Snowmass Alpacas is located on a beautiful 700-acre ranch in Sandpoint, in the northern Panhandle of Idaho, and is home to the Skinner family - Julie, Don and their four young children, Nicholas, Maree, David James and Heidi. It is also the home of more than 500 alpacas, Blonde D Aquataine cattle, horses and other livestock.

Julie has been involved with alpacas since her childhood, beginning with dreams generated by photographs in the world atlas. At nineteen she took a three-month educational excursion to Peru, then spent a further three months travelling with a Peruvian friend.Together they explored and experienced the richness of the land and its people, especially their culture and life with camelids. She knew then that a Peruvian influence would forever mold her future. Upon her return home she attended college at UCSC in Santa Cruz, California. She lived on a farm and helped manage Swiss Saanen goats while continuing to research the field of camelids, animal husbandry and ecological development.

In 1982 Julie moved to her father's ranch in Snowmass, Colorado, and purchased her first camelids (llamas). This marked the beginning of Snowmass Llamas and Alpacas. As well as llamas they had other fiber-bearing livestock including Angora goats and rabbits and Merino sheep. Julie had learned to hand spin with a drop spindle from the Quechua Indians while in Peru and all this fiber renewed her interest.

Their breeding focus moved toward fiber development and alpacas. The llamas remained but moved into the packing department so they could continue hiking the back country. Julie and her husband Don, are convinced alpaca fiber is far superior in its versattility to that of other fiber- bearing livestock, except that of the vicuna, whose fiber is considered the gold of all fiber. After twenty-five years the Skinners have evolved a herd of more than 500 of the finest and most Elite fibered alpacas in the world. The demand for their fiber and genetics has grown beyond North America to larger international interests, including Peru.

"We are currently working with scientists and camelid breeders worldwide, seeking new advancements in preventative herd management, diagnostics and treatments. We are also working with various mills in fiber grading, sorting and milling so that we can give breeders a better perspective as to the direct relationship with fineness/crimp/ length/ color/ and many other variables as it relates to end products and fleeces we are breeding for."

They have developed a special sorting and baling operation and core sampling of their clip for International buyers looking specifically for Elite alpaca fiber.Elite is a term the Skinners began using to describe the ideal fiber for which they were breeding. It describes a royal fineness grade of fiber under twenty micron, low scale height, high luster and adequate staple length. On the alpaca itself this Elite fiber should extend beyond the blanket area to the neck and legs, showing advanced uniformity, density and added staple length without interfering with fineness. They have developed this fineness and uniformity in all the colors and fleece crimp types the Huacaya alpaca produces.

Julie and Don are proud to have developed a well-established herd of superior alpacas with some of the nation's finest colored alpacas in every color shade. Visit the Snowmass Alpacas website and read their Making of Champions publications at www.snowmassalpacas.com, to learn more about their work and breeding advancements in alpacas. "We have worked hard to keep a well- diversified breeding program and not narrow any of the genetic possibilities. This keeps our program exciting. The outcome of our advanced breeding program is as thrilling as the first day we started. A healthy strong based alpaca with high quality fiber in a spectrum of colors is directive for the present as well as the future."

Snowmass Alpacas is finding that they are producing colored alpacas in their breeding program that exhibit the same elite fiber characteristics as found in the finest white and fawn alpacas of the Andes. There are many new developments in fiber characteristics that have never been seen before. Julie explains, "Excellence in fiber is the future. The Incan royalty, the English royalty and the elite fashion houses of the world aspire to this fiber unlike any other in existence. This is a growing industry and what is done today is the building of the foundation for tomorrow. There is a future in the gold of the alpaca."

The Skinners love being in the alpaca business and plan to be part of it for a long time. They believe wholeheartedly in the success of the alpaca industry. The combination of the magnetism these animals generate and the dedication and cooperation of the breeding community is unbeatable. "The alpacas are a special part of all our lives, and we cannot imagine life without them. Our children love them, and the alpacas sense a special quality in the children's affection and respond with a gentleness and curiosity. Of all creatures, great and small, I truly believe that the alpacas are a very special gift from God."