Backdoor Sports continuing and expanding on Pete Van De Carr’s legacy

Pete Van De Carr’s spirit still soars through the Yampa Valley. In the year since he passed, Backdoor Sports — the business he built over 40 years — continues his legacy, striving to ensure that everyone who walks through its doors “has the best day ever,” as Pete would have wanted.

Van De Carr passed away at 70 in a tragic skiing accident in February 2025. In the year since, Backdoor Sports has endured, balancing his legacy with a new path forward.

“Backdoor Sports exists because of Pete and his family,” said Backdoor Sports owner Dominique Welch. “He and Gretchen (Van De Carr) have done exceptional work in spreading awareness, promoting access, reviving Telemark, developing a hockey community and creating a place where young individuals have learned how to work, learn and explore values that have set them up for a lifetime of success in ways that transcend monetary gain.”

Backdoor Sports was founded in 1986, and after living out of a number of garages, moved to its current location on the banks of the Yampa River at 841 Yampa St. The Welches completed their purchase of the business in May 2025.

“I think Pete’s legacy will always reverberate through Backdoor Sports,” said buyer and master boot fitter Amanda Brotman. “He touched our community with generosity, kindness and connection that we hope to keep up and continue to develop over time, while bringing in our own flair.”

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Welch echoed Brotman’s sentiment.

“His legacy reverberates through us and our approach in that we work hard to play hard,” said Welch. “It’s about rolling up our sleeves to enjoy the limited time we have with the ones we love, all while aiming to leave the world better than we found it.”

In the year after Pete Van De Carr’s passing, Backdoor Sports endured an anemic low-snow winter, and yet was able to expand its offerings.

“We have had the privilege of being able to continue to carry many of the same telemark and Alpine touring lines that Pete was passionate about,” said Brotman. “We brought in some Alpine boots and bindings, splitboards, and dove into ski tuning and custom-insole and ski-boot fitting as well. All of which I hope Pete would smile about.”

Van De Carr was a passionate Telemark skier.

“He was a pretty hardcore Telemark guy,” said owner Michael Welch. “He spent years in the Telemark world and that was his passion. You can see why, it’s where skiing started and it’s alive through modern technology.”

Brotman was brought in this year as the master bootfitter, marking Backdoor’s foray into the Alpine skiing world.

“It was just the natural progression of the ski shop,” said Michael Welch. “As a business it was a decision we made that helped the shop during the challenging winter.”

This past winter, only 171 inches of snow fell on Steamboat— down from the 10-year average of 289 inches, according to Steamboat Resort tracking data.

“I think the biggest (challenge) was definitely the weather, (which is) beyond any of our control,” said Brotman. “I think Pete would have prepared as best he could, and continued to just be Pete — generous, kind, happy with a wonderful, contagious way of enjoying life.”

A trend that shop employees noticed this past winter was that customers were less inclined to buy new skis, placing a greater emphasis on gear they already had.

“People leaned more on their rock skis than in years past,” Michael Welch explained. “Whether they are waiting for a better snow year, nobody wants to ruin a new pair of skis because of the lack of snow.”

Brotman explained that the entire winter sports industry felt the effects of the down year.

“The general consensus across the winter sports industry was that this was obviously an unusual year overall,” said Brotman. “Luckily, we had great support from our community and customers old and new coming in to do business and spread positivity, tell stories and introduce themselves.”

The community helped see the shop through. Support came in from miles around, and tears of both sorrow and gratitude were shed, according to Dominique Welch.

“Oftentimes we hear that Backdoor was more than just a place of employment,” said Dominique Welch. “Feeling welcomed and a sense of home is one of the many ways that Pete made Backdoor Sports, as well as Steamboat, a better place.”

Van De Carr was a passionate conservationist. He was a founding member of the Northwest Rivers Alliance, which was established in 1980. It would later become Friends of the Yampa, and he served as president of the organization from 1987-2009. He also served as president on other boards including the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps from 1998-2004, Yampa River System Legacy Partnership since 2001, State Water Supply Initiative from 2002-04 and the Steamboat Springs Parks and Recreation Commission from 1996-2004.

“This winter has brought to light how dependent we are on snow and our snowpack, not only for enjoyment, but also for water supply, irrigation and fire prevention,” said Dominique Welch. “It would be pretty amazing to sit on the bench (outside the shop) with Pete right now and hear his take on some of these challenges.”

The shop will continue to partner with Friends of the Yampa and the Yampa River Fund.

“We are stewards of the Yampa River and the environment and will continue to be,” said Michael Welch. “It is in our backyard and is one of our proudest pillars.”

The shop is looking to expand summer rafting operations and be the local spot that people look to for outdoor gear.

“We want to be the place that locals come to for all their outdoor needs and know they won’t get gouged,” said Michael Welch. “This shop was built by Pete for Steamboat, and we’re here to make sure that keeps going.”

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com.