Getting your player ready...
What will mountain resorts look like 20 or 30 years from now? What they WON’T look like are projects built two decades ago that were entirely oriented around the ski market, says Dana Keller with developer Koelbel and Company – now reimagining the mountain resort experience as a concept you could begin enjoying right away.
Rendezvous – 70 minutes from downtown, five minutes from the base at Winter Park Resort – will still be about skiing; but residents over the next decade will find a broader alpine experience there that will draw families up from Denver during summer and into fall, when Grand County and the Fraser Valley are at their most spectacular. “The days are over when people will drive three hours for a weekend experience,” says Buz Koelbel, who as a kid began exploring the Fraser Valley, where his grandfather had a ranch five minutes from Rendezvous’ site. Rendezvous (the name was given by Billy Cozens, sheriff of Central City who crossed the Continental Divide in 1874 and set up a stage stop you can tour) is prime terrain to lure that new buyer, wanting easy-to-reach adventures for the family. The 1,100-acre expanse rises from the trout-laden Fraser River in downtown Winter Park, into the high country below the scenic Divide, the former site of Arrow – once a boom town of 900 on a narrow-gauge rail line to Denver. Koelbel planners are designing year-round amenities that will allow residents to ‘Choose your own adventure’ – expanded bike-hike trials to the National Forest, but also ‘glamping’ sites (camping with creature comforts); gathering areas for friends and family; and varieties of activities for all ages and skill levels. “It continues to amaze me that these Colorado wonders are so close to Front Range families,” said Koelbel, who was lured onto a mountain bike last fall by his sister, landscape architect Laurie Chahbandour. The sojourn came to a halt when four moose emerged from the aspens – one a calf.Such adventures will be hike-or-bike accessible from Rendezvous’ newest resort home designs: creative single-family cabins (the first will be completed early this year; you could be in and skiing by Presidents Day Weekend); and townhomes that you could enjoy by Fourth of July. Rendezvous sold well through the last decade as baby boomers bought homes to entertain grandkids; but new designs, says Keller, will reach for Gen-X buyers who want to create adventures while their kids are still young. Agents Anne Burks and Dawn Jennings can show you plans for those designs, and tell you how fast you could be in and exploring – 970-726-8200. Rendezvous Sales Center is just beyond Winter Park; take I-70 west past Idaho Springs to U.S. 40; then west 28 miles, through Winter Park, and watch for the lake and Cozens Ranch Museum on the right. WHERE: Rendezvous at Winter Park; Denver’s closest four-season resort; new series of townhomes & single-family cabins arrive early 2014. 77795 U.S. Hwy 40, Winter Park; take I-70 west past Idaho Springs to U.S. 40; west 28 mi. to Winter Park; continue through town, another half mi. to Rendezvous Sales Center
