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Tubers float the Yampa River through downtown Steamboat Springs on July 1. Thousands of tourists travel to this mountain town each year to visit the river.
At Backdoor Sports on Yampa Street, dozens of people from Wisconsin, Kentucky and Illinois were lining up this month to rent river tubes days before the waterway closed because of drought conditions.
Peter Van De Carr started the business 35 years ago with 10 tubes and a single limousine to ferry people back up the river when they were done. This year, he has a fleet of vans and long lines.
“There s days where we ll put 600 people on the river,” Van De Carr said. “Last year, we did about somewhere between 15,000 and 16,000 people. And that s probably like 4,000 or 5,000 above just an average summer.“
Capitol Coverage Tubers float the Yampa River through downtown Steamboat Springs on July 1. Thousands of tourists travel to this mountain town each year to visit the river.
After a year of coronavirus restrictions and cancelled travel plans, tourists have been flocking by the thousands to Steamboat Springs to cool off in the Yampa River.
At Backdoor Sports on Yampa Street, dozens of people from Wisconsin, Kentucky and Illinois were lining up this month to rent river tubes days before the waterway closed because of drought conditions.
Peter Van De Carr started the business 35 years ago with 10 tubes and a single limousine to ferry people back up the river when they were done. This year, he has a fleet of vans and long lines.
Tubers head down the Yampa River early Monday afternoon, but rising water temperatures may make sights like this rare as the summer progresses. If water temperatures exceed 75 degrees for two days in a row, commercial tubing operations will be shut down, and a voluntary closure would ask all river users to stay out of the water. (Photo by John F. Russell)
Outfitters on the Yampa River have expected this summer to be one of the shorter seasons in recent memory, and it looked like it wasn’t even going to make it to the Fourth of July.
“We were given the grace of a rainstorm last Saturday; the trajectory was to be closed (June 27),” said Pete Van De Carr, owner of Backdoor Sports in Steamboat. “That rainstorm was a divine intervention.”
. The money will go toward river education campaigns, signage and cleanups.
The second measure from the city provides the city’s three commercial river operators Backdoor Sports, Bucking Rainbow Outfitters and One Stop Ski Shop the opportunity to flex their daily allotments. In previous years, each business was allowed a certain number of tube allotments per day, but in 2021 the businesses are given a certain number of monthly allotments that can be used whenever they’d like.
Emalee Erickson uses a stand-up paddleboard on the Yampa River on Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Shelby Reardon)
Impact to businesses
While he fully supports the added $5 fee, Peter Van De Carr, owner of Backdoor Sports, said he is deeply concerned about the allotment rule as he believes it will lead to a larger number of tubes on the river all at once, potentially leading to more issues.
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