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Rockin’ the ’Boat
Living the good life, Steamboat-style, at Alpine Mountain Ranch.
By Jon Rizzi
ON THE EVENING of March 6, as a mantle of fresh snow blanketed the rolling acreage of Steamboat Springs’ Alpine Mountain Ranch and Club, 32 members gathered in the property’s intimate Owner’s Barn for a rare treat: a five-course Spanish feast featuring the first U.S. tasting of the Artadi 2016 Viña el Pisón, a single-vineyard Rioja tempranillo that had earned a perfect 100 points from the influential wine critic James Suckling.
Welcomed by an epic Spanish charcuterie and cheese board, the members adjourned to a long table. Over the next few hours, they would listen, taste and drink while seven different Artadi releases—each described by 4th-generation Artadi vintner Carlos López de Lacalle and Dustin Chiappetta of Stolen Figs, the Denver-based portfolio manager for Artadi wines—accompanied fare flawlessly prepared by Steamboat’s acclaimed Aurum Food & Wine.
The 100-point headliner naturally stole the show, as the impeccable balance of pure fruit and tannin texture of the 2016 El Pisón paired flawlessly with the succulent roasted lamb (pisón does mean ram, after all) that had been aromatically turning for hours on a spit outside the Barn’s entrance.
Applause and gratitude followed the feast. Afterwards, behind the barn, a bonfire warmed those who lingered to savor Artadi’s Viñas de Gain—the last sweet sips of an extraordinary evening.
BETTING ON THE RANCH
The tasting event marked the latest in the Food and Wine Dinner series at Alpine Mountain Ranch and Club (AMRC), the exclusive private community of 63 five-acre homesites situated on 1,216 acres—900 of which are glorious open space.
Bordered on the west by U.S. 40 and by national forest and wildlife preserves to the east and north, AMRC sits less than 10 minutes by car to the champagne powder of Steamboat Ski Resort and the cowboy flair of downtown Steamboat Springs. And it’s even closer to the club’s own 1.5 miles of private fly-fishing along the Yampa River, which flows to the west of the property.
“It’s convenient for everything,” AMRC homeowner Steve Speer said. “Skiing, fishing, hiking … we can do it all in just minutes.”
In 2012, Speer and his wife, Karen, built the very first home in Alpine Mountain Ranch and Club. After retiring 10 years ago, they’d visited numerous spots around the American West, but kept returning to Steamboat Springs, a place they’d loved since the 1980s.
After looking at several developments in the area, they found exactly what they wanted at AMRC—wide open spaces while still close to downtown and the ski hill, and unparalleled amenities. “I took one look at the homesite we’re on and said, ‘If we’re going to do this—actually move to Steamboat—this is where I want to be,’” Karen Speer said. “There was no doubt about it.”
While the Yampa Valley views and resident wildlife continually remind the Speers they’re
living in the mountains, they also appreciate their home’s proximity to outdoor activities— including golf, which the couple has been fanatical about since their daughters left for college a few years ago.
The Speers’ Mountain West-style home overlooks Catamount Golf Course, which neighbors AMRC to the south, and the Speers are members.
“We have a cart out in the garage,” Steve says. “We hop in and drive over and play several times per week. There’s a cart path that connects the Ranch to Catamount–it takes exactly six minutes to get from our house to the clubhouse.”
David Dacus, an avid golfer who’s finalizing the completion of his home at AMRC, takes that sentiment a step further, calling the path to Catamount “the deciding factor” in purchasing his homesite.
THE GOLF NEXT DOOR
The 20-year-old Tom Weiskopf layout rollercoasters 7,088 yards through ranchland, hayfields and groves of aspens, stands of firs and numerous rock formations. The designer’s love of reachable par 4s expresses itself consecutively on the fifth and sixth holes, but both carry severe penalties for wayward shots. From its elevated tee, with views of Rabbit Ears Pass, Flat Top Wilderness and Walton Creek, the photogenic 211-yard eighth plunges to a green 80 feet below. The back nine’s longer holes present no shortage of challenges, especially a par-5 finisher that pushes 600 yards.
