Darce Vold’s favorite moment of the Snowmass Rodeo happens before the events even begin. At 7 p.m. sharp, Willie Nelson’s voice croons the first words of “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” over the loudspeakers. The crowd calms. Clutching an American flag, local cowgirl Maxine Harris mounts her palomino, ready to bolt. The national anthem singer waits behind the gate, along with some 200 riders and ropers who hope to hang on, race fast, or lasso a steer to the hoots and hollers of 2,000 spectators. But first, in anticipation, it’s absolutely quiet as everyone awaits the emcee to kick things off.

“It’s very important to get that hush in the arena,” says Vold, a third-generation stock contractor and owner of the Triple V Rodeo Company, which produces the Wednesday evening event at Snowmass Town Park. “Then you start with a bang! I love the ups and downs: bringing the crowd up and settling them down.”
Vold, who spends summers in Snowmass and winters in Greeley, has conducted the Snowmass Rodeo for the past 28 years, since 2013 as executive director of the nonprofit Snowmass Western Heritage Association (SWHA), along with board president and decades-long arena director Jim Snyder. The rodeo galloped into Snowmass in 1972, making it the town’s oldest event (runner-up is the Snowmass Balloon Festival, which turns 49 this summer). In fact, it’s one of the longest-running rodeos in Colorado, and one of the best in the nation: in May USA Today again ranked the event sixth in its annual 10 Best Rodeos poll, calling it “a classic rodeo played out in a truly gorgeous mountain setting.”

Debuting a brand-new arena with a taller grandstand that the Town of Snowmass Village built this spring, the 50th anniversary season runs 10 weeks, each honoring a valuable “spoke” in the wagon wheel that has helped the Snowmass Rodeo roll smoothly through the years: founder Doug McClain (still roping in 2023 at age 84), original co-creator and 30-year announcer Twirp Anderson, plus Snyder and Vold. 

Honoring the area’s deep ranching heritage, the Snowmass Rodeo is a destination for international tourists, equine enthusiasts, and Western fashionistas. “Young contestants starting are coming to Snowmass and getting on good, solid horses that give them confidence,” says Vold, who began working in the industry at age 10 and follows in the footsteps of her late father, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Hall of Fame stock contractor Harry Vold. “We are the starting grounds to become professional athletes.”

Each Wednesday, bareback riding kicks off the night, followed by team roping, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, and bull riding. Two events invite kids into the arena: mutton busting, where adorable toddlers hang on for dear life to dust-kicking sheep, and the calf scramble, when hundreds of children try to snatch ribbons off running calves. There’s also barbecue by Conundrum Catering (starting at 5 p.m.), Western wear for sale, a petting zoo, and a mechanical bull to ride. Ticket prices are kept low ($10–$25, free for children under 3) to ensure that the event remains “approachable, affordable, and accessible,” Vold explains. “That’s how Western people live their lives: Everyone is included. It’s easy and simple.”

A regular sellout for fostering old-fashioned community spirit, the Snowmass Rodeo maxed out sponsorship dollars last year as well: SWHA dispersed more than $40,000 in educational scholarships.

“I’ve marveled at the support and the attendance; it’s amazing,” Vold shares. “Rodeo is growing all over the country because people are wanting to get outdoors, breathe fresh air, see something wholesome, and enjoy the West.”

Snowmass Town Park rodeo grounds
Wednesdays, 7 p.m., June 19–Aug 21 

The Carbondale Wild West Rodeo

Ever since bucking bulls, broncos, and mutton busters were reintroduced to the Gus Darien Arena on County Road 100 in 2021, the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo has drawn crowds approaching 1,400 at some performances—attendance that nonprofit board president Mike Kennedy estimates being 20 to 30 percent higher than before the pandemic. 

Held every Thursday evening (June 6–Aug 22), the series is hyperlocal, with riders and wranglers from nearby ranches in Basalt to Paonia and Parachute, even Edwards and Vail, competing for a nightly prize of $2,000 and a chance to win the coveted “all around” trophy saddle in the finals. Fourth of July is all the rage, along with themed nights, like the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Tour (July 18), honoring cancer survivors, and Hawaiian Night (Aug 15), a 15-year tradition where spectators wear flowered shirts, contestants don grass skirts, and even the bovines get lei’d.

 “We’re all about the show,” Kennedy laughs. “One year someone brought a giant hot tub and backed it up to the arena.”—AR