A memorial service for Steamboat Springs Olympian Jim “Moose” Barrows is this Wednesday, July 10, at the JASDIP Ranch on Routt County Road 14. People can start arriving at 4:30 p.m. and then the service is at 5:30 p.m.
Moose’s sister, Nancy Gray, says her family has received hundreds of letters remembering her brother.
“We’ve had such a big outreach from the whole world. We got a letter from Franz Klammer and a letter from Jean Claude Killy, and we got stuff from the International Ski Federation. The Colorado Ski Hall of Fame is going to do a video that’s going to be amazing.”
The family has asked that if you want to attend the memorial service for Moose, please take a shuttle. There are shuttles leaving from the Meadows Parking Lot at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The Steamboat Springs Olympian died June 28.
The family has asked us to share Moose’s obituary on Steamboat Radio News.
Obituary for Jim “Moose” Barrows
The Steamboat legend Jim “Moose” Barrows left his mark everywhere he went and with all of the people he ever met, and with his passing he leaves a gaping hole in our hearts and our community. He loved the valley and all its people. He requested to return to the valley to live out his final time here on earth after a bumpy four-week stay at Anschutz Hospital in Denver. He made it to The Doak in time for his final goodbyes with family and a few friends and to soak in the powerful Yampa Valley energy before his final breath in the early hours of June 28, 2024. He was as resilient as they come, fighting his way through thyroid and melanoma brain cancers. He had spent the last seven and half years making monthly trips to Denver for his treatments and to flirt a little with the nurses. He had a great team of health care providers throughout his many years in outpatient care as well as in his final in patient stay, we are grateful from the bottom of our hearts for the compassion, empathy, and cheerleading of his medical team(s).
Jim was a character larger than life and lived his life full out. His adventures were many, more than most of us get in this lifetime. And with his infectious smile and heart made from gold he touched the lives of so many throughout those adventures. He loved his mountains and, of course, skiing on them. He found his solace in the air; his passion was planes. He loved his guy time golfing and playing poker, and always managed to have a lady-friend or two by his side. And finally working, his beautiful Yampa Valley Ranch, JASDIP (Just Another Shitty Day In Paradise), was his time of restoration and rejuvenation, and possibly a headache or two.
He was born to Maurine Radford and Raymond Barrows, both of Cambridge, NE, on April 25, 1944 in Los Angeles, CA. He was destined to be a skier. When traveling from California back to Nebraska in 1951 the Barrows family stopped in Steamboat Springs, with the three boys, Bob, Jim, and Joe. Staying at the Spring Creek Motel, where the post office is today, they walked to the Stockman’s Cafe. During the walk they passed Stevens-Chesney Chevrolet and saw an ad for an automotive mechanic. The next morning Ray had the job and initiated his family’s move to Steamboat Springs.
Jim started second grade in Steamboat. Enjoying all the valley had to offer, as a small boy, he fished Spring Creek daily, played marbles in the potholes of Steamboat’s dirt roads, and of course he started skiing right away. The coach for everyone was Gordy Wren, an Olympian and 10th Mountain Division veteran. Jim excelled first in jumping and later concentrated in downhill skiing. He won many awards during high school, including the “Rocky Mountain News” Futurity Award at 13. He became proficient at all skiing disciplines and won many national awards as a high school 4-way skier. Taking care of their young sister, Nancy, the Barrows boys would often make her just tag along to ski at Howelsen Hill. He also worked at Ray’s Texaco, his dad’s service station, and Yampa Valley Electric while in high school. During this time he grew his love for mechanical tinkering.
He enrolled in the University of Colorado in 1962 and quickly became an NCAA 4-way contender and champion. It was at CU that coach Bob Beattie gave him the name “Moose.” His “go for it” attitude throughout his career, as well as his large stature probably contributed to his name. While skiing for CU he lettered three times and went on to become the nation’s premier four-event skier, participating in both alpine and Nordic events. He had seven top five and 25 top 10 finishes in his Buff career.
In 1967, Moose won one World Cup downhill, and placed seventh in the downhill World Cup for that season, finishing 24th in the overall World Cup. He made the U.S. Olympic Team and competed in the downhill at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, but did not finish after a tremendous fall that would become legendary as the infamous highlight of ABC Sports Wide World of Sports dubbed, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” In 1969, he won the North American downhill championship. He skied for a few years on the pro circuit in the early 70s, and later became a ski coach and a promoter of ski events and resorts. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1996.
On July 1, 1981, Jim and his wife Mary Lawrence welcomed beautiful baby boy, Michael “Mickey” Patrick into the world. Mickey was born with a congenital heart disease and spent much of his short life in and out Colorado Children’s Hospital. Jim loved more than anything being a dad, and having Mickey in his arms. He passed on his fighting spirit and contagious smile onto his sweet boy, whose precious life was cut far too short on October 19, 1983. The parents torn from the loss of their young son, later divorced and went their separate ways. Mickey’s Fund at Colorado Children’s Hospital is the legacy Jim leaves in honor of his son, and has turned into the incredible Snowpile Event, through which all patients and their siblings wake up to a magical holiday morning, while taking pressure off their parents.
Jim’s love for airplanes originated from his dad’s love and career as an essential civilian worker building planes during WWII for Lockheed Aircraft Company, and from his older brother, Bob’s, love to be in the cockpit. He studied aeronautical engineering while at CU Boulder and earned his pilot’s license in 1968. In 1972, in the typical Moose fashion, walking down the street in Steamboat, he asked a man he didn’t recognize what he was doing in town. That was the beginning of his wonderful friendship with Charlie Hillard and his aviation family. Moose helped Charlie and family in the skiing world and Charlie brought aviation to Moose’s doorstep. In their many flying adventures together, Moose was introduced to the Christen Eagle, a 2-place aerobatic airplane. He bought a gorgeous, perfect Eagle and flew aerobatics in it. Moose also flew the American Standard Biplane, Beechcraft Baron and Charlie’s Grumman Widgeon. He had quite a colorful aviation history getting to know the very best in the air show industry. Some of his most told stories came from his numerous trips to Osh Kosh and other airshows around the country. As quoted by Sean Tucker, “Moose was a better pilot than golfer, so you know he was a great pilot. His golf game was pretty damn good, too.”
Moose in the Cowboy Downhill in 2022.
Golf brought Jim great joy as a way to pass time with friends, be outside, travel, and maybe make a buck or two. His legacy lives on through his Moose is Loose Golf Tournament, connecting his love for golf, skiing and kids together as the tournament supports the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Scholarship fund.
Jim is preceded in death by his son, Michael (Mickey) Barrows and his parents Ray and Maurine Barrows. He is survived by his siblings Bob (Johnnabeth) Barrows, Joe Barrows, and Nancy (Gary) Gray, as well as his nieces and nephew Annika (Steve) Stec, Jessica (Bobby) Aldighieri, Becca Gray, and Rob Barrows and their children Sam, Lauren, and Caroline Stec, Enzo Aldighieri, Rukah Lambing, and Mason Barrows. He will be deeply missed and his memory will forever be etched into the mountains of his beloved valley. RIP and may you have found your new iteration of JASDIP.
A memorial service will be held at the JASPDIP Ranch, 30015 RCR 14, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday July 10, with shuttle service from the Meadows parking lot beginning at 4 p.m.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to Mickey’s Fund at Colorado Children’s Hospital or SSWSC Scholarship fund.
This is on display at the top of the gondola at Steamboat Resort.