EAGLE COUNTY - Former President Gerald Ford may not return to his Beaver Creek home.

Ford, now 93 and in fragile health, may put the home - one of the first built at the resort - on the market before the end of the year.

"It's being discussed, but nothing there's nothing final," Ford spokeswoman Penny Circle said. A source with knowledge of the situation said Ford is expected to list the home at Beaver Creek soon.

Circle added that Ford, who is now at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., is feeling good right now. But, at his age, and after a summer of heart trouble, his return to the valley remains an open question.

"It all depends on how he feels," Circle said.

Ford came to Beaver Creek earlier this year intending to spend the summer, but began complaining of shortness of breath shortly after arriving. That led to a short stay at Vail Valley Medical Center. Continued shortness of breath led to a stay at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota last summer, and Ford received a heart pacemaker.

Coming to high elevations with a bad heart is tough, but not impossible.

"Nowadays, with portable oxygen bottles, it's relatively easy to stay at high elevation," said Dr. Tom Steinberg, the first doctor to have a full-time practice in Vail.

Now retired, Steinberg, who is several years younger than Ford, said many of the older people he knows move out of the area because they need assisted living care, not because of the elevation.

"The altitude effect is minimal," Steinberg said.

But, Steinberg said, when he saw Ford at a concert last summer, the former president was showing his age "rather dramatically."

"It was tough for him," Steinberg said.

Even if the Fords return to the Vail Valley for a vacation, Steinberg said it's unlikely the public would see much of him.

"He really can't get out much. He can't do the things he first came here to do," Steinberg said.

Ford and his wife, Betty, have done a lot in the valley, and Steinberg said they'll be missed.

"They were always here, always such a part of what was going on," John Dakin of the Vail Valley Foundation said. "You'd see them at the amphitheater, or at the grocery store, or at the ski classic.

"I think their absence will be a lot larger, and felt more broadly, than it is now."

The Fords have given money, time and effort to numerous nonprofit groups and causes over the years. They've also weighed in on various local issues, including, most recently, the controversy over building an alpine slide at Beaver Creek. Ford recently sent a letter to the Eagle County Commissioners opposing Vail Resorts' plan to build the slide in the Haymeadow area at Beaver Creek.

Whether they're here or not, the Fords have at least one more gift to give the valley.

Sometime next summer, probably around the Fourth of July, there will be a silent auction of some of the Fords' personal effects to benefit three local charities: The OK Corral, a planned new camp for sick children; the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens at Vail; and the Vail Valley Scholarship Fund, which was created with money raised from the Jerry Ford Invitational Golf Tournament.

The auction is planned for next summer, but won't be at the Fords' home, Circle said.

The OK Corral board will organize the auction, and charity board member Alison Knapp said the Fords are the honorary chairpersons.

"It really is said they're having to leave the valley," Knapp said. "We're going to miss them."

Jerry And Betty Ford And The Vail Valley



Ð1968: Representative Gerald R. Ford (R - Mich.) and his family take their first ski vacation at Vail

Ð1973: Ford is sworn in as Vice President

Ð1974: Ford becomes President after Richard Nixon's resignation. From then through early 1977, Vail becomes the "Western White House"

Ð1976: The first Jerry Ford Invitational Golf Tournament is held, with proceeds going to a local scholarship fund. That scholarship fund continues to operate

Ð1982: The Fords buy one of the first homes at Beaver Creek

Ð1982: Ford hosts the first American Enterprise Institute World Forum, an event that brings political and business leaders to Beaver Creek for off-the-record conversations

Ð1982: Hosts the first Ford Cup in Vail. The event later becomes the American Ski Classic.

Ð1987: The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater opens

Ð1989: Helps bring the World Alpine Ski Championships to Vail

Ð2001: Ford is inducted into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard

Hall of Fame

Ð2004: For the first time since the 1970s, Ford is unable to attend the annual Christmas tree lighting in Vail

Ð2005: Ford attends Vail's annual Fourth of July events, and celebrates his 92nd birthday in Vail

Ð2006: Ford spends two days at Vail Valley Medical Center after complaining of shortness of breath while at his Beaver Creek Home

Source: The Vail Daily