Howelsen Hill and the Winter Carnival, Steamboat's ski roots

Steamboat Springs is known for skiing, and a lot of that identity goes back to one immigrant and one hill.

Carl Howelsen was a champion skier from Norway who came to the United States in the early 1900s. He settled near Steamboat Springs and brought ski jumping and Nordic skiing with him. To pull the town out of its winter slump, he helped launch the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival in the mid-1910s, a community festival of ski jumping, races, and snowy spectacle.

The hill where much of that early jumping happened still carries his name: Howelsen Hill, a ski and ski-jumping area right in town. Generations of local skiers have trained there, and Steamboat has sent many athletes on to the Olympics, which is why the town leans into its “Ski Town” nickname.

The Winter Carnival has continued as an annual community tradition for over a century, run with the local winter sports club. If you move here, it is one of the events that marks the local calendar.

For the durable history and current event details, see the City of Steamboat Springs history page and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, which organizes the carnival. Treat specific dates and schedules as things to confirm each year.