Western Ski Town Collaborates with Colorado Musicians to Sing the Praises of Living “The Steamboat Way”

Colorado’s Steamboat Ski Resort is on a mission to herald the joys of this western ski town, dramatically setting it apart from all other mountain destinations. Coming off the heels of their 60th anniversary, they’ve spent the last several years investing more than $200 million in transformative changes to the entire Steamboat experience to both preserve its legacy and craft a future as bright as its past. 

The legendary resort tapped Boulder-based Fortnight Collective in 2022 as AOR to help them share their story. The agency created “The Steamboat Way“ theme to capture the essence of a place that’s home to 400 working ranches, 100+ Olympians, and is beloved by locals and visitors from far and wide.

Year three of the “Steamboat Way” campaign launches in August with musicians singing odes to this unique place. Songs such as “Get on the Horse,” “Chairlift Romance” and “Wherever I May Roam” were developed in a collaboration between Fortnight Collective Creative Directors Jeff Schuller and David Steinke, the music composers at Coupe Studios, and members Sarah Anderson and Paul DeHaven of Colorado Americana band Heavy Diamond Ring.

“Our resort has evolved over the past few years, but intentionally stayed true to our deep, western roots. This sound-driven, emotional approach is attempting the same fate - telling the meaningful stories of what we are but in a new, approachable, toe-tapping way,” Morgan Bast, director of marketing at Steamboat Resort said. “The honey-sweet, wide-open-field sounds of Heavy Diamond Ring lend themselves beautifully to our beloved mountain and we’re thrilled to get these songs stuck in people’s heads.”

First launching in 2022-2023, the “Steamboat Way” campaign was a huge success, using the homespun American art form of cowboy poetry to spread the word and help the brand achieve an impressive return on investment along with several advertising and travel industry awards. For that effort, they collaborated with acclaimed cowboy poet Randy Rieman as the campaign’s voice (and heart and soul) with lines such as “There’s an old western town full of strangers who are friends you haven’t yet made.” 

For the 2024-2025 season, the resort was looking to evolve the campaign in a way that preserved the emotional appeal while injecting a fresh energy that could appeal to skiers, snowboarders, and adventure-seekers young and old. And since Steamboat has a long history steeped in grassroots music, the agency decided it was time to sing it from the mountain tops. And the search for the right musical voice was on.

Heavy Diamond Ring’s Sarah Anderson and Paul DeHaven met and began playing together in 2004, and they bring to the campaign a fountain of open-hearted, folk-rock steeped in vocal harmony.

Led by Anderson’s smooth-as-honey vocals and DeHaven’s rugged guitar chops, the duo has been described as “open-road, long-drive music,” having “a little bit of twang and a whole lot of beef.”

For the spots, the duo was filmed performing the songs at iconic locations around Steamboat, from scenic Rabbit Ears Pass to local watering holes. These catchy tunes will be extended throughout the Steamboat experience with the campaign songs being played throughout the resort, on social, and within onsite experiences, helping to truly bring “The Steamboat Way” to life.

“As Colorado residents who are passionate about mountain living and all it has to offer, we’re proud to have partnered with the Steamboat team for the third year in a row to bring out the essence, spirit, and heritage of this amazing resort and town in an all-new way,” said Andy Nathan, founder and CEO of Fortnight Collective.

“The Steamboat Way” campaign includes CTV, online video, social, digital display, print, endemic web and features multiple content elements including four :30s, four :15s, five :06s, a wide range of display, social and print. It is a national effort running on Paramount+, Meta, YouTube, Google, TikTok, Freeskier, OnTheSnow, SkiMag, TripAdvisor, Matchstick Productions, and more.