. Groomed cruisers, bumps, steeps, open meadows, tree skiing, and North America’s longest superpipe provide plenty of downhill variety. The mountain’s deep powder snow and tree skiing terrain match the best in the West.

Steamboat’s skiing heritage dates back to the early 1900’s, when Carl Howelsen opened Howelsen Hill, now owned and operated by the city of Steamboat Springs. Many world-class skiers have been attracted to the area and its famous 90-meter ski jump and a number of local athletes, who have trained there have become Olympians.

Development of the present day Steamboat ski resort, at what was originally called Storm Mountain, was started in 1963.

Nearby Steamboat Springs is still a small Yampa Valley ranching and farming community with a flavor reminescent of the Old West.

Turn-of-the-century buildings dot the town’s landscape and down home western friendliness is the local attitude. The town recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary.

With over 70 restaurants and bars, Steamboat’s nighttime entertainment scene offers skiers plenty of after dark places to drink and dine and enjoy live entertainment. The ski area supplies visitors with A "Nightlife Trail Map," just to make sure everyone finds their way to local hotspots.

Nomadic Ute and Arapahoe Indians were early inhabitants in the Yampa Valley.

James Harvey Crawford, Steamboat Springs' first permanent settler, who moved to the valley in 1875, named the settlement Steamboat Springs after an unusual spring in the area that French trappers and prospectors thought sounded like a steamboat laboring upstream. Unfortunately, the spring is silent today because railroad workers in the early 1900's disturbed the spring's foundation with dynamite and caused it to cease chugging and spewing water.

Steamboat Springs has always been an agricultural center with a cowboy heritage, dating back to 1909, when Steamboat's first rodeo grounds were built . Steamboat’s rodeo traditions still thrive today with a popular summer ProRodeo series. Steamboat's ranching history is carried on with a cattle drive down Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat’s main street - as part of its Fourth of annual July celebration. Steamboat’s wild Winter Carnival, held in February, brings cowboys on horseback - to pull ski racers through the main street every year, along with its parade on skis.

So, grab your Stetson, saddle your skis and hold on tight, because Steamboat's waitin' to test your mountain skills and give you a wild and memorable ride!