Why Downtown Steamboat is special

  Here is a great video featuring several of my friends that talks about how Downtown Steamboat is special.  It is the center of our community, has incredible recreation opportunities on several sides of it and hosts some of Steamboat's best community events like the Winter Carnival.

  If you would like to know more about Downtown Steamboat or Living in Steamboat Springs just give me a call at 970-819-6930 or send me an email.  I respect your time and will answer your questions without a sales pitch. You can also click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page or go to my Steamboat, CO Real Estate page if you want to search for property in Steamboat.

Cadillac doesn't make Snowcats? ... Who knew?

We found this wannabe snowcat about 2 miles above the winter cutoff on Buff Pass road. I'm not sure what his plan was to get up this long steep section he is about 5 feet up (that is a good climb on a snowmobile)  but I am sure that he probably wasn't looking forward to telling Daddy where his Caddy was stuck.

Steamboat Triathlon

   I just got roped into doing a leg of the Steamboat Triathlon Sunday morning a couple of hours ago so I am training like Tour deFrance Champ Alberto Contador tonight by eating Spanish Paella and drinking Rioja. This is an unconventional training program but when you only have a day to train before the event you have to think out of the box. This has nothing to do with it being our plan to do this already tonight.

 The great people at Steamboat Ski and Bike Kare were kind enough to hook me up with schuweet Trek Madone for the event so I am guaranteed to be the biggest poser at the race and will very likely "need" one myself in the the spring :) This will be my first time on a road bike since my 10 speed in high school so wish me luck.

For more info call Jon at 970-819-6930 or send me an email. I respect your time and will answer your questions without a sales pitch. You can also click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page or go to my Steamboat, CO Real Estate page if you want to search for property in Steamboat.

Fishing Sarvis Creek near Steamboat Springs

The access road to Sarvis Creek Wilderness opened this weekend. Sarvis Creek offers great opportunities for fly-fishing along the Creek. Only a few feet from parking, professional fishermen and amateurs alike cast their rods in hopes of scoring a one of Steamboat’s prize-winning trout.

Up the trail, cattle graze and horseback riding is a popular pastime as is hiking. The trail gains 1,000 feet in elevation, then evens off and opens up into lush meadows with sandy beaches and small pools of water. Abundant wildlife can be found around Sarvis Creek from deer, foxes and squirrels, to hawks, bears and elk.

For more info call Jon at 970-819-6930 or send me an email. I respect your time and will answer your questions without a sales pitch. You can also click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page or go to my Steamboat, CO Real Estate page if you want to search for property in Steamboat.

Snow still on the Rabbit Ears Trail

This winter was a relatively dry one as far as recorded snowfall, at least until April. After the ski mountain closed, it snowed almost every day for a couple of weeks. The added snowpack was a blessing in order to prevent drought this year, however it closed off access to some of the higher elevation hiking areas such as the Flattop Mountains, Mt. Zirkel Wilderness and Rabbit Ears hiking trails.

Abundant sun over the last few weeks helped finally welcome summer. Hiking up Rabbit Ears, glacier lilies were just beginning to bloom - in town, glacier lilies are long gone, now replaced with wild roses and columbine. The trail was clear until the last uphill stretch where a few stubborn patches remained. Crossing them was easy and only a few toes were cooled by snow sneaking in under my sandals.

The views from the top boasted a lush green valley below. Everything is alive and blooming, making summer one of my favorite times of year in Steamboat.

To contact me call 970-819-6930 or send me an email. I respect your time and will answer your question without a sales pitch. For more of this Steamboat blog click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page or go to my Steamboat Real Estate page if you want to get a feel for property in Steamboat.

Living in Steamboat Springs

  I wrote the following post over on my Steamboat Blog after talking to a couple of people looking to move to Steamboat over the past couple of weeks but thought some people here might enjoy it too.  What is it that draws you to Steamboat whether you just like to visit or want to move here too?

  I didn't mention it in the larger post but another reason that Steamboat is great is that we have so many great people that think of Steamboat as home even though they can only make it here a few weeks or so a year.  Their enthusiasm for Steamboat is infectious, are fun to run into on the mountain or trails, they take part in many of our local events and also donate generously to local causes.  They are basically an extended community that make life here even fuller by enabling many of the wonderful amenities like the ski area, entertainment options and all of the open space parks we enjoy here in Steamboat.

