Steamboat Mountain School, formerly The Lowell Whiteman School, is a small,

college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

Steamboat Springs, Colorado The City of Steamboat Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Routt County, Colorado, United States. Steamboat Springs is the principal city of the Steamboat Springs, CO Micropolitan Sta ...

, focused on

experiential education Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is not interchangeable with experiential ...

, for students in grades K–12. The school is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

boarding and day school educating roughly 157 students in grades K through 12. It was founded in 1957 and the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

emphasizes

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

academics, educational experience in the wilderness, global travel, and both recreational and competitive

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

programs.

History

Steamboat Mountain School was founded in 1957 as a boarding and day high school. It was originally named Lowell Whiteman School after its founder, a local entrepreneur and adventurer, but was renamed in 2014 to emphasize its mountain ethic. Lowell Whiteman Primary School, with the same namesake, was founded in 1993, and was renamed Emerald Mountain School in 2014. The primary school was modeled after Lowell Whiteman School but was a separate entity. The two schools announced a merger in 2020. The merger took place on 1 January 2021; however, the school continues to operate the two campuses.

Notable alumni

Caroline Lalive Caroline Lalive (born August 10, 1979) is an American former alpine skier who competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics. She was born in Truckee, California Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, ...

(born 1979), alpine skier and two-time Olympian *

Travis Mayer Travis Mayer (born February 22, 1982, in Buffalo, New York) is an Olympic-level freestyle skier. He won the silver medal in the moguls competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics and also competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Travis grew up skii ...

(born 1982), freestyle skier (moguls) and Olympic silver medalist *

Ryan Max Riley Ryan Max Riley (born May 15, 1979) is a humorist and athlete who was a humor writer for ''The Harvard Lampoon''. He competed on the World Cup for seven years and was a two-time US National Champion as an athlete on the U.S. Ski Team in the frees ...

(born 1979), freestyle skier and humorist *

Dylan Roberts Dylan Outerbridge Roberts (born July 17, 1989) is an American politician and attorney who is a Democratic member of the Colorado Senate. He represents District 8, which includes all or part of Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jacks ...

, attorney and member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

Johnny Spillane Johnny Spillane (born November 24, 1980) is an American athlete who competes in Nordic combined, a combination event consisting of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Spillane is a world champion and three-time Olympic silver medalist. He ann ...

(born 1980), Nordic combined skier, three-time Olympic silver medalist and a World champion *

Bill Browder William Felix Browder (born April 23, 1964) is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which at one time was the large ...

(born 1964), British financier. CEO and co-founder of

Hermitage Capital Management Hermitage Capital Management is an investment fund and asset management company specializing in Russian markets founded by Bill Browder and Edmond Safra. Chief operating officer is Ivan Cherkasov. Hermitage Capital Management headquarters are in ...

John Milius John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. He was a writer for the first two ''Dirty Harry'' films, received an Academy Award nomination as screenwriter of ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979), a ...

(born 1944) screenwriter, director, and producer * Hig Roberts, two giant slalom national titles competing on the U.S. Ski Team.

References

{{authority control Private high schools in Colorado Educational institutions established in 1957 Schools in Routt County, Colorado Preparatory schools in Colorado 1957 establishments in Colorado