Skiers and other vacationers are getting an entirely new way of looking at Winter Park and the Fraser Valley this year…with a newly made-over base mountain area, new amphitheater for concerts in downtown Winter Park, and opening Dec. 18, a new $16 million, vacation-oriented rec center with splashdown pool, 20-foot water slide, climbing wall and other attractions.

New Fraser Valley Recreation Center opens Dec. 18, with resort-style pool, climbing wall.

“The center will allow people to consider Winter Park in an entirely new light,” says, Dan O’Connell, president of the Fraser Metropolitan Recreation District’s Board of Directors. “When going on vacation, many times it’s kids that drive the decision on where you go, even if the parents pay for it. To have an attraction as fun as this is a great thing.” more »

Winter Park Ski Area had been open for 20 years when Dwight Miller, a development pioneer in the town of Hideaway Park, posed the question whether inexperienced skiers were getting the most from Winter Park’s terrain, or whether they might prefer a beginner-friendly hill where they could improve their skills.

Buz Koelbel, developer of Rendezvous in Winter Park, presents an original lift chair to Dwight and Jean Miller, who opened Ski Idlewild as a beginner ski area in 1960.

On Aug. 26, 2009, some 49 years after Miller opened Ski Idlewild in what is today the resort community of Rendezvous, Walter ‘Buz’ Koelbel, Jr., of Koelbel and Company presented Miller and his wife Jean with a lift chair recovered from the site. The boutique ski area where a generation of skiers, including Buz Koelbel, learned their sport is now part of Rendezvous’ 688-acre expansion area, east of the town of Winter Park. more »

Broker Jackie Garcia has been appointed Director of Luxury Homes for RE/MAX Professionals, the newly merged entity that combines the resources of two large RE/MAX offices in Denver and of Prestige Real Estate Group. Garcia, who holds the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, has been a top producer at Prestige in luxury sales, known in particular for her professional sports clientele.

Jackie Garcia shows a custom home on 78 acres near Parker, with accompanying stables and caretaker apartment.

“We’re positioning RE/MAX Professionals to be a major force in Denver’s luxury market, particularly as that market recovers,” said Leeann Iacino, President of RE/MAX Professionals, in announcing the appointment. “The combined influence that our companies have had in higher priced neighborhoods suggests that we’re going to be very well situated as that recovery occurs.” more »