Olympian Biography Program | Tread of Pioneers Museum

Documenting Our Olympic Heritage

Steamboat Springs’ Olympic tradition is second to none. Boasting more winter Olympic athletes than any other town in North America, our Olympic heritage runs strong and deep. The Olympian Biography project was initiated in 2006 and created in memory of Essie Whittemore who was such a faithful spectator at so many winter sport events. Essie's husband, Stan, and the museum saw the need for a comprehensive Olympian biography resource that would connect researchers with our rich Olympic heritage. Although museum staff made every attempt to contact the Olympians directly to acquire biographies and essential information from the Olympians themselves, not all responded to our information requests. As a result, museum staff researched the Olympians using a variety of sources: the U.S. Olympic Committee, Team USA, books, and museum research files.

The following criteria used for this project: Olympians included on this project called Steamboat "home" at the time of this project, and either competed in an Olympics or were named to an Olympic team (but may not have competed).

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Steamboat Springs Olympians Stats

Special Thanks

A very special thank you to Stan Whittemore and Ed and Jayne Hill for their donations to this project, Judy Ross at the Bud Werner Memorial Library , and museum staff. Additional thanks to the Olympians who provided information, Mike Lane via Steamboat Ski & Resort, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, the U.S. Olympic Committee; Tom Bie and his "Steamboat: Ski Town USA" book (information and photo usage) and Sureva Towler for her "History of Skiing in Steamboat Springs" book (reference only).