JAZZ MUSIC, the American invention that was conceived during the Harlem Renaissance, has an important place here in Vail. The Vail Jazz Festival, which begins June 27^th and lasts until September 6^th, will feature an array of performances and a variety of venues including Jazz at Farmer’s Market, Jazz at Vail Square, and topped off by the Labor Day Weekend Jazz Party. Last year’s Jazz Festival provided the town of Vail with extraordinary performances that left everyone wanting more. This year is sure to have the same level of fantastic entertainment in the cool mountain setting.

Henry Bulter: Performer at Vail Jazz Festival

To kick it all off, The Vail Farmer’s market will present 10 free concerts, scheduled every Sunday from noon until 3:30pm. Local and regionally-based talent will provide natural musical accompaniments to the fantastic shopping and amazing food that The Farmer’s Market is already famous for. This is summertime hot spot for locals and visitors alike with activities and entertainment that the whole family can enjoy!

The Vail Jazz Foundation has also planned a series of evening performances, Thursdays at the Vail Square in Lionshead starting August 5^th and lasting until September 2^nd. The sounds of Jazz will permeate the cool evening air at this venue which offers over 250 covered seats for attendees to sit and enjoy the fantastic music.

The icing on this jazzy cake is the 15^th annual Labor Day Weekend Jazz Party from Thursday, September 2^nd until Monday September 6^th. This internationally acclaimed event will feature five days and nights of the world’s greatest jazz musicians. The event is hosted by the Vail Marriot Resort in Lionshead and will provide an intimate cabaret-style venue for these spectacular musicians to perform. Musicians are given creative license to engage in awesome jam sessions with other featured artists. You can’t miss this spectacular event! Tickets can be purchased through the Vail Jazz Foundation Office for $45/afternoon, $55/evening, and $350/event. For more information, you can call the Jazz Foundation at 970-479-6146 or you may order your tickets online, beginning in June at www.vailjazz.org.

Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals  is extreemely excited about all of the upcomming summer events, including the Vail Jazz Festival. If you have any interest in music, I encourage you to look into planning a visit to Vail so that you may partake in this acclaimed event. The summer months are so fantastic here and the Vail Jazz Foundation really does a fantastic job at making this a top notch event!

NCAA Championship Skiing

Steamboat Springs March 10- 13, 2010

The championship from another perspective…

The last three years I was part of the NCAA ski team from the University of Denver and the years before I was racing in Europe. This is the first winter for 20 years in which I am not racing in any competitions… But since the NCAA Championship ski races where in Steamboat Springs I wanted to take advantage of the close location and see my old team and cheer for them.

The NCAA championship is the highlight of the ski season. Starting at the very beginning of January College teams have to qualify their racers for the NCAA races at the end of the season.  The US is split into several regions so that the College teams do not have too much travel each weekend. Colorado College teams race with teams from Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska and Wyoming. The goal for each team is to qualify three women and three men in Nordic skiing as well as alpine skiing so that the College can move to the NCAA with a full team of six alpine racers and six Nordic ski racers. That is not as easy as it sounds- the NCAA Championship Competition has only a certain amount of starter places which is around 50 racers per competition. That means that each region in the US can qualify only about 15 skiers. In order to qualify for the NCAA an athlete has to be in the top 15 overall in its region as well as in the best 3 of its College team…So after about 6 weekends racing with always two competition for Nordic skiers as well as two races in alpine the list is set and the College teams have their qualified athletes for the NCAA Championship competitions. For a team which does have the full 12 athletes, it is difficult to win since they do not have the full amount of athletes who can score points.

This year the championship started off on Wednesday night with the first alpine race. Eva Huckova from the University of Utah won the Lady’s Giant Slalom and Leif Haugen from my old College Team the University of Denver won the Men’s Giant slalom. Leif qualified for the Olympics and raced in Whistler earlier this season for his home country Norway.  The on Thursday the Nordic skiers had their first race. The women went first for the 5 km individual classic race. One of my friends I grew up with skiing, Antje Maemple from Germany, won the women classic race for the University of Denver. On the men’s side Matt Gelso from the University of Colorado Boulder won the 10 km individual men Nordic race. After the first round of completion in Alpine as well as in Nordic skiing the University of Denver was leading. But there were two more days to go and the University of Colorado Boulder and New Mexico was very close.

