STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Collecting and trading Olympic pins has become its own sport, and in 2018, Steamboat Springs will be represented.

Even though the Steamboat Pilot & Today has been sending reporters to the Winter Olympic games since 2002, the newspaper has never before created its own Steamboat-specific pin.

That all changes in 2018 as Sports Editor Joel Reichenberger will be heading to Pyeongchang, South Korea, with 100 pins in his pocket ready to trade.

Local residents will also have the opportunity to purchase one of the commemorative pins at SteamboatToday.com/pins.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today’s pin salutes the tradition of great ski jumpers who’ve honed their technique at Howelsen Hill, with a nod to the famous pagodas throughout South Korea. The pin also celebrates Steamboat’s proud tradition of producing Winter Olympians – 88 and counting.

According to Collectors Weekly, the Olympic pin tradition began with small cardboard badges, which were worn by athletes and officials at the first modern Olympics in 1896. The first souvenir pins were produced for spectators to purchase at the 1912 Stockholm games,

According to Steamboat pin collector Hal Levin, tens of thousands of Olympic pins now surface at each Games, where they are given away and traded by athletes, sponsors, reporters, spectators and collectors.

“You have to have pins to trade for other pins,” Levin said. “A lot of people want to trade for them. It’s the biggest non-athletic sport at the Olympics.”

A portion of the Steamboat pins will feature the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club logo. Winter Sports Club volunteers will be selling these at the Olympic sendoff, which will be held from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27 in Steamboat Ski Area’s Gondola Square, and throughout Winter Carnival as supplies last.

These pins will also be sold at the SSWSC office at Howelsen Hill. The cost is $10, and the Winter Sports Club will earn a $2.50 donation from Steamboat Today for every pin purchased through a volunteer or at the SSWSC office.

To view the pin, visit SteamboatToday.com/pins.

To reach Lisa Schlichtman, call 970-871-4221, email lschlichtman@SteamboatToday.com or follow her on Twitter @LSchlichtman.

To reach Lisa Schlichtman, call 970-871-4221, email lschlichtman@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @lschlichtman.