Three hours from a major city, 331 inches of average annual snow fall, 59 annual average frost free days, and significantly less than 11,000 people...those will be the first reasons why Steamboat Springs, CO is the ideal spot to live, now let me give you a few more. I'll try to be brief, but bear in mind, there's more where this is coming from! First and foremost, the community is actually, a community first, and a world-class ski resort second. Ask anyone who lives here and they're going to be happy to let you know that in Steamboat Springs you have friends and neighbors who care about you and watch out for you. There is a moose in your drive-way? Be confident, among your neighbors will call and inform you. Ask any second home owner or visitor about Steamboat Springs , and something of the first things they'll say is that individuals in our town are so friendly. This fact alone would make Steamboat Springs, CO the perfect place to call home and without a doubt the ideal spot to raise a family - let me say it one last time before moving on, "the people are nice and the people here care about you."

OK so everyone's nice, but I get asked, "What do you do when you're 3+ hours from a major city, and it's really cold and snowy so many days of the entire year?" Well let's focus on summer when it's not cold and snowy and folks arrived at this ski resort town and with out a trace of champagne powder on the floor they spend a week here and decide to stay. Summertime in Steamboat Springs, CO brings the free concerts at the base of Howelsen Hill, fly-fishing in the Yampa and Elk Rivers, hiking and biking on trails for every level and surrounded by Rocky Mountain beauty, golfing at public or private courses, the weekend rodeo that thrills both locals and visitors, and of course tubing down the Yampa River for individuals who like to beat the heat in chilly, fresh mountain water. Summertime does mean the annual July 4th parade, Art-in-the-Park, HEAT balloon festival, Steamboat Running & Bike Series races...and after all this activity, a margarita on the Rio deck, a brick oven pizza sitting on Rex's back patio, or an ice cream cone from Johnny B. Good's take-out window hit the location. Locals in Steamboat Springs take full advantage of the short, but very sweet summer months - we know winter is right nearby.

And now for winter...how do we Steamboat locals co-exist with the thousands of skiers and snowboarders who come year-after-year for our champagne powder and western hospitality? Well for starters, you're likely to see mostly locals in the gondola line at 7:45am because we've listened to the 5:00am snow report and know there's 14 inches of powder on Storm Peak that require to be skied before heading into work a little later than normal, but totally refreshed and energized for your day! But we don't just ski here in Ski Town USA, when you live here and it's really wintertime, you take your kids to SNOWBOARDING Club, you have a dip in the Old Town Hot Springs pools, you snowshoe in the moonlight to an ideal spot for sitting and drinking some wine that has been in your backpack forever, and you hit the early bird special at the Orr House where a sizzling steak and huge salad bar await. Local winter events that even us locals wait for every year include the Winter Carnival where the senior high school band "marches" down Lincoln Avenue on skis, you can find races where (if you are brave) you're pulled by a horse while sitting on a shovel, and then you trek over to Howelsen Hill to spend an evening watching fireworks where in fact the lighted man skis down the hill, shooting fireworks from multiple body locations...some things you merely have to see to trust.