Brent Romick and John Shipley have a combined 88 years of experience with the rodeo in Steamboat Springs. 

Romick prides himself in dreaming big and is always searching for the next big thing in the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series. Shipley takes any of those concepts he can and helps make them a reality.

“He’s the big idea guy, I’m the detail guy,” Shipley said. 

To some, the ventures may seem impossible. To Romick and Shipley, settling for complacency is never an option. 

“We strive for doing things at a very high level and some people doubt us,” Romick said. “Best thing you can do is doubt us because we’re gonna try to prove you wrong. It’s just the cowboy way, but partnerships are made that way.” 

Romick, the active chairman of the rodeo and arena director, joined the local rodeo in 1979. He grew up on a ranch in Wyoming and was surrounded by rodeo cowboys his whole life.

Romick rode his first bareback horse in Steamboat Springs at 16 and now is responsible for the rodeo’s full production. The arena underwent renovations in 1989, and in 1990 when it was renamed the Brent Romick Rodeo Arena in his honor.  

“Growing up in this game and growing up both in ski racing and in rodeo, there is no better life,” Romick said. “I’ve got the best life going because I got both those sports. I’m gonna die doing this thing.” 

Shipley got his start as a bareback rider and was working in marketing for Steamboat Resort in the early 1980s. 

Shipley was set to compete during one of Steamboat’s Friday Night Jackpot Rodeos, recognizing there was no one around to announce the performance. Romick instructed Shipley to take the mic and share what he knows until it was his turn to ride. 

“I discovered pretty quickly I had a lot more aptitude describing it than doing it,” Shipley said. 

Shipley’s voice has been serenading rodeo fans for 42 years. He recognizes that most visitors don’t know the difference between bareback and saddle bronc events, making his job as narrator one of the most important aspects of the performance. 

“The audience is very reactive to John and we try to keep the tempo up on the rodeo the whole time,” Romick said. 

Romick and Shipley have spent countless hours working on the rodeo product over the years. They continue working through the offseason with a commitment to keeping things fresh and selling an experience to both the spectators and the competitors. 

“It is not about ‘I’, it’s about ‘team’. It takes 50 of us to pull this off,” Romick said. “Nobody is better than the other guy. Ego is not part of this.”

Local rodeos date back to the late 1800s, as far as anyone can tell. In the mid-1970s Steamboat hosted the Friday Night Jackpot each week, which were pretty loosely regulated, according to Romick. 

By the mid-80s, the Jackpot Rodeo began to include Saturday nights and changed its name to the Steamboat Springs Rodeo Series. In 1988, the first and last weekends of the 10-week series were sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and by 1989, the rodeo committee decided to go all-pro.

It has been a fully sanctioned PRCA series ever since. 

Shipley said visitors 40-plus years ago would be stunned by the grandstands and announcer’s booth at Romick Arena today. He pointed to the rodeo’s proximity to downtown and connection to Routt County’s Western roots as factors in the organization’s steady growth. 

This year’s series will feature 10 rodeos and 21 total performances from June 20-Aug. 23. Barbecue and music begin each performance at 6 p.m. with the chutes set to fly open at 7:30 p.m. 

Romick and Shipley continue to strive for progress over perfection. While things may change around the rodeo grounds, the one constant will continue to be Romick’s dreams and Shipley’s sounds. 

“It’s all on the accelerator, no breaks and throw the steering wheel out, because that’s our future,” Romick said. “If we can progress as much as we have for the last 45 years for the next 45 years, then it will remain the mainstay that it is.”