Ben Martin and his wife Holly have four kids ranging from 17 to 5 years old- Amanda, Chelsea, Annie and Jack. Originally from Lancaster County, PA, Ben’s career path has taken him from playing professional soccer to being the head wrangler and then foreman at another Colorado ranch to working with high school kids in Denver. With that diverse background, Ben is just the guy to chase down, wrangle and guide the management team. Email Ben at ben@vistaverde.com

Dace Starkweather is our singing cowboy. A brief look at his timeline takes him from a family farm in Illinois to the University of Colorado at Boulder, on to another ranch as head wrangler and staff manager for 7 years, then to Biola University for a quick Masters degree and now to VVR. Dace shares the General Manager job with Ben and his focus is the recruiting, hiring and managing of our wonderful staff. Email Dace at jobs@vistaverde.com

Bill Backer (pronounced “Baker”) is our properties manager and is responsible for the facilities and equipment of the ranch. (In other words, for everything that squeaks, leaks or breaks.) He is a graduate of Southwest State University and holds a degree in biology. Bill gained his practical hands-on experience at Schwans Foods in Minnesota and YMCA Camp Eberhart in Michigan. He has built a lot of our furniture, and with his well-equipped wood shop at the ranch, he’s into authentic reproductions (or is that an oxymoron).

Stephanie Wilson is another year round member of our staff and is responsible for reservations (among other things). She grew up in the Bay area and early on developed a passion for the outdoors, which led to a degree in agricultural and managerial economics from the University of California at Davis. Like so many of our staff, Steph has had a variety of work experiences ranging from training horses for Ventura Farms to running our dining room and our teen program, not to mention raising our ranch toddler, Maggie. Email Steph at reservations@vistaverde.com

Charlie Cammer is our agriculture manager. That means he’s responsible for preserving and enhancing this beautiful place – meadows, pastures, forest and such. Charlie is originally from the Catskill Mountains in New York and grew up in the resort business. After obtaining a degree in hotel management and working for several large motel chains, he fled to Colorado and fell in love. After twelve years of managing the Round Mountain Ranch down the road, Charlie joined us eight years ago to apply his talents up our way.

Isaiah Miller hails from an obscure town in Virginia known as North Tazewell. He graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management. Isaiah tends to be outside whenever possible. He enjoys fly-fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and backpacking. Isaiah will be serving in several capacities for VVR in his role as Ranch Hand. If you have any questions about our mountainous terrain or forests—he’s a good place to start.

Zachery Hill joins us from Denver, CO, but originates from the Sunflower State in Witchita, Kansas. He has also resided in other far away places such as Minot, North Dakota and Mildenhill, England. Zac aspires to mimic his grandfather as a accomplished fly-fisherman. While you’ll see Zac doing all sorts of winter tasks for us as a Ranch Hand—you can expect to find him with a fly rod in hand come spring!

Grahm Fulton just graduated with a fine arts wood-working degree from Red Rocks Community College in Denver. Like Zac, he also has left the Kansas flatlands to pursue fly-fishing in the Rocky Mountains. We hope to use some of Grahm’s wood-working talents this winter as a Ranch Hand. If you’re eager to fly-fish even in the snow—Grahm will be more than willing to make the trek to the river with you!

Courtney Gugliuzza originates from Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie last May with a B.A. in women’s studies. She tends to be out-going and loves the outdoors! Courtney played on her club Ultimate Frisbee team, likes to camp, hike, bike and cook. She was recently involved with Outward Bound in Canada and Montana. Courtney will be taking care of some of our Ranch Hand responsibilities this winter. If you find yourself sitting next to her at the dinner table, be sure to inquire about her epic road trip with fellow VVR staffer, Dana Kennedy.

Jess Decker grew up in the rural South just outside of Tiger, Georgia. He’s been attending school to be a diesel mechanic. Jess is our “handy-man” and enjoys fixing things. He’s been around farm animals and machinery his entire life—we’ll see how well he adapts to his first Colorado winter and our ample snow fall!