The Tread of Pioneers Museum, collaborating with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, invites the entire community to Olympian Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 PM for an evening with “The Three Sons of Winter Carnival’s Lighted Man.” The beloved Lighted Man has become arguably the most popular aspect of the century-old Winter Carnival, so don’t miss your chance to meet and hear from the Banks family to learn more about the pyrotechnic magic!

This event is a special all-ages program of the museum’s History Happy Hour series. The museum will serve complimentary craft beer for adults with Storm Peak Brewing, and the Winter Sports Club will provide free hot chocolate for all.

The original Lighted Man, Claudius Banks, was a skiing enthusiast and chief of police from Vernal, Utah. After participating in previous Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Winter Carnival Night Shows using flares and torches, he wanted to create an even more impressive light display and keep from burning his ski clothes. He says he first appeared in the Night Show in 1938 when he skied down Howelsen Hill with lighted poles.

“I try to never put the same show on twice,” said Claudius Banks in a Three Wire Winter Magazine interview. “I would either change the routine, the lights, or if I had two people, I could crisscross. Another thing I did was make big lighted signs… I made different ones for whatever happened to be the theme of the Carnival that year.”

In 1971, Claudius’ son, Jon, an electrical engineer, joined his father as a second Lighted Man. In 1977, Claudius’ last year before retiring, all three Banks family members, Claudius, Jon, and Kent, skied down Howelsen Hill as part of the Night Show. From 1978 on, Jon took over the tradition. Claudius continued to help behind the scenes, and the two of them would always add to the Lighted Man suit to make it lighter, flashier, and safer.

By the late ’90s, the Lighted Man suit consisted of a fire-proof race car suit with a leather “welder’s sleeve” on top to help prevent Banks from catching on fire. The family added buttons on the top of the ski poles to set off the fireworks he carried

and to control the lights. A close call led to the requirement of at least one person with a fire extinguisher skiing alongside the Lighted Man to manage any stray sparks.

The switch to LED lights reduced the Lighted Man’s suit weight, and today the suit only weighs around 30 pounds—though it still takes two people to get the Lighted Man into his suit and six to help with the show.

In 2021, in what would have been Jon’s 50th year as Lighted Man, he passed the torch to his younger brother, Kent. That wasn’t Kent’s first stint as the Lighted Man however.

Newer technology has come a long way from the first suit system with six-volt lights operated by a heavy car battery backpack and Roman candle fireworks shooting from the helmet.

The Lighted Man© continues to be a highlight of Steamboat’s Winter Carnival celebrations, and the Tread of Pioneers Museum and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club are thrilled to invite the Banks family to share their stories, experiences, and inspirations behind this time-honored community tradition.

Editor’s note: The “The Three Sons of Winter Carnival’s Lighted Man” and the “Lighted Man” are copyright terms

• “Three Generations of Winter Carnival’s Lighted Man©”
• Feb. 4 at 5:30 PM at Olympian Hall/Howelsen Hill
• 845 Howelsen Parkway
• treadofpioneers.org
• *Note- Due to ski area parking, event parking is limited, so arrive early and walk