“Playing the Catamount course never gets old,” Dacus said. “It’s challenging, yet fun.”
For variety, the Speers, Dacus and other residents of AMRC head to the municipal Haymaker Golf Course, just across US 40 from the AMRC entrance, and up to Rollingstone Ranch, north of the ski resort in the Mountain Village. One of the few truly walkable mountain courses, Haymaker’s 7,308-yard Keith Foster design ranks among the state’s foremost public layouts as well as one of its most biodiverse and environmentally friendly, receiving the state’s first Audubon International Signature certification. Most holes command views of Mount Werner and the surrounding passes, while the holes themselves abound in beauty and wildlife.
Built in 1974, Robert Trent Jr.’s Rollingstone Ranch, née Sheraton Steamboat Golf Club, is the oldest 18-holer in the area. Its proximity to the Mount Werner ski hill adds to the “mountain effect” on the greens, while more than 70 bunkers and ubiquitous water—in the form of lakes and the meandering Fish Creek—dictate strategy throughout the highly scenic and memorable round.
“Our social circle has really grown,” Karen Speer says. “We’re great friends with a ton of people from the club and from playing golf around town.”
A YEAR-ROUND UTOPIA
Easy access to golf is just one of many stellar amenities at AMRC. No matter the season, the Ranch provides what’s necessary to take in the best Colorado has to offer.
During the summer, in addition to flyfishing on the Yampa, anglers can cast into an onsite lake, on which members can also boat or paddleboard. Equestrian facilities include a community barn, tack room and staging area. The ranch’s wood-post fenced pastures house ranch horses that are available for trail rides and to stable residents’ horses.
More than five miles of trails perfect for hiking or biking meander the property, with some leading to the adjacent Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
Membership includes concierge services and use of the grand, timber-framed Owners’ Lodge, where owners gather and can entertain guests outside of their home.
Guests of Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club owners can stay in a three-bedroom Guest Cabin, which owners also may use during construction of their mountain residence.
Come winter, even more amenities abound. One of the best, as the Speers attest, is the membership option at the Alpine Mountain Summit Club at One Steamboat Place, the premier slopeside spot at the resort.
“Karen and I go out skiing almost every morning for a couple of hours,” Steve Speer said. “That’s become a great benefit. We drive up, and they park our car. We’re in the locker room and on the gondola just like that.”
Back at the Ranch, the 220-acre pasture transforms into a winter wonderland, with groomed cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding just out the door.
STAYING PUT
Access to these unparalleled amenities became even more vital to the Speers when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“We have never felt more grateful to call AMRC home,” said Steve Speer. “Our daughters returned home from college, and we were still able to enjoy the freedom of nature and the outdoors, while respecting the guidelines in place at the time. These unprecedented times really magnified the value of our investment.”
As with many folks who call Steamboat home, the Speers initially came for winter, stayed for summer, and now choose to live here year-round.
“Everyone is so down-to-earth,” Steve Speer said. “That’s why we live in Steamboat. It’s real people who have that cowboy heritage and seek the Western lifestyle. And it’s authentic.”
To the Speers, events like the regular Food & Wine Dinner, guided hikes, “Steak Ride” (a sunset horseback ride to an alpine meadow for an outdoor steak dinner with drinks around a campfire) and other activities only enhance that authenticity and the value of AMRC.
“There are some very successful people in Steamboat,” he added. “You would never know it because they don’t seek the limelight. Everybody treats everybody the same here. And that’s what’s really cool about it.”
INFO TO GO:
Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club
alpinemountainranchsteamboat.com;
970-875-1200
Custom market homes from $4.2 million
Homesites from $1.5 million
This article was also featured in the June 2020 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.
Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.
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