Perhaps the new “Yampa Valley Curse” isn’t the ineffable pull to return but rather the financial reality that it’s nearly impossible to stay. Steamboat provided Diemer a community in which to raise a family, and his son graduated from Steamboat Springs High School this past spring. Sam Smith, who moved to Steamboat one year ago, savors a hike in the Yampa Valley. Both McCormick and Smith called Steamboat a transient town; a place where people move for a few years in their 20s before truly settling down. Like Smith, McCormick couldn’t envision Steamboat as a place to lay the foundation for the rest of her life.