Steamboat Pilot Editor Invites Residents to June Listening Sessions

The smell of roasted coffee beans at Beard & Braid mixes with the early morning chill of Steamboat Springs, a scent that feels like a welcome home after years away. It’s a specific, grounded aroma that anchors you to the spot, reminding you that while the world outside may shift, the rituals of this valley remain stubbornly, beautifully constant. This is the sensory reality of returning to the Yampa Valley, a place that has held my family’s history since before I was born at Routt Memorial Hospital, and which I am now re-entering for the third time in my life.

Some folks around here might call it the "Yampa Valley Curse," that peculiar pull that keeps drawing people back despite the hardships. But when I first left in the mid-’80s, it wasn’t much of a choice. My parents had two kids under five and a mishmash of jobs that barely covered the bills. I remember my mom bringing me to work at the Mother Lode restaurant while she did bookkeeping, a scene of domestic chaos that somehow worked. She also told time at Alpine Bank and chopped vegetables at the Butcher Shop in Ski Time Square, while my dad split his days between SportStalker and guarding the Sheraton at night. They lived in the shadow of Ski Town Campground, owned by my grandparents, and worked the Division of Wildlife during the summer, scraping by when the offseason hit.

A year after I arrived, they packed up and moved to the Front Range, chasing stability. More than 40 years later, the offseasons aren’t so bad, but the cost of living has skyrocketed. Today, so many local families face similar financial struggles, squeezed by the same forces that drove my parents out. When I returned after college to work at the Steamboat Pilot & Today and the ski resort, my parents saw it as their chance to spend more time in the community where they had tried to raise a family. I worked a similar grind, full-time at the paper and seasonal jobs at local spots, lucky enough to buy a condo in Walton Village just before the Great Recession. I went underwater on my mortgage, but it didn’t matter — I had roots.

After 13 years, I took a dream job as newspaper editor in Summit County, sold the condo, and put the valley in my rearview mirror. Now, I’m back. A lot has changed since I headed over Rabbit Ears Pass seven years ago. Like all ski towns, Steamboat’s cost of living exploded during the pandemic, driven by location-neutral workers fleeing cities for recreation and nature. The town feels different now, denser, more expensive, yet the core remains.

As I work to reacquaint myself with the community, I want to hear from you. We’re starting in June with listening sessions, focus groups, and meet-and-greets with the Pilot staff, some of whom have been on the team for decades. We’re already restructuring our news and advertising teams, promoting Sydney Anderson to assistant editor, but the real work is in the conversations.

Join us on June 10 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Mountain Tap Brewery, 910 Yampa St., No. 103, or on June 23 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Beard & Braid, 116 Ninth St. Bring your thoughts, your frustrations, your hopes. The coffee will be hot, the chairs will be comfortable, and the door will be open. You can feel the weight of the mountains pressing in, not as a barrier, but as a witness to our shared history.