The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club has unveiled its new bus for athletes who need after-school transportation from Steamboat Springs public schools to Howelsen Hill. 

The 77-passenger bus will operate Monday-Friday from Oct. 9-March 29 and bring SSWSC athletes from Soda Creek Elementary and Strawberry Park Elementary and Middle Schools to Howelsen for training. Sleeping Giant students will take a bus from Sleeping Giant School to Strawberry Park, where they will then transfer to the SSWSC bus. 

The bus is blue in color and denoted with a snowflake and the club’s name on each side. Otherwise, it is similar to a school bus. 

“It was important the bus was distinguishable for the club out there,” SSWSC Chief Operating Officer Jon Nolting said. “That is our blue with our logos and matches with some of the Howelsen blue. We thought it was a nice, sharp color that would stand out in a nice way.”

Bus passes can be purchased through the club and are available to elementary and middle school athletes registered for SSWSC programs. 

The transportation project was made possible through a grant the club received from the Lennox Foundation and through the support of George and Barbara Eidsness, who helped source the bus. 

Nolting said he hopes the bus will help alleviate some of the traffic congestion and pollution in town, but accessibility to the club is the No. 1 goal. 

“One of the things that is unique about Steamboat being Ski Town, U.S.A., is we truly believe every kid should have a chance to participate,” Nolting said. “We do that through our second-grade programs, and this really takes away the obstacle for the families who can’t get out of work to get their kids to training. Now they have a way for their kid to participate, and that was really important to us.”