Steamboat Flight Academy Founder Joe Birkinbine Dies at 67

Steamboat Springs —Joe Edward Birkinbine, 67, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, surrounded by the family that adored him.

He spent the last four years quietly navigating a stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis, refusing to let the disease dictate the rhythm of his life. He continued his aviation career until early June, when the illness grew aggressive and forced a change in treatment.

The Steamboat Pilot reported the details of Birkinbine’s life and passing. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 29, 1958, he grew up in Sun Prairie along with three younger siblings. His youth was defined by family adventures — boating and waterskiing on White Lake and the Wisconsin River, or helping out on the Bergum Farm in Rio. He graduated from Sun Prairie High School in 1977, becoming the youngest ski patroller at Devil’s Head Resort during those formative years.

That winter job sparked a lifelong connection to the slopes. He spent the summer after high school working at the Kettle Moraine Camp for the Hearing Impaired before spending a year in Holden Village, Washington, at a Lutheran-based environmental education center in the North Cascade Mountains. The experience was so significant that he returned in August 2025, just a year before his death, for a visit with his wife, his sister Beth, and her husband.

After attending Bemidji State University in Minnesota, where he earned his private pilot certificate and graduated in 1982, Birkinbine moved west. He spent twelve years as a ski patroller, first in Crested Butte and then for a decade in Steamboat Springs. It was here he launched Steamboat Flight Academy, training more than 70 pilots who earned their licenses under his instruction.

His personal life intertwined with his professional one in the winter of 1991. While working as a ski patroller, he met Betsy, a ski instructor. He asked for her phone number at the top of Mount Werner on a snowy day. Less than two years later, on October 9, 1993, they were married.

They lived in Steamboat Springs for 32 years, raising two sons, Grant and Brooks. Birkinbine spoke of them with immense pride. His affection extended to Grant’s wife, Leah, whom he considered more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law. Family remained the central pillar of his achievements.

After a brief detour into the financial industry — working in investments and estate planning, he returned to his true passion. In 2018, he accepted a position as a full captain with Wheels Up. He flew the King Air 350 and the Citation 3, and most recently, the Phenom 300, a twin-engine jet.

He didn’t just fly; he lived the life he had built. Locals who knew him remember the patroller who climbed the mountain every day, the instructor who taught others to navigate the skies, and the husband who asked for a phone number at the top of Mount Werner and never looked back.

Now, the hangars are quieter. The flight academy has fewer students to guide. The family gathers to remember a man who turned a Wisconsin childhood into a Colorado legacy, one flight at a time.