Eight Million Dollars and a Mountain That Changed Its Name (1962–1981)

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:57:52 GMT · 04:49

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## About this episode
Between 1962 and 1981, Steamboat Springs became a different town — a ski area that missed its opening season, a mountain renamed for a local Olympian who died young, an eight million dollar sale to a conglomerate, and a decade of population growth that roughly doubled Routt County. Marv, Dana, and Theo walk through what happened without tying it into a lesson.

## In this episode
- Storm Mountain, James Temple, and the missed 1961-62 opening
- The Storm Hut A-frame and the January 12, 1963 opening day
- Buddy Werner, the 1964 avalanche in Switzerland, and the 1965 renaming to Mount Werner
- LTV Recreational Development's 1969 purchase and the ten million dollar base development
- Who was already in the valley — ranch families, and the older Ute history the episode doesn't skip
- Routt County's 7.35 percent annual growth from 1970 to 1980, and what compounding does to a place

## Hosts
- Marv Sundstrom — grew up in Steamboat and lived through this stretch
- Dana Reyes — arrived as a child at the end of the period and only knows the after
- Theo Ames — came for the mountain and asks who was already here