STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — It isn’t summer without summer camp, and with COVID-19 restrictions slowly loosening, the summer of 2020 won’t be without that experience. The Steamboat Springs Parks and Recreation Department announced this week that Adventure Bound Summer Camps will begin July 6 after Steamboat Springs City Council approved a budget request on Tuesday.

Day camps will be offered Monday through Thursday for six weeks. The weekly cost per child is $175, with partial scholarships available to eligible participants. Enrollment will be based on need, income, residency and a few other factors.

Adventure Bound will run on a weekly basis to maintain consistent groups of participants, as per current health orders. There will be no daily registrants or prorated costs for partial attendance. Since health orders are constantly changing, activity schedules will go out the week before each camp. So, the activity calendar for the July 6 camp will be available June 29.

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A major difference in the summer’s camp structure will be that field trips will be contained to Routt County, rather than traveling to Denver, Glenwood Springs and elsewhere as in years past. The camp will also avoid pools for the time being, focusing water activities on rivers and lakes. 

Adventure Bound will cost the city $65,000 to operate. The money City Council approved to support the camps was originally built into the budget to cover the cost of hosting Triple Crown Sports events throughout the summer.

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On Tuesday night, council decided Triple Crown will not come to Steamboat for the first time in nearly four decades, and council member Michael Buccino suggested using the funds previously budgeted for the tournaments to support local youth summer camps. The measure was unanimously approved by council.

“I’m not surprised the council funded it,” said Parks and Recreation director Angela Cosby. “They’ve been talking about it for almost two months over the course of three different meetings, saying, ‘We need a source of recreation programming. How are we going to do that?’”

Putting on camps this summer comes with new costs for the city.

Youth and Teen Recreation Supervisor Megan Troiani said the Parks and Recreation Department expects to go through 300 pairs of gloves a day, just based on having to change gloves after applying sunscreen to each camper. She’s not sure how they’ll be able to frequently purchase and stock up on that amount of gloves. 

“Not having enough gloves in town is a new issue I didn’t see at first,” she said. “Thinking more into everything, we’re finding now we have a few more obstacles to figure out.”

Troiani also expects the requirement that campers keep masks on throughout the day will be a challenge. She said she’s spoken with local preschools and learned that young kids are getting used to wearing them. 

“That’s been a challenge for all of us coming to work, day-to-day, wearing a mask for such a long period of time,” Troiani said. “I see all the children struggling to wear the mask when we’re inside, the whole time.”

Parks and Recreation is still looking for summer camp group leaders since there can only be so many people in a room, and there is a required adult-child ratio. Those 18 and older can apply at steamboatsprings.net.jobs.

The first round of applications for camp will be reviewed next week, so all materials must be submitted by 8 a.m. Monday, June 22. Families will be notified of acceptance by June 29. To apply and learn more, go to steamboatsprings.com/summer.

To reach Shelby Reardon, call 970-871-4253, email sreardon@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.