It’s been a whirlwind of a winter season so far here in the Steamboat Springs area. Between everything we have going on at the ranch and the amazing snowfall we’ve had in 2017 everyone around here has been pretty busy! So, what’s been taking up all our time?
First of all, we’ve had some amazing guests with whom we are having a blast sharing our winter wonderland. Some long time guests have been visiting as well as those new to the winter guest ranch experience. We’ve had a ton of honeymooners–at one point we had 4 couples here at the same time on their honeymoon! This week we have 3 couples celebrating their wedding with a winter honeymoon in the mountains. It is so much fun having those couples here and hearing their stories and helping them relax and have some fun after the big event. And then there are the guests who have been coming for years which make coming to work feel like a family reunion. Good times all around, and that keeps us busy just taking care of these guests and getting them out to play in the snow.
Speaking of snow, you’ve heard, right? If not, here’s the quick recap. In November and December we had 82 inches of snow based on our snow specialist Bill Backer (also a specialist of a lot of other things around the ranch). Then, in early-January he logged 46 inches one week followed by a week with 54 inches. Yep, in two weeks we got as much as we had received in the two months prior! Needless to say, we had some pretty tired ranch hands and everyone was super excited when the sun finally broke out after those storms. Following a brief reprieve which allowed us to catch up on moving snow, shoveling roofs, moving more snow and shoveling more roofs, it is snowing again. We do love the snow, and it makes our winter outings more fun, but those two weeks sure were a lot of heavy lifting, literally!
On top of all that we’ve also had some special events going on at the ranch. A few weeks ago our friend Seth Dahl from Big Cedar Media came in to shoot some winter video footage for us to use for promotional purposes. Seth is a blast to work with, and he shoots amazing video footage. Those were some pretty crazy days of riding around on snowmobiles, lining up models, getting the right angle, and doing that all as the snow kept piling up! Following that, this week we have Gigi Embrechts here at the ranch leading a group of women in a photography workshop. Her photos are amazing (she loves photographing draft horses as you can see in the above photo), and the gals are having a blast taking photos of everything and everyone at the ranch. Somehow today my sneaking in to the barn to take a photo of them photographing Troy turned into them handing me a horse and clicking away. I’ll be a little more careful where I show up next time they are shooting!
So that’s the scoop from here at Vista Verde. If you’ve been considering a romantic getaway, we do still have space available around Valentine’s Day. And, if you’re wondering what to do with your kids for Spring Break vacation, how about bringing them to a winter wonderland where they can ski, tube, ride, and generally wear themselves out in the snow with our amazing staff while you get to relax a bit? Give Devyn or Melissa a call and they can answer any questions about our winter program.