Booking a meeting or event in the Mountain West and not taking advantage of amazing vistas and activities is like drinking instant coffee or mass-produced beer instead of trying out locally-roasted beans and locally-crafted microbrews. You can be anywhere if the plan is just to sit in a meeting room and eat and drink foods that don’t provide a glimpse of the destination. Here are a couple of fun examples of how to utilize a mountain destination.
Recently, I mentioned the new Conestoga Ranch, a new glamping resort in northern Utah located along Bear Lake and able to accommodate up to 160 guests. This fall, the resort is offering two weekends that could be replicated for group retreats, team-building and incentive trips: Campfire Culinary Adventures on Sept. 18-20 and Pose & Paddle (a weekend of outdoor yoga, stand up paddle boarding and hiking) on Sept. 25–27.
Chef Julie Paine from Utah’s renowned Park City Culinary Institute, which offers team-building and corporate events, is planning glamping cooking seminars that utilize the on-site Campfire Grill’s demonstration-style kitchen, wood-burning oven and outdoor fire pits. Guests will discover how to create gourmet dishes like artisan pizzas, trout en papiillote with potatoes and gourmet variations of skillet s’mores. An autumn-themed wine seminar also is planned with Paine’s husband, Sommelier Greg Neville. Joie Astudillo and Hanna Lorenz, outdoor enthusiasts and accomplished yoga and paddle boarding instructors based in Park City, will lead the Pose & Paddle retreat the following weekend.
One unique outing that I recently tried out with a small group of around 10 in Snowmass, Colorado was horseback riding with Snowmass Creek Outfitters in a beautifully quiet section of Old Snowmass and ending at a private ranch with a sunset cocktail hour, barbecue dinner by Aspen’s Hickory House, and a campfire under the stars complete with s’mores and music and cowboy musings by Aspen local Doug McClain. We went back to our beautiful lodgings at St. Regis Aspen, which coordinated the evening, knowing we had enjoyed a really special Colorado experience.