Ski Steamboat For Pete's Sake
The story of Steamboat Springs, Colorado told by third-generation local, Pete Wither. Pete covers events from the gold rush up north in Hahn's Peak, to early downtown Steamboat development, and of course the birth of Steamboat Resort to present.
Pete was born and raised in Steamboat and only left for a short while to serve in Vietnam and live in Winter Park, Colorado as a patroller in the 60s. He and his wife, Barbi, were integral parts of the Steamboat Ski Resort effort including clearing trails, building lifts, running ski patrol and Barbi as a long time ski lesson supervisor.
Pete is an epic storyteller and covers many lesser known stories about Steamboat including when the Gondola car fell over 200 feet in 1972, and an hero-like rescue of every person on the Gondola was safely conducted (as well as very little press).
Enjoy listening to all of Pete's stories - with Barbi's shoutouts from the kitchen - in short 25 minutes or less episodes.
Ski Steamboat!
Ski Steamboat For Pete's Sake
3: Steamboat Gondola Rescue of 1972
In the winter of 1972, a descending unoccupied gondola car fell 200+ feet to the ground on a windy day above Heavenly Daze at Steamboat Ski Resort. You'll be hard pressed to find any coverage of the event other than a brief mention. Back then, Twitter wasn't a thing and the press wasn't always privy to near-catastrophe.
A few brave ski patrol members worked into the night to safely belay all of the stranded skiers down to the ground. Pete was one of them.
Three towers supported the bi-cable system, which carried 90 six-passenger
cabins. That means the gondola cars were much higher up in the air than they are today. Pete went from one gondola car to the next between his assigned two towers using a hand-powered bicycle type apparatus that latched on to the swinging cable above. Not one person was injured.
