Steamboat Springs skiing legend Jim “Moose” Barrows died at 80 years old Friday morning around 4 a.m. according to a journal entry from Barrows’ sister, Nancy Gray, on CaringBridge.org. 

In her post, Gray said Barrows traveled to Steamboat by ambulance yesterday and was admitted into Casey’s Pond, a local senior living community, in the early afternoon. 

“He was sleeping peacefully and just stopped breathing,” Gray’s journal entry stated.

Barrows carried a legacy in Steamboat Springs and in the ski racing world. He moved to Steamboat Springs with his family in 1950 and joined the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club at age five, where he was coached by another local skiing legend — Gordy Wren. 

Wren helped develop Barrows’ skills across all disciplines, but by the early 1960s, Barrows had chosen Alpine skiing as his path. Competing in the Rocky Mountain Division, Barrows won every downhill competition in the 1961-62 season. He finished that year earning the prestigious Western States Team Championship Downhill combined titles in Sun Valley. 

Barrows earned the moniker “Moose” from his coach at the University of Colorado, Bob Beattie, who helped refine his Alpine skills — eventually leading to his selection to the 1960 U.S. Ski Team. 

Barrows earned the bronze medal while competing in the first-ever World Cup Downhill race held in the U.S. in Franconia, New Hampshire, in 1967. That season led to Barrows placing seventh in the FIS World Downhill ranking, making him the top American in the sport and qualifying him for the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team. 

That qualification made Barrows, along with Jere Elliot, the 17th and 18th Olympic athletes from Steamboat Springs. Since then, that total has grown to 100. 

The 1968 Winter Olympic Games were held in Grenoble, France, where Barrows suffered a dramatic tumble in competition, resulting in a feature on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” show which pinned Barrows with the famous tagline — “agony of defeat.”

The following year, Barrows would rebound with a North American Downhill Championship in 1969, and later competed on the Pro Tour in the early 1970s. 

After retirement from competition, Barrows turned to the coaching lifestyle, where he gave instruction for the U.S. men’s Downhill Team. He continued to promote the sport through his lifetime and even taught a course on the history of skiing at Colorado Mountain College in town. 

Locals likely hear Barrows’ name every September when the Moose’s Loose Golf Tournament comes around, a tournament he has hosted since 1984. Barrows never forgot what growing up on the slopes of Howelsen Hill felt like, and he remained mindful of his childhood experience, leading to the creation of a scholarship fund in the 1970s that would support young skiers. 

The Moose’s Loose tournament, most commonly hosted at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club, would raise money for the Athletic Achievement Scholarship at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club for Steamboat kids to afford to travel to national and international championship events.

Barrows’ passions for skiing and his philanthropic nature will continue to be remembered throughout the Yampa Valley, and his legacy in Steamboat Springs continues to be an inspiration to the young skiers and snowboarders growing up just like him at Howelsen Hill.