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 the two of their four kids still at home, Annie and Jack. Chelsea is living in Fort Collins and Amanda is living happily with her husband, David Gillie.

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

Charlie has been in the Colorado area 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 barbeques outside on the patio of the 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 ride horses, mountain bike, practice yoga, and ski. Steph’s husband 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: Last summer 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 spend her tenth visit 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 eighth 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 loving skiing, hiking, running, fly fishing and horseback riding. Devyn's very favorite thing is singing the Star Spangled Banner at rodeos and sporting events.

Store Manager
Hometown: Clark, CO

Front Desk Assistant
Hometown: Roanoke Rapids, NC
Previous Position: Psychiatrist's Personal Assistant

Cheryl had a few season of guest ranching under her belt before she decided to join us at VVR and we are thrilled to have her. If she's not helping out in the kitchen, you may find her playing the piano and singing with her sister, Sarah. Along with music, Cheryl loves to dive into a good book, go dancing or simply just be outside. Among her many trips a couple of her favorite destinations are Moab, UT and a three month trek through Nepal.

Ranch Hand Manager
Hometown: Lancaster, PA

Javin loves to spend his weekends hanging out with his wife, Johanna. They enjoy being outside, eating great food, watching movies and working on their property. Javin is skilled at welding, has a degree in diesel mechanics and can figure out how to fix anything you put in front of him. We are very lucky to have him back for the third time around here at Vista Verde.

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Marshfield, WI
School: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Previous Position: Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Call is excited to start his first season with VVR! He comes to us after spending his summer in Alaska as a commercial fisherman. When he was in Alaska, the Skipper he was working for had been selected by a production company to be the main Skipper and boat featured in a new reality TV show. So, for a few days a camera crew would come on board to film and interview Call and rest of the crew as they worked worked!

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Terre Haute, IN

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Palestine, TX
Previous Position: Marine Corps Infantryman
Marine Combat Life Saver, Intermediate Water Survival, CPR & First Aid

Jon was one of less than .01% of the Marine Corps chosen to be part of the elite guard force charged with protecting the President at Camp David. He also performed anti piracy operations with 1st Force Recon.Jon loves Pink Floyd on vinyl, old westerns, and anything by Ernest Hemingway. Fun Fact: He's been to 29 states, 5 Countries, and 3 Continents with Singapore being a favorite!

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Clarence Center, NY
School: Buffalo State College

Mary graduated from Buffalo State College with a degree in art education. Along with art, Mary loves riding horses and exploring the great outdoors. Upon finishing school, she came to the ranch as a kids wrangler. After a short time away, Mary has made her way back to VVR this summer as a housekeeper and will be with us this winter as a ranch hand - we couldn't be more excited about her return!

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Le Grand, CA
School: California State University, Sacramento
Previous Position: Mule Packer

James is here for his second winter season at VVR! He spent this past summer as a mule packer in California, but decided he enjoyed Colorado winters so much that he needed to come back. We are so happy to have him as a ranch hand! James spent his years at California State University studying public relations while also playing rugby. Fun Fact: James loves listening to music, especially country and rock!

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Charleston, SC
School: The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina

Miller studied Business Administration at The Citadel in South Carolina and graduated from the college in 2011. His interests include: fly fishing, fly tying, running, hiking, and playing soccer. His main passion is fly fishing. He has previously worked as a fly fishing guide for Rainbow Trout Ranch (2012,2016) and Tarryall River Ranch (2016). During the Christmas/New Year holidays in 2015 he traveled to Chile/Patagonia for 2 weeks to fish, a Do-It-Yourself trip with a friend. His next destination for fishing is New Zealand. When not on the river, he also enjoys horseback riding.