Then on Friday night the Alpine racer had their second competition, a night slalom which was very exciting for people watching the race. Andreas Adde from the University of Anchorage Alaska won the men’s Slalom race and Malin Hemmingsson from the University of New Mexico won the lady’s race which lasted almost until 11PM at night. Then on Saturday morning was the final completion day. The mass start in Nordic skiing which is always very exciting- 50 racer start all at the same time and fight about 40 min until the finish sprint. The men went first for their 20 km race. A big group of about 15 racers stayed together until the very end and at the finish line the German Franz Bernstein who is racing for the University of Vermont won in a very exciting sprint final. The women race was not quite as exciting, the ladies spread up way faster than the men and at the end there were only two women in front fighting for the winning place. One more time Antje Maemple from the University of Denver won the race.

With these results there were no doubt that the University of Denver won their 21 NCAA Championship Title which is the third in row, winning also last year and two years ago. Second place goes to the University of Colorado Boulder followed from the University of New Mexico.

Congratulations to my old ski team and thanks for amazing exciting fun competitions. Enjoy all your spring break and some days off without practicing!!!

I got really excited this morning because I just realized Aspen Fashion Week is happening this week, March 14-19! Being a fashion major, this really appeals to me, since I usually only hear about New York Fashion Week or events happening in big coastal cities. I think that having a High Fashion event here in a resort town is a perfect choice, with all the natural, mountainous landscape to contrast the fashions, instead of indoor, dark shows. High Fashion will definitely meet High Altitude this week in Aspen!

Chic designers are going to be showing at AFW include J Crew, Ralph Lauren, Helly Hansen, Obermeyer, and one of my newest favorites – Parajumpers. Aspen looks like the place to be with many new designers as well as well-established designers in attendance.

Fashion week isn’t limited to just clothing on a runway, other events that are happening during Aspen Fashion Week include:

Mountain Events (daily from noon-4)

Slopeside Runway/Snow Stage (daily 4-6)

In-Store Presentations (daily 6-8)

Featured Sponsor Events

Featured Designer Events

Film Screenings

FEED Foundation presents John Forte

Belly Up with Special Guest

After some research, by the looks of it, the 2^nd Annual AFW will be an amazing week full of fashion events and mountain fun in a resort village!

Follow AWF on Twitter to get the latest updates and happenings!

http://twitter.com/aspenfashionwk

Plus, check out their blog to get more info!

http://blog.aspenfashionweek.com/

And, if you would like more info on the Aspen area, please watch Dumb & Dumber. (Film, 1994)

Summer in Vail keeps getting better with this year’s addition of the first annual Colorado Soul Festival, to be held August 20-22, 2010. The Soul Festival is produced by Legacy Entertainment, out of Denver. Legacy Entertainment is no stranger to the Vail Valley, due to their commitment to producing an annual women’s retreat at the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa for the last three years.
The mission of Colorado Soul Festival is to celebrate the heart of soul music with top musicians, empowerment seminars, workshops and cultural activities. The festival will feature live performances by some of the greatest Rhythm & Blues, conscious Hip Hop, alternative Rock, Blues &Soul artists from around the world. Producers estimate that the first annual festival will bring in 2,500 attendees over the span of the three day summer event.
The Soul Festival comes at a great time for Vail Valley businesses. As the summer winds down, in turn does summer business although the weather during this time of year is beautiful.  I know I’m excited to put on my dancing shoes and experience what soul music is all about!
CSA

The Vail Arts Festival at Lionshead Village is a three day event that showcases over 75 artists from all over the U.S. This spectacular event will include artwork of various media ranging from large-scale sculptures, to jewelry, to paintings. As an artist myself, I have always been eager to attend this and other art festivals (including the Breckenridge Art Festival) in the past. Never have I seen so much talent in such a laid back, natural atmosphere. It beats walking through a stuffy gallery or museum and it is truly an event that the whole family can enjoy. There is awesome food, live music, and so much engaging artwork, you will surely want to spend more than one day enjoying it!! The Breckenridge Art Festival, which occurs over the 4^th of July weekend (2nd-4^th, 2010, is ranked the 18^th best art fair in the United States by the Art Fair Source Book. Last year at the Breckenridge Art Festival, I was blown away both by the artists and the incredible food. Yes, I think it was the gyro stand that truly left me speechless!

