Steamboat

Deborah Olsen
Billy Kidd asked a few of his friends in the ski
industry to join the conversation.
Nelson Carmichael at the top of his namesake, Nelson’s Run
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Billy Demong, 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist
Courtesy U.S. Ski Team/Sarah Brunson
“Twenty-first century technology cannot change the essence of
winter sports. That is the past, present and the future.”
Deb armstrong, Olympic gold medalist and alpine program
director of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
“During the next 50 years, we’ll see a number of unique new resorts
developed. Zero-emission, fuel-cell-powered, airborne personal
access vehicles will zip us anywhere we want to explore. Equipment
will become practically transparent and invisible as hard goods
will become much, much lighter without sacrificing performance.
Finally, clothing will self-regulate — deeming layering unnecessary,
and we’ll never be cold or wet again. ”
nelson CarmiChael, Olympic medalist, Steamboat Springs
“From Lake Placid, New York, to Steamboat Springs and from
Lillehammer, Norway, to Chamonix, France, I’ve seen skiing evolve
from a winter-only sport to a year-round pursuit where elite athletes
chase the white stuff around the world, and imaginative engineers
find ways to make snow and substitute for it with porcelain and
plastic. In the coming years, I hope we can band together to
preserve and sustain our snow, so that in 50 years, our children’s
children will continue to break barriers!”
billy Demong, Nordic Combined Olympic Gold Medalist, 2010,
and World Champion, 2009
“Steamboat will have a year-round community of students, at the
secondary and college level, pursuing their studies in Steamboat
while participating in a variety of elite sports academies. The
Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club will be the largest, but
by no means the only training center. We may see mountain and
road cycling, lacrosse, even a rowing center. We’ll have a vibrant
population of non-place-based employers and employees. Many
of these businesses will have a travel industry focus.”
Chris DiamonD, President & COO, Steamboat Ski & Resort
Corporation
“Skiers will have self-adjusting gear head-to-foot. Clothes in
sync with elements/environment, goggles not only with GPS
and video, but that change like the iris of your eyes for max
visibility. If you don’t get our legendary powder on a given day,
manmade-powder will be guaranteed to please. On the gondi
ride, a Billy Kidd hologram will demonstrate how to ski with
ease in waist-deep powder on the world-famous tree-ski runs.”
ChaD FleisCher, Two-time alpine Olympian, President/
Founder Fleischer Sport
“Future-think wizards and management consultants didn’t predict
the explosion of freestyle and cross-country skiing in the 1970s, nor
snowboarding in the 1990s. They were spontaneously introduced
by skiers. In 50 years, the sport will be whatever skiers devise. All
the ski industry has to do is to provide the equipment and facilities,
and get out of the way.”
John Fry, “The Story of Modern Skiing”