Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Appoints Manager of Adventure Programming

Izzy is charged with developing customized itineraries offering true-to-the-destination experiences for guests of the 56 guestroom, nine-suite resort.

The all-season climate and the natural beauty of Santa Fe play host to a variety of adventures from horseback riding and white water rafting to snowshoeing and exploratory day trips to New Mexico Wine Country or local towns like Taos, Chimayó or Abiquiu, the former home of Georgia O’Keefe. As a full time resource for guests at the resort’s Adventure Center, Izzy and his team of eight expert tour guides will introduce adventure seekers to the rich culture, history and magical landscape of northern New Mexico creating enriching itineraries catered to each individual’s interest and activity level. His team includes an archeologist, art historian, veteran National Park Ranger and a family member of Betty Egan, the resort’s founder.

Izzy has traveled and adventured in more than 25 countries with his first stint taking others on premier active travel trips with Backroads in Europe leading cycling, hiking, and kayaking adventures on the Dalmatian Coast, where he spent his summers as a child. His travels have also taken him to Ethiopia and India as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Before joining the team at Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Izzy and his wife Kelsey, also a life-long explorer, travelled around the world for eight months following their wedding including a long-sought adventure to Antarctica.

Along with customized itineraries for couples, families or groups, Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado offers the following signature excursions and more:

CAMINO ENCANTADO AND LOS CAMINITOS CANYON – Guests can embark on a private, two-hour guided hike along the ridges and arroyos surrounding Rancho Encantado. Grand vistas can be enjoyed while learning regional history and hearing colorful tales of this popular “dude ranch” and the characters who have visited since the early 1900s including John Wayne, Robert Duvall and even the Dalai Lama himself.

“ANCIENT TO PRESENT” CULTURAL TOUR – This Native American-themed tour of nearby Bandelier National Monument offers historical perspective into the ancient cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo People. A tour of the less-traveled areas of the monument follows ancient foot paths and kiva ladders into 800 year-old “caveates” built along the Frijoles Creek alongside towering cliffs. Guests are given important context for understanding the complicated 400+ year coexistence of Native Americans and the Spanish with a visit to the Poeh Cultural Center and/or some of the nearby reservations.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GEORGIA O’KEEFFE: ABIQUIU & GHOST RANCH – The Abiquiu (Valley of Shining Stone) area has inspired artists and adventurers for over a century. Guests can marvel at this unique landscape while hiking, biking or horseback riding on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau amongst majestic red rock mesas, the surreal white stone turrets of Plaza Blanca or the elusive Copper Canyon and towering above it all, Georgia O’Keeffe’s beloved Cerro Pedernal.

EXPLORATION BIKING – Thrilling downhill rides through the Santa Fe National Forest meander along rushing mountain streams, aspen, ponderosa pine and blue spruce with both mellow trails as well as more advanced single track customized to any ability level. Guests are provided with state-of-the-art full suspension “Santa Cruz” mountain bikes for these popular rides available as guided three hour, half-day or full-day excursions into Northern New Mexico’s thrilling wilderness.