(The Breckenridge Summer Arts Festival)

Imagine:  As you casually stroll between booths, the smell of festival food wafts through the 70 degree summer air. You stop and gaze at a magnificent piece of artwork that catches your eye. The artist is sitting in the nearby shade, watching all the on-lookers peer in at his work. He approaches you and tells you about his artistic inspiration, his work, and its meaning. After a short discussion, you move on and continue to enjoy the unique artwork and the beauty of the mountains.

The weekly Vail Market  is a farmer’s market and art show that offers fresh Colorado farm and gourmet products. This event is accompanied by live music, delicious snacks, Colorado wines, a mechanical bull, railroad rides, caricatures, free balloons, local arts & crafts, flowers, and more! This is the largest farmer’s market in Colorado with over 100 tents each week! During your summer stay in Vail, it is worthwhile to visit the Vail Market, happening every Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:30pm, June 20-Sept 12, 2010.  

There is no better time to visit Vail, CO than in the summer. The Vail Arts Festival, and other spectacular events including, Spring Back to Vail, The Vail Film Festival, and Taste of Vail will attract thousands of visitors to the gorgeous mountains this year. If big events are not your thing, I guarantee that your summer vacation in Vail will be epic! You can strap your mountain bike to the back of a chairlift and bike down. You can white water raft. You can hike to the peak of a 49,000 foot mountain for peat’s sake!! And with the sun always shining, you can even catch some rays hanging by the pool!! So get up here! Book your vacation now and enjoy all that Vail has to offer this summer!

(A hike through the picturesque mountains is far more entertaining than lying on some beach!)

I grew up in a family of five and can gratefully say that we had our share of family vacations; all of which were spent in a hotel. Twenty three years later my vacations have evolved from family time to group vacations with good friends.
This past weekend, myself and 12 friends rented a ski-in /ski-out vacation home in Breckenridge, CO. We arrived to find the home nestled high in the tress overlooking Breckenridge Mountain. The view was enough to make everyone want to stay longer…
As we toured the house I was pleased to find that the amenities of a hotel were still present in vacation rentals, plus some. I found that each bathroom was stocked with Aveda products, beautifully folded towels, laundry detergent was provided for the washer and dryer, and the house was stocked with plenty of comfortable blankets for everyone. I began to realize that this was the VIP experience, without the price!
One of the many advantages of a vacation rental vs. hotel stay is having a full kitchen to take advantage of. We didn’t waste any time to cook up a fest of steaks, tilapia, pasta, and veggies. Had we had gone to town and had such a wonderful meal; we would have been spending at minimum $25 a person. For less than $100 all 13 of us enjoyed a home cooked meal with leftovers to spare. Did I mention we weren’t spending $ 8 a cocktail?
Everyone seemed to agree that the back deck hot tub overlooking Breckenridge Mountain was the highlight of our vacation rental. After a day on the slopes, nothing felt better than skiing back to the house and jumping in the hot tub for a little relaxation. There was plenty to keep us occupied at the house; from the pool table, to board games, to just hanging out. It was such a good feeling to have the space and resources to spend time with one another, without that typical cooped up feeling that other accommodations give you. All groups should consider a renting a vacation home from Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals for their next holiday.
CSA

It sounds like story from two hundred years ago, yet next month the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars will have traveled over 6,000 miles since their flight from Sierra Leone to escape genocide, and come perform in Vail, Colorado. Many of the bands’ six members’ family and friends were murdered in violence during the brutal civil war from 1991-2002. While Spring Back to Vail is a celebration of a close to winter, and new beginning, I think that this year’s celebration can also be considered a reminder of how far we can come, and that we truly can make change if our hearts are in it. The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars will be performing for Spring Back to Vail on Friday, April 16, 2010 in Vail Village at Checkpoint Charlie.

In addition to the Sierra Leone Rufugee All Stars, recording artist Wyclef Jean will be performing Saturday, April 17^th at Ford Park in Vail, Colorado. Travelers to Vail will experience a historically influential concert for free. Formerly a member of the Fugees, he has made great strides within the music industry and has become one of the greatest role model through his philanthropic work. In 2005, he created Yéle Haiti Foundation, and provides scholarships to children in Haiti. We welcome Wyclef, his musical talent, and his positive influence to Spring Back to Vail next month!

See you there!