" Living in Steamboat Springs is a dream for many. It is my dream and may be for you if you are reading this blog. What do you mean my dream, don't you already live in Steamboat? Yes, we were fortunate to make our dream come true years ago but it still is our dream and I hope that we never forget that. Every day I walk out the door, look straight up at the mountain and consider myself lucky to be here, this happens in some form several times a day even when I am booked solid and working hard. The rewards of living here are likely better than you know, only more time here will begin to reveal the extent of these rewards and we still find great new stuff all of the time. To be clear Life in Steamboat is not heaven but it is pretty close, you just get to live here and still have to work to make it happen unless you are done working and then you really get to have fun.
Steamboat Springs is a unique combination of a small town in an incredible valley surrounded by mountains with gorgeous rivers and fields that was a real town before becoming a resort. This brings amenities far beyond what our size would warrant. That said the people here may be the best reason to be here. For the rest of the post please click on the following to go to Living in Steamboat Springs. "
To contact me call 970-819-6930 or send me an email. I respect your time and will answer your question without a sales pitch. For more of this Steamboat blog click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page or go to my Steamboat Real Estate page if you want to get a feel for property in Steamboat.

Had an amazing day Backcountry Skiing

Steamboat is truly a wonderland. It has been 2 weeks since the last storm and we had 6-12 inches of perfect powdered sugar snow. I am liking my new training program and having such a compelling goal in April has me motivated.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Gorgeous Bluebird Powder Day In Steamboat

Credit "Dam Skier TGR Forums - Steamboat 12-31-09"

And today we have one thing in common, we are working! No complaints but it would be fun to sneak up for a couple of hours as the snow has been great on the mountain. See the picture above and here is a page with some great Steamboat Powder shots taken on New Years Eve 2009.

I try to be a cool boss and sent my assistant up to ski and video some with my new helmet cam so the rest of us can see what it was like. I will post the video if it turns out and am working on a fun new site called Steamboat Videos where you will be able to share in some of our Steamboat Adventures. It's just a shell right now but we will "work" diligently to allow you to make a quick visit to Steamboat anytime you have a couple of minutes in front of your computer.

Don't expect anything to professional but they will be fun clips of different Steamboat adventures and hopefully a good excuse for me to sneak out for an hour or so on days like this ...

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Steamboat: Weather Channel Epic Conditions

Here is a great video from the Weather Channel Epic Conditions series that explains part of why Steamboat gets such great snow. It combines some nice ski video and is a must see for nearly anyone that loves Steamboat. I think that you will enjoy it and may learn a few things in the process. It is a little dramatic saying things like "It Strikes Fear in nearly anyone that comes here. Click here to see the Steamboat Epic Conditions Video

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Happy New Years Steamboat!

I hope that you and yours had a very Happy New Years! 2009 was a challenging year in many ways but these are the times that bring out the best in good people and I have been fortunate to witness many good instances of that. I feel closer to my family and friends. Doing business required a lot of thought, hard work, creativity and attention to all aspects of each opportunity. In the same way it was extraordinary because it let us grow and show who we are as people and a community in tough times. I am lucky to have an incredible family along with a group of friends that is second to none.

As I think about my family I can truly say I feel lucky everyday. Many thanks to my parents, grandparents and siblings that made me who I am to my incredible wife and kids that inspire me to my awesome outlaws who have taught me so much.

To all my friends that I get to enjoy Steamboat with, life in general and who have given me such great advice I am truly grateful. While my schedule doesn't allow me to be out having fun most days I appreciate all of you that call to get me out on the bike, skis, river, trails, ice rink and so many more fun places.

While I don't look back and say wow that was a great year the numbers were and it is in great part thanks to friends that trusted me to navigate this market for them and referred their friends to do the same. That makes up 80 plus % of my business. It has been fun to work at every level and property type in the market from several first time buyers to helping a good friend buy Slopeside Grill to a large mix of luxury properties. I am grateful so many people place their trust in me and I work hard to make sure that is a good idea.

If I have one business value that never changes it is take care of others and I won't have to worry about myself. This came from my grandfather when I was 5, it is sometimes expensive in the short term in missed opportunity from saying it is not the time yet but I have no doubt it is what made the great business aspects of 2009 possible not to mention the value of truly enjoying the friends I am so fortunate to work with everyday. It is very satisfying to to not only know that this is how I want to be but see others place value in this approach. It is nice to live in a place where others see the greater good. Heartfelt thanks to all of you!

In 2009 I was able to recognize the fundamental changes in my business and what it takes to help people navigate these changes. It has been a year of much thought and learning. I also increased my dedication to making Steamboat great by being even more active in the Boards of the Urban Renewal Authority that is revitalizing the base area, the Steamboat Chamber of Commerce which helps Steamboat stay strong, contribute to various causes that help our communities and help jump start the Steamboat Walk of the Olympians to name some of few of the biggest efforts. I even got to sponsor half of Santa's visits to downtown Steamboat this year when funding came up short. I am fortunate to work with a lot of great people in each of these efforts.

