The Quest for Powder Skiing Created SteamMaster of Vail

It’s easy to get the idea that Gary Gilman’s brain never shuts down, his entrepreneurial spirit never fades. Except, perhaps, on a good powder day. Powder, in fact, was the reason Gilman chose Vail as his permanent home. Originally from New York, Gilman was a student at the University of Colorado when he began skiing Vail in the mid 1970s. A powder hound, he knew he had to continue living at the resort after 500 inches of snow accumulated during the winter of ’77-’78.

In 1978 Gilman started SteamMaster, Eagle County’s first carpet cleaning business with truck-mounted equipment. But why carpet cleaning? Gilman has a logical answer: “I tried to pick a business that allowed me to ski in the winter.” Back then, when Vail was a much smaller town, the bulk of Gilman’s clients were the lodges and they demanded his services mainly in the spring, summer and fall.

“There was a demand for it,” Gilman says. Most people had to wait up to two months before anyone would come and service their carpets. So, SteamMaster was born and Gilman and some buddies cleaned carpets to support their ski habits.

Today, Gilman has between 30 and 40 employees spread among four businesses. He and his wife, Julie Stoxen, who helps run the businesses, live in Eagle with their 3-year-old daughter. Gilman still finds time to maintain an active lifestyle, whether its kayaking the Grand Canyon, snowboarding Holy Cross mountain, windsurfing in Margarita or playing soccer in the 40-and–over league.

From carpet cleaning, Gilman expanded to cleaning upholstery, leather and suede. He then began tackling frozen pipes, a somewhat common household malady in these parts. He also acquired the machinery necessary to extract water after those frozen pipes burst. This same equipment can serve many other emergency situations as well.

Not surprisingly, structural drying services soon became yet another of SteamMaster’s specialties. The technology to dry out a unit, Gilman explains, has actually evolved into a very technical process. When the district attorney’s office was flooded last year, Gilman and has staff spent Thanksgiving weekend drying the entire structure, including a room full of wet documents...

...Four years ago, Gilman built a building on Minturn’s Main Street to house his businesses. He also included four employees housing units with a total of nine bedrooms. “There was a housing shortage because of the housing situation,” Gilman says. The housing, which probably boasts some of the most stunning views of any employee housing in the valley, also allows Gilman’s staff who live on sight to run down the stairs and jump in a van during an emergency.

After the building opened in 1995, Gilman started two additional specialty businesses. Abrash Oriental Rug Company offers compressed air dusting and authentic hand washing of oriental, Dhurries, kilim, Navajo rugs and tapestries. “Cleaning these types of rugs is a lot different from carpet cleaning,” Gilman says. The difference is in the knowledge, methods and chemicals. SteamMaster and Abrash offer high-end fabric protection packages to help preserve and maintain expensive household furnishings. These include the applying of a protective treatment to new or freshly cleaned area rugs, carpets, drapes, bedspreads, fabric wall coverings and lamp shades. This popular service is available with a one-year free spot-cleaning warranty.

Last, but probably not least, Gilman started White Glove Auto Detailing. When Gilman built his building, he built space to store and clean the SteamMaster vans at night, complete with floors that are sloping, drains and sand and oil traps. During the day, the vans were out at job sites and the garage space sat empty, unused.

“I had the space and the infrastructure during the day for an auto-detailing business,” Gilman explains. From a full car wash and wax, to cleaning the interior to removing light scratches, White Glove will design a customized detail package to meet your specific year-round needs. Gilman also offers pick-up and delivery of your car, as well as limited mobile services.

The latest service SteamMaster offers is hard-surface cleaning and sealing, and the flagstone at the Hyatt Regency in Beaver Creek is spruced-up proof of Gilman’s work on flagstone. In fact, SteamMaster can successfully clean any surface with their advanced cleaning procedures.

There is no doubt that as new ideas and technology continue to evolve with regard to restoration and reconstruction, Gilman will be at the forefront, offering his expanded services to Eagle and Summit county residents. Even on powder days.