20th Annual Taste of Vail

From Thursday April 8, 2010 until Saturday April 10, 2010

Vail is gone have its 20th food and wine festival. The annual three-day event is held at several venues throughout Vail Village. Participants at the Taste of Vail will enjoy the best wines from over 50 of the country’s most noted vintners. In addition, visitors will dine at Vail Valley’s world-class restaurants, fine wine poured by winemakers and winery owners from top wineries around the globe, participate in interactive seminars, auctions and dance. As well as going to the Colorado Lamb Cook Off, après ski tasting and the popular mountaintop picnic sensory extravaganza at the top of Vail Mountain. The event will start of on Thursday morning with Celebrities on Snow, the Belgian Beer Lunch and the 5^th Annual Colorado Lamb Cook- Off and après ski tasting. Then on Friday there will be again Celebrities on Snow, a seminar, mountain top picnic, and live auction chef showcase and at night a cigar seminar. Saturday will start off with the aphrodisiac foods army reiley, and the Josh Wesson Seminar. In the afternoon, the Taste of Vail Festival will finish   off with a Pinot Noir Speed Dating Style Seminar and the Great Tasting and Dinner Dance.
In the past years, Vail could welcome more than 5,000 people for the Taste of Vail Festival.

So mark the date- be part of the event and enjoy amazing days in Vail during the Taste of  Vail.

Click here, here and here to see some fun videos from the past Taste of Vail Events !!!

The Vail Film Festival, scheduled for April 1-4, is a premier annual event that attracts up and coming celebrities and filmmakers for 4 days of artistic appreciation. The Program Categories include Features, Documentaries, Short Films, Activism Showcase, Family Showcase, Adventure Film Showcase, and Student Films. There are a variety of passes available for purchase. The passes are priced from $65 to $500+. The Vista Pass, which costs $65 permits access to films, panels, and the festival’s hospitality lounge. The Patron Pass is the most expensive, starting at $500. This is the premier pass and grants VIP access to the films, panels, opening night party, filmmaker reception, first track skiing (Mountain opens early for festival pass holders), and access to private VIP Cocktail Reception with attending celebrities (among other perks). Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals can provide you with a variety of ski in-ski out accommodations which will make it easy to take advantage of the first track skiing perk! With over 36,000 local accommodations to choose from, you will truly feel like an A-lister! Celebrities who have been honored in the past at the Vail Film Festival include Sophia Bush(2007), Hayden Panettiere(2007), Olivia Wilde (2008), and Adrian Grenier (2008). 

Visitors wanting to attend the Vail Film Festival but who also love to ski or snowboard are covered. All Film Festival activities are scheduled in the afternoon and evening. Additionally, with the purchase of a pass, visitors will get deeply discounted lift tickets. Other great events including the Street Beats featuring Danielia Cotton, Taste of Vail, and Spring Back to Vail will also be taking place in the following days, just more reasons to extend your stay!! The Vail Valley is only so large, so Book your accommodation today and partake in one of Vail’s most prestigious events!

All can agree that the business climate today is unlike anything most veterans have experienced in a lifetime.  Many companies’ response to the contracting economy has been in short, downsizing, budget adjustments and streamlining of practices in order to focus on what’s going to produce the biggest ROI.

However, not everywhere is hurting.  In fact trends of the last two years pose a phenomenal growth opportunity to those with a vision and a means to act tactfully towards their vision. So when the economy gets back to the levels seen prior to late 2008 these companies are steps ahead of the competition.

Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals has been an anomaly in the lodging industry, boosting noteworthy growth in sales from the previous year. Management has taken on additional talented staff, preformed extensive research and is expanding their business model.  Group Travel, RMVR’s most recent addition, was created to meet the growing needs of groups traveling to the Rocky Mountains.  More times than not, someone gets stuck being the group organizer for a trip to the mountains, without having any knowledge of the area to which they’re traveling to.  Yet they are expected by their peers to create a seamless, enjoyable experience for all.  That’s why RMVR group services team leverages their local knowledge, diverse lodging inventory and partnerships; thus allowing the group organizer to relax, while RMVR handles all the details.

With 3,700 properties in Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge/Keystone, and Aspen/Snowmass, RMVR can place groups in anything from a studio rental to a large private home.   Considering that the needs of a particular group vary based on the nature of travel, size of group and length of stay, RMVR has an advantage that hotels don’t have for groups; options. From transportation, meeting space, tours, activities and special event coordination, RMVR has the experience and resources to take care of as much or as little that is required for each client.  Groups will continually come through the Rockies year-round despite the macro economy.  We will be here every expanding and refining our skills so that our clients can rest assured knowing that we are making them look good.  Who doesn’t like that?
CSA