HighFIVE: Walt Steige

At 87, Walt Steige is still tearing up the courts in Estes Park

A little more than 70 years ago, Walt Steige was a pitcher for the Trinidad High School baseball team when a nagging elbow issue forced him to quit. Seeing his dad’s old racquet, the then high school sophomore, decided to pick it up and give tennis a try. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Walt was born in 1936 and moved to Trinidad when we was 12 years old. After having to give up baseball, Walt fell in love with tennis and played as much as he could. After only a summer of playing, he made the high school team his junior year and did well enough to go to the state tournament.

Walt says, “There were two concrete courts at the high school, but they did not have lights, so my friends and I would drive 20 miles each way to Raton, New Mexico about three times a week so that we could play on nicer courts after we were done with our summer jobs. We would challenge each other to hit the ball 100 times without missing.”

Walt went on to be the No. 1 ranked player in the Junior College League when he played at Trinidad Jr. College (now Trinidad State College). After two years at college, he traveled to Alaska the summer of 1956 for work. He was runner up in the Alaska Open that year which kicked off 25 years of league and tournament play in that state.

Walt and his wife Paula spent the last two years prior to moving back to Colorado in Guam, as part of an assignment from Walt’s Alaska office. During his time in Guam, Walt was ranked No. 1 in the 45s and says, “there was lots of really good tennis on the island with many tournaments.” 

Walt and Paula relocated to Colorado in 1988 and have lived in Estes Park ever since. A current 4.0 player, Walt captains a men’s 65+ team out of Miramont, and still practices with friends from teams he was on in the 1990s.

“There aren’t a lot of players in Estes Park”, says Walt, “so I drive about three times a week to Boulder or Fort Collins.” 

And, he does all of this while still working as a Registered Professional Consulting Engineer, playing trombone with the Riverside Ramblers, a local Dixieland group, flying his own plane as well as building radio controlled aircraft models. Walt attributes his longevity to keeping his mind and body active, as well as good genetics.

“My mom lived to 106 and my dad to 94 and I have been very lucky to have had few injuries,” he says. Walt still lifts light weights, goes hiking (mostly to get to good fishing spots) and is constantly on the move. He says, “The lifestyle of tennis – the exercise, meeting lots of good people and the mental part of keeping the blood flowing through the brain – keeps one younger than the norm and allows one to maintain life in a satisfying manner.”

In 2021, Walt made it to the finals of an ITF Masters Tour 85+ national tournament in Palm Springs, beating the No. 6 nationally ranked player along the way. He hopes to play there again in doubles, although he says that finding a partner in his age group can be tough.

“I have the goal to keep doing what I do, as long as I can keep enjoying every moment I step on the court”, Walt says. He adds, “They say that tennis is a sport for a lifetime and I really believe that.”

No better endorsement for that than Walt! 

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