General Manager
Wilderness First Responder
Hometown: Terre Hill, PA
School: Messiah College/ Denver Seminary

Ben was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he was one of 49 grandchildren in his family. He went on to college and received a Marketing degree from Messiah College in 1988. There, he participated in soccer and track. He then went on to play professional indoor soccer for two years. Ben went back to college to pursue his Master’s degree in Youth and Family Studies at Denver Seminary. He proceeded to then use that degree to work with high school students until getting into the guest ranching industry; he has worked with guest ranches for the past 15 years. In Ben’s free time, he enjoys watching sporting events. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Holly and his son, Jack. Chelsea is living in Fort Collins and Amanda is living happily with her husband, David Gillie. Their daughter Annie is now living in California.

Director of Ranch Operations
CPR Certified
Hometown: Windham, NY
Previous Job: Round Mountain Ranch, Manager

Charlie has been in Colorado since he was 24 years old and gradually worked his way up to Clark. Charlie has been a part of the VVR team since the late-90′s and quietly keeps the ranch running as the master organizer of our team. He and his wife Barb enjoy spending time with their grand kids, as well as road biking. Charlie rides a brown 1974 Motobécane and his wife rides a silver 1975 Motobécane. He also enjoys barbecues outside on the patio of their timber frame house he built looking out on Farwell Mountain.

Director of Hospitality
Hometown: Woodside, CA
School: UC Davis

Steph has been at Vista Verde since 1997, where she takes care of all things related to getting you here, and then making your experience as wonderful as possible at the ranch. Steph is a California native who came to Colorado with plans to stay a season or two, and has never left. She found the perfect combination of her background in the horse world along with an agricultural business degree in the dude ranch industry. As a mother of two, Steph loves to spend time with her daughters, as well as riding horses, mountain biking, practicing yoga, and skiing. Steph’s husband, Todd, is a former Olympic skier and now coaches ski jumpers in Steamboat Springs.

Properties Manager
Hometown: Clark, CO
School: Southwest Minnesota State University

Bill has been around Vista Verde for almost 25 years now! In his free time, Bill enjoys fixing up old, damaged cars and is also very skilled at making furniture. Much of the furniture located in the ranch’s accommodations was created by Bill. If you want to make friends with Bill, make him a pie. His favorite is rhubarb pie, and you should see the rhubarb he grows in the ranch gardens!

Safety Manager
CMC EMT Program
Hometown: Elgin, TX

Nate is officially our Safety Manager, but that is just the start of what he does at the ranch! When not fixing things or overseeing our fleet of 14 hot tubs, or guiding, or wrangling, he finds time to pursue his hobbies that include hiking, playing softball, dancing, and horseback riding. Nate really enjoys playing on Vista Verde’s intramural softball team during the summer and volleyball during the winter. For his first job, Nate was involved in restoring a 1939 Cadillac LaSalle. He is a volunteer with North Routt Fire Department as an EMT and Firefighter type 2. Finally, Nate married our own lovely Melissa in October 2016 in VVR's Great Room!

Human Resource Manager
USCG Certified Captain, CPR, AED
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
School: University of South Carolina

Zach is a dedicated outdoorsman who has been chasing anything with a set of gills or pair of antlers since he was 2 years old. Growing up on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, he enjoys fishing for striped bass and sailing during the summer months. In the fall, he can be found bowhunting for whitetails and sika deer. Zach is also a proud USC Gamecock and looking forward to an awesome summer at VVR! Fun Fact: Before joining us at VVR, Zach sailed 1,900 nautical miles from Annapolis, MD to the Bahamas with his father.

Reservations Assistant
Hometown: Springfield, IL
School: Illinois State University

Maggie loved her time as a guest at Vista Verde so much she wanted to return as a staff member helping new guests have the same great experience! Before working at VVR, she was a collegiate golfer at Illinois State University, where she also received a degree in marketing. Maggie enjoys spending time both on the beach and in the mountains. In her free time, she loves to paint!

