2011 UPCC Host City Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs
Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs will be the only host city to have both a finish and a start.

Some course information:

Avon to Steamboat Springs

§ Elevations

o Downtown Steamboat Springs: 6,695’

§ Hwy 131 though ranching towns of Toponas, Yampa and Oak Creek into Steamboat Springs

§ Passes Flat Top Wilderness Area and source of the Yampa River

§ Down Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Springs’ main thoroughfare

§ Finishes near Historic Routt County Courthouse in the heart of downtown Steamboat Springs, 6th & Lincoln. Great viewing all the way into town.

Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge

§ Elevations

o Steamboat Ski Area: Base: 6,900’ Summit/Mt. Werner: 10,568’

o Rabbit Ears Pass: 9,426’

§ Around Mt. Werner Circle through the mountain village at the foot of one of North America’s premier ski resorts-Steamboat, the home of Champagne Powder® snow

§ Mt. Werner named for the Yampa Valley’s 1st family of skiing, the Werner’s

§ Passes by the iconic Steamboat Barn, synonymous with ranching, skiing and the hearty mountain lifestyle of this region. The second lap will head out Hwy 40 and

§ Up Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,426’ and over the backbone of the Continental Divide

Some activities around town:

Friday, August 26, 2011

  • 10AM-4PM: Gondola open, Steamboat Ski Area
  • 10AM-12:30PM: Moots factory tour
  • 11AM-3PM: Kent Eriksen Cycles factory tour
  • 11AM-4PM: Lifestyle Expo & Sierra Nevada Beer Garden on Main Street (Lincoln Avenue)
  • 12PM (Approx): Live Music at Lifestyle Expo with Loose Change
  • 12:30-2PM: US Paracycling Challenge
  • 2PM: Big Screens Live Race Feed Starts
  • Afternoon (Approx. 4pm): Be at the FINISH Line!
  • Afternoon (After Last Rider): FINISH Award ceremonies
  • 5:30PM: Sunset Happy Hour at the top of the Gondola
  • 5:30PM: Free Summer Concert, Howelsen Hill in downtown Steamboat
  • 9PM: Fireworks, Howelsen Hill in downtown Steamboat Springs
Mountain Biking in Steamboat
Mountain Biking in Steamboat

Saturday August 27, 2011

  • 9:30AM USA Pro Cycling Challenge Teams Arrive at Meadows Parking Lot
  • 9:30AM Lifestyle Expo Opens
  • 9:30AM USA Pro Cycling Challenge Hospitality Tent Opens
  • 10:00AM: Tour Announcers Introduce & Interview Representatives
  • 10:15AM: Caravan Vehicles in Place
  • 10:30AM: Start Ceremonies
  • 11:15AM: START USA Pro Cycling Stage 5: Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge
  • 11:35AM: STARS Charity Ride Start
  • 9AM-2PM: Farmers Market, downtown on 6th St.
  • 10AM-4PM: Gondola open, Steamboat Ski Area
  • 9-10:15AM: Athletes Alley
  • 10:15AM: USA Pro Cycling Challenge START ceremonies
  • 10:45-11:15AM: Be at the START line! Pro Parade and Race Start.
  • 8PM: Strings Music Festival concert “Head for the Hills
  • Glowball Tournament at Haymaker Golf Course
Lance Armstrong Mountain Biking in Steamboat
Lance Armstrong Mountain Biking in Steamboat

Steamboat Springs was originally a summer resort. Travelers in the early 1900s visited Steamboat Springs in the summer months for the natural hot springs and vast hunting and fishing opportunities. Today, summer activities span the spectrum, with three championship golf courses, an indoor-outdoor tennis center, biking, hiking, kayaking, fly fishing, and horseback riding right in town.

 

Other Facts

  • Named by French Fur trappers in the 1860s for a hot spring near the Yampa River that sounded like a steamboat
  • There are more than 150 mineral springs in the area
  • James Crawford staked the first homestead in 1875
  • Hometown of 79 Winter Olympic athletes since 1932, more than any other town in the US
  • Home to Howelsen Hill, Colorado’s oldest ski area in continuous use (opened 1915)
  • In the early 1900s Steamboat Springs was the largest exporter of cattle in the western United States
  • Lincoln Avenue (US Highway 40), Steamboat Springs’ main street was built wide to accommodate cattle drives
  • Steamboat Springs weekly summer rodeo was named the “Small Town Outdoor Rodeo of the Year” by the ProRodeo Cowboys Association in 2002
  • Holds oldest annual winter carnival west of the Mississippi River
  • Home to Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp (opened 1913) attended by such performing artists as Dustin Hoffman, Julie Harris and Agnes de Mille

 

Monuments:

  • Yampa River: winds through downtown Steamboat Springs
  • Yampa River Core Trail: winds along the Yampa River through downtown Steamboat Springs
  • Fish Creek Falls: 3 miles from town
  • Steamboat Barn (famous barn used in ski poster): between town and mountain
  • Strawberry Park Hot Springs: 7 miles from town
  • Continental Divide Trail: Summit Lake trailhead 18 miles from town
  • Stagecoach State Park: 17 miles south of town
  • Steamboat Lake State Park: 27 miles north of town
  • Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest: 5,500’ to 12,940’
  • Mt. Zirkel Wilderness: Fifteen peaks reach 12,000’ with Mt. Zirkel the highest at 12,180’
  • Flat Tops Wilderness: Devil’s Causeway 11,600’