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!

Accounts Payable & Payroll Processing / Massage Therapist
Hometown: Steamboat Springs, CO
School: Mountain Heart School of Bodywork and Transformational Therapy

Trish is originally from Rhode Island, but has called the Steamboat area home for ten years now. She met her husband in Steamboat and they enjoy everything this beautiful valley has to offer. Trish has a strong background in the hospitality industry and feels fortunate to utilize her skills here at Vista Verde and working in the office. Through her company, Grateful Heart Massage Therapy, Trish offers theraputic massage to guests here at the ranch. Her goal is to assist guests enjoy all Vista Verde has to offer by facilitating muscle recovery and relaxations with various therapeutic massage techniques.

Front Office 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, Maggie 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, Maggie loves to paint!

Assistant Manager
Hometown: Leandro, CA
School: Oregon State University

Melissa studied psychology and anthropology and graduated this past spring. She decided to head out to Colorado on a whim and has loved every day since she got to VVR. Melissa shares her time between the front office, where she helps guests plan and prepare for their vacation, and overseeing housekeeping to make sure everything is spic and span for our guests during their stay. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her family, especially fly fishing with her dad. On her time off, you can find her running outdoors, reading a book, or doodling in a journal.

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, mat Pilates, 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.

HR Assistant/Flyfishing Guide
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.

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.

Server
Hometown: Columbia, MO
School: Missouri Southern State University
Previous Position: Wildland Firefighting

Michael considers himself a jack of all trades. In the last 5 years, Michael has graduated from the police and firefighting academy, served 2,300 hours volunteering for non-profits, and was voted President of his Sigma Pi chapter. Currently, he is learning sign language and spends a good amount of time around the horses.

Ranch Hand
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
School: Davidson College

Ian recently graduated from Davidson College with a degree in economics. While at Davidson, Ian studied abroad in the country of Bhutan located in the Himalayas. Ian has a love for travel! He has backpacked many places including a six month trip throughout Central America. Along with traveling, Ian loves playing pick-up sports. Fun Fact: Ian is a huge fan of Michigan Football!