Reservations & Front Office Manager
Hometown: Louisville, CO
School: Boston Conservatory

This is Devyn's tenth season at VVR! She loves that she is able to share her passion for the outdoors and talk with people all day long. Devyn is a certified RYT 200 hour Hatha Yoga instructor and Lagree Fitness instructor. She is also a proud Colorado native who loves skiing, hiking, running, fly fishing and horseback riding. Devyn's very favorite thing is singing the Star Spangled Banner at rodeos and sporting events.

First Aid, CPR
Hometown: Alpharetta, GA
School: University of Georgia

Beka joined the VVR crew when she moved to Colorado in 2009 and was instantly captured by the beauty and allure of Rockies. In the past few years she has served in a variety of roles; Human Resources, Activities Coordinator and Adventure Center manager. She has done it all at the ranch, and this summer she will be transitioning back into the office. Beka loves to spend time outdoors with her handsome husband, Michael. She couldn’t live without running, skiing, hiking, and camping in the Zirkel Wilderness. Travel is a big hobby of hers so she spends most of her time off exploring new routes or new countries, depending on the week! Beka and Michael just welcomed their new baby girl, Clara.

Store Manager
Hometown: Clark, CO

Bookkeeper
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
School: Academy of Art University: San Francisco

While Jennifer is originally from Philadelphia, she has been living in Steamboat Springs for the past ten years! Her son is currently a student at Steamboat Springs High School and her daughter is studying veterinary medicine at the University of Georgia. One of Jen's true passions is art. She loves to draw and paint, especially the beautiful scenes around the area. Jen also loves to explore the mountains by means of hiking, horseback riding or even stand-up paddle boarding. Fun Fact: Jen was a contender on American Gladiator!

Ranch Hand Manager
Hometown: Vesloes, Denmark
Previous Position: Danish Military

Michael is from a small town in the North of Denmark called Vesloes. He has spent much of his time working with his hands and doing various jobs in and out of the country. After his time in the military’s Royal Lifeguard he took a short education in Outdoor and Sports studies. Later he joined another branch of the Danish Military and spent a few year working in Greenland. He found his way to Clark after meeting his wife, Beka, while they were travelling in South America. This season he is heading up the ranch hand department. He likes running, camping, tele and skate skiing, travelling, and enjoying good food and wine. Most of all, he enjoys spending time with his wife and their baby girl, Clara.

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Casey, IL
School: Illinois State University
Previous Position: Illinois State Student Recreation Facility Manager

Mat joins us at VVR after graduating from Illinois State University where he earned his degree in Business Education while also playing football. He is very excited to spend the summer hiking and horseback riding in the mountains of Colorado! After Vista Verde, Mat plans be a high school business teacher while also coaching football and baseball.

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Bemidji State University
School: Independence, MN
First Aid, CPR & AED Certified

Josiah recently finished his BS in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement. He has spent past summers at a camp in northern Minnesota working in various positions, supervising students, facilitating events, and making nature an enjoyable experience for individuals of all ages. For a while, he was even the program director for the rugged island camp and went a whole summer sleeping in a hammock or living in cabins in the woods without electricity (or a phone), and never once wearing shoes. The past two years he has focused on the facilities portion of the equine program and has come to enjoy constructing environments that enable people to appreciate horses as much as he does. Like most textbook Minnesotans, he loves snow, ice, the cold, and sipping hot cocoa outside when the windchill drops below zero. Fun Fact: Josiah once won an award for having the ``best sandcastles at 1st base`` in children's Tee-ball.

Ranch Hand
Hometown:
School: University of South Carolina

Ranch Hand
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Ranch Hand
Hometown: Wheaton, IL
School: Wheaton College

Jonah was raised in Wheaton, IL where he attends Wheaton College. He studies chemistry and runs cross country. He is eager to have fun and work hard his second season as a ranch hand. Hiking, and camping are two of his favorite things while in the mountains. Jonah is hoping to check Farwell Mountain of his bucklist this summer. Fun Fact: Jonah absolutely loves Chick-Fil-A!

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Nashua, NH
School: Colorado College

Tom is going to be a senior at Colorado College this year where he is majoring in environmental policy and plays collegiate lacrosse. In his free time, Tom enjoys skiing, mountain biking, swimming, and flying. He loves aviation, currently has his private pilot's license and is joining the Navy to be a pilot after he graduates.