Steamboat Stories — Jim Temple
Steamboat Ski Resort Founder (Storm Mountain Ski Area)

Between 1958 and 1961, Jim Temple secured options to buy 827 acres of multiple privately owned meadows at the base of Storm Mountain. In June of 1958, Temple exchanged a $1400 tractor for an option to purchase 100 acres originally homesteaded by George Arnold in 1898. Arnold’s son Ernest (Ernie) received $4,600 for land near what is now Steamboat Square. Later that summer, Temple would go on to break ground on the Storm Mountain Ski Area on July 6, 1958.

To help celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Steamboat Resort, we have complied stories of people who have shaped the mountain from its humble beginnings to the resort of today, sharing their deep roots, traditions, and memories.

If you would like to add your own stories and memories of Steamboat, please tag your social media posts with #steamboat60.