2009 brought many things business wise that make me feel great about the future. I was able to be successful in a difficult year, grow my market share, increase the quality of my network significantly, made a very active effort to learn more and peel back the layers to really understand what is going on, was humbled to get a lot of calls asking for insights from many leaders of our community, bankers, appraisers etc and usually knew what they wanted to know, Learned from some of the best on a national level that share my philosophy, really brought together my ideas on how to do this business right and have started to implement them. I hired a great guy to help implement many of my ideas, am looking for a great assistant, distilled all of my ideas so I can put together a winning strategy on the web and so many more things. There was a significant flight to quality this year in both properties and who people chose to work with. I saw this happening in several ways but was humbled to have several people point this out.

I am very optimistic for 2010. There are many positive signs that we are working through the problems both nationally and locally, I have been busy for 9 months and see more people starting to get there, people want to be in Steamboat to spend quality time with those that matter to them and have the means to do so, volumes are up significantly this fall, buyers and sellers are getting closer, there is an opportunity to get the best properties as good prices, parts of the market have fully recovered and I am fortunate to have a significant group of people I am actively working with to buy and sell quality properties.

I wish all of you a great year in 2010. Thank you for everything.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs, CO blog main page.

A place where Big Storms are a bad thing, so different from Steamboat

It is interesting to be in a place where people don't look forward to big storms. In Steamboat we spend all year wishing for a huge snow year, 4 ft of new snow overnight and talk about the big years past like they were a hot girlfriend but in Florida a hurricane is a bad thing. Interested to see it but hope for people that live here that it mellows out.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Steamboat 700

Here is a letter to the editor I just submitted. I have struggled with whether to support this since the beginning as I explain below. That is not the normal path for me. To be honest I never expected to support Steamboat 700 even though I thought along that they would get to the point of meeting the WSSAP's objectives.

Start of my letter:
Your article supporting Steamboat 700 is very well thought out and your points are well taken. For the record I never thought I would support Steamboat 700 because I was worried that it was too big and nervous about adding too much at once. The more I have dug into the issue and thought about how things will develop with or without Steamboat 700 I can't get around the fact that this is the only way to add the infrastructure we need for the growth that is coming. It will happen much further from town with no contribution if we don't allow Steamboat 700. I'd rather take some risk than face the nearly certain consequences of inaction. This is the first time I have supported Steamboat 700 in public or private. Just like everyone else I am very concerned about anything that could change Steamboat. Yes, I am an active real estate broker but I see Steamboat's livability and charm as the most important reason that my family is here along with those of my clients.

I believe that it is critical to make it possible for all of our friends along with people like teachers and nurses to become long term members of the community they make possible. They have earned this and will continue to do so. It shouldn't be too easy or doable on a whim but it should be possible for those that have dedicated themselves to living here and make our community special. I am nearly certain it is likely to reduce my own property values in town by having additional supply close by so this is not an economic judgement. For me it comes down to just a few things.

1 - Steamboat 700 is as close to the WSSAP as we are likely to get. Despite his ads to the contrary Kevin Bennett created this plan along with the water agreement that benefits that land. His signature is on the document. We asked for this and they have done a remarkably good job delivering it. Yes it would be wonderful to get more for "free" that is not really free but we don't live in a candy store where everything costs 5 cents.

2- We live in a beautiful, special, extraordinary place that is so compelling we have all worked much harder and made significant comprises to be here. This passion is one of the things that makes Steamboat even better. That is nothing new, most of us can only imagine how hard it was for Steamboat's founding families to make a life here especially in the winter. Great people like John Fetcher could have lived anywhere but they chose to live here and worked hard to make it special.

These compromises couldn't be more worth it and others will continue to be willing to make the same choices. I meet these people every week in my business and understand it well. My wife Wendy & I made this choice and couldn't be happier that we did. We need to do anything we can to protect what is great about Steamboat using plans that will actually be effective. I haven't been able to think of a way that not doing this development will actually achieve this goal. The Pilot is right to say it will only push people out further in the county, increase commuting, pollution and get nothing from that growth to help pay for the increased demands on our community's roads, schools and other infrastructure. If demand does not materialize there is no way it will get built so approving it does not put us at risk.

3- The biggest reason for me is precedent, there is not a lot of question what will happen if you look at Aspen and Vail. They have have not planned close in for the growth that has come and will continue to come. We have friends in both places and it is considered normal for people to commute from 30-60 minutes into town to work and play. They both have a slew of problems and a weaker community because of this. Housing in town is nearly unattainable and families have less time together as a result. I have played endless scenarios in my head and can't think of a way that we will be different if we take the same path.

