(MONTE VISTA, CO) – We are San Luis Valley and the city of Monte Vista is excited to introduce the newly built Ski-Hi event complex. The project began as a vision in 2006 and took all six counties in the San Luis Valley to make the dream a reality.
Colorado’s oldest professional Rodeo, The Ski-Hi Stampede has called the San Luis Valley home for many years and now the Outcalt Event & Conference at San Luis Valley Ski Hi Complex can host so much more.
“It’s amazing because of what it took to get to this point and then having the events that we get to have here in a facility like this, we would have never been able to do it before,” Dale Becker, Mayor of Monte Vista said.
The goal was to have the building completed by March 2021 but COVID-19 restrictions and limitations slowed construction. With local agencies working on the plan and many generous donations from the community, the project came together and was ready for the public to host its first event in February 2023.
“It has opened up opportunities for Monte Vista,” Becker explained.
The event and conference center is a 54,000-foot facility. Sinc the opening, more than 350 events have been booked, consisting of business meetings, rodeos, reunions, baby showers, birthday parties, and concerts.
“It brought people together in a unique way where it did give the community some hope, a new focus,” Gigi Dennis, Monte Vista City Manager explained. “The people that were behind this and all of the fundraising did a remarkable job at showing the community what we could become.”
The complex was built at a cost of $8,600,000. The San Luis Valley is 8,000 square miles, there are only about 50,000 people in population, and is made up of six individual counties.
“Everyone one of those six counties participated in some funding for this event center and so it’s really important for us that we share it with our neighbors and that everyone feels like it’s a facility that they can depend on and use for their multiple events,” Dennis said.
Those who call Monte Vista home, hope the new complex attracts future economic development while maintaining that small-town feel.
“I went to high school in Monte Vista and then left for a career and then married a local mand and came back,” Dennis explained. “It’s really heartwarming to see and to be able to help our community continue to grow and thrive and to be a part of that.”
