Fire Hoopin!

Early February is the greatest time of the year for a young lad from Steamboat. The Winter Carnival is a festival that has been an annual event for over ninety some odd years. It has helped generations of Steamboat Springolians stave off the winter cabin fever in a celebration of our skiing and western heritage. Of course this is also known as a time for friends to get together, drink beer, and jump through flaming hoops on skis in the dark. Now this may not sound like fun to you, but I assure you, it way more fun than when we were kids and were dragged down the road by a horse on skis.

The weekend started when Molly and I flew back west to Denver. My folks picked us up and we met up with my sister for lunch in Denver. It was very nice to be back in Colorado, it was like you could breath again. Until then I never realized how much I missed my mountains. Soon we were home and everyone had flown in for the occasion. Kotts was back and ready to rumble, as were Hunter, Aaron and Becky. Molly and I had been training for this trip and were ready for anything that was to come.

What I didn't count on was how much I missed my home and the people. Steamboat is a small community and within the first few hours I had run into over ten people that I know and am friends with. Its a nice feeling to know that even though you are gone, you are remembered.

Winter Carnival is a five day affair, with all sorts of events for all ages. This is one of the street events, called the "donkey jump". Hundreds of Steamboat kids have done this event, including many of our Olympians. The general idea is that at one end of the road is a jump. Four blocks away, a kid on skis holds onto a rope that is attached to a horse. The horse runs fast and the kid jumps. Distance is rewarded. It sounds simple enough, but it's not. We saw more than one kid dragged down the street on his head.

Later in the day it was time to get ready for the nightshow. The nightshow is the climax of the weekend for Steamboat Alumn. We look forward to this the whole year. The group spends all day Saturday hanging out talking, drinking, eating and then at sun down we meet at Howelsen to jump the hoop. Kotts has been the leader of the crew for many years when it comes to this. Someday I hope he will take his rightful place as organizer of the "Ski Patrol Fire Hoop Brigade". The boys practice jumping the 50 meter about 5 or 6 times and then head up the hill to hit the bottle of 101 before the main event.


When it's good and dark the show starts. The youngest kids ski down the face of the mountain with road flairs in their hands to light up the hill. Next the Old man roman candle dance. Then the Lighted Man, followed by the fire hoop jumpers. They light up the jump with road flairs and set the gas soaked hoop on fire. Aaron, Kotts and Hunter all jumped this year.

This is what is left after the flames have died down. It's a great event!

On Sunday my mother invited all sorts of people for a pre-parade party. She spent all morning getting food together for all of us. The best part was my birthday cake that she "surprised" me with. It was carrot . . . and excellent!

These are assorted parade pictures. The first is drunk rugby players being dragged down the street by a horse. Second is the old gondola. Third is my new car. And the last picture is of the world's only skiing band.

It was a warm and rainy weekend, but we had a great time. I'm already looking forward to next year. Maybe this time I will do the shovel race. I could practice by tying a rope to a cab and being dragged around the Upper East Side. It might be less painful.