I want a community that is together all day, remains a special place and has the resources to pay for the long term growth that will come either way. Those of us who were not born in Steamboat were lucky to be accepted by this wonderful community. We should be grateful for that and also take responsibility for keeping it a special place. That doesn't mean we should close the pass behind us. That is purely fantasy and will be the fastest path to pushing us and our neighbors out of town just like has happened in Aspen / Vail. This is a very tough decision but is has been studied and negotiated by our fellow citizens / representatives with tons of public input. I now have arrived to the same conclusion and trust them to implement this deal. I know it will not be perfect, nothing is but it will clearly be far better than the alternative.

Best,

Jon Wade

Even a cold, wet, snowy day in Steamboat beats any day pretty much anywhere else

Said perfectly by a friend who is town from Houston who works and of course plays in Steamboat as much as possible. I have always felt the same way so I couldn't agree more. Is there a way for you to work and play more in Steamboat? Do you need to be in the office everyday or can you spend more time here in Steamboat by telecommuting?

I know a large number of busy successful people that work early on Eastern time, get out and ski, bike or fish then work some more in the afternoon. Most say that they get more done and come up with great ideas while they are out playing. It works that way for me so why not see for yourself? For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Fox Stealing Golf Balls in Steamboat Springs

A local Fox might think he is bringing home some nice eggs to his kits. He means well but I don't think that they will be hatching anytime soon. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Skiing ranks Steamboat #1 in Trees and #2 in Snow behind Alta!

No question there for me but the one key ranking they miss is an easy number 1 for the great people that live and visit here. Steamboat has easily the nicest people not to mention a genuine town that can't be copied from somewhere else like so many other ski towns have been. What do you think?

My advice? Get in a great fall, your gear in order, in shape to burn a lot of great tree runs and your friends in Steamboat will look forward to seeing you a few times this winter. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Snow on Trail Ridge Road Last Night

Not this much snow any only a few days in the past instead of decades but I thought this was a fun picture to share. Fall is definitely in the air. It's time to get in all the things you meant to this summer, enjoy a great fall and start to think about winter if you aren't already.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Fall is on it's way to Steamboat

It's that time of year when the cool evenings, nights around freezing and now the start of fall colors tells us to kick things into gear and get out to get our fill of summer sports. Don't worry, even thought it normally snows in September we still have nearly 2 months of great weather left. In fact from the last couple weeks of August until mid to late October is my favorite time of the year if you exclude powder days of a foot or more that is. It has really felt like fall but Saturday was one of the few days over 90 this summer in Steamboat that I can recall and a nearly perfect day to be a the lake and then on the bike. This picture was taken on the Hot Springs trail.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs, CO blog main page.

Snow Last Night on Lost Ranger Peak

There was a dusting of snow last night on Lost Ranger Peak in the Zirkel Wilderness area just north of Steamboat Springs. Fall has been in the air for 2-3 weeks and very much so the last 4-5 days with cold nights and cooler days. Winter is coming so it is time to get in all of the things you planned to do this summer, get ready for the leaves to change and start planning for winter in my favorite town.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Late Spring Powder Day in Steamboat

I thought I would share a couple of shots from today. It was easily a top 5 day for me in a year with many EPIC powder days in Steamboat. This picture was taken after a few hours of skiing since we can never seem to stop when the snow is at its best. My neighbor and friend Pete is an inspiration and a role model at any age, especially at 65. I could barely keep up on continuous top to bottom tree runs and didn’t mind it a bit. Steamboat is truly a magical place. I only wish I would have had my SLR with me to truly do his skiing justice. The shot was taken a bit late, it was much better ¼ second earlier. Pete also won his age group in NASTAR Saturday then the overall National handicapped for age on Sunday. I think the fountain of youth must be in Steamboat. See the attached pictures but they don’t begin to do the conditions justice. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

A Moose visits Slopeside for Steamboat's best Apres' Ski

Update: The Denver Post picked up the Steamboat Moose video story and posted the video on their site March 4th.

I thought that you might enjoy seeing the amateur video (requires a little patience) of the moose that visited Slopeside's Apres Ski Party here in Steamboat Springs in February. Large animals like Moose and Bears generally avoid public areas but have seen several on the mountain over the years. We had a mother and baby moose spend Christmas week in our yard this year, elk a week or so later, another group of moose and it is not surprising to see bears if you keep your eyes open. It's pretty cool to live in the mountains and be able to share encounters like this with our kids.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.