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Members of the “Superheroes” team pose for a photo at the Breckenridge Nordic Center during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser in Breckenridge. The Superheroes skied a total of 195 kilometers on Sunday as an 8-skier team, led by Ella Greene’s 50 kilometers.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Josh Dayton, right, skis in an astronaut outfit during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner 50K Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge. As a member of the team dubbled “Dayton’s Blast Off,” Josh Dayton skied 10 kilometers on Sunday.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Anne Ojennes skis under bluebird skies during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner 50K Nordic Ski-A-Thon at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge. Ojennes skied 10 kilometers for Team Tie Dye.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Angela Knightly traverses the Breckenridge Nordic Center trails on a sit-ski during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge. Knightly skied 20 kilometers on Sunday, half of the total skied by a team dubbed “All You Knee’d Is Motivation.”
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Therese Dayton of the Breckenridge Nordic Center and Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center development manager Hallie Jaeger look over paperwork at Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner 50K Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge. Jaeger skied five kilometers as part of the BOEC’s team dubbed “Skieee For Good.”
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
A member of the “Superheroes” team skis at the Breckenridge Nordic Center during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser in Breckenridge. The Superheroes skied a total of 195 kilometers on Sunday as an 8-skier team, led by Ella Greene’s 50 kilometers.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Participants skate-ski uphill toward the Breckenridge Nordic Center during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
A member of the “Superheroes” team skis at the Breckenridge Nordic Center during Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundraiser in Breckenridge. The Superheroes skied a total of 195 kilometers on Sunday as an 8-skier team, led by Ella Greene’s 50 kilometers.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center -
Scenes from Sunday’s 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon fundriser at the Breckenridge Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Courtesy Barry Rubenstein, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center
Under sunny, bluebird skies on a warm spring-ski Sunday, 50 years looked good on the Breckenridge Nordic Center at the 17th annual Breckebeiner Nordic Ski-A-Thon.
This year’s event at the Breckenridge Nordic Center celebrated 50 years of Nordic skiing in Breckenridge by asking individual participants or teams to ski 50 kilometers on the center’s trails. The annual fundraiser for the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center also set its goal at $50,000 in honor of the 50th anniversary.
Nordic skiing in Summit County has come a long way in the half-century since Gene Dayton founded the Breckenridge Nordic Center, which was several years before Dayton helped to found the BOEC. Though Dayton was not able to attend Sunday’s celebration, his wife Therese, who helps to run the Breckenridge Nordic Center with him, spoke to what her husband has meant to the Summit County Nordic skiing community and how much the sport has grown in the county since Dayton first moved here in 1967.
Back when Dayton first visited Summit County in the 1960s, he did so to complete his master’s studies specific to the area’s blossoming Alpine skiing community. Shortly thereafter he set in motion his effort to build a Nordic skiing community here in the county.
“Gene was setting tracks with his own skis in the backcountry,” Therese said. “He was pulling tracks that were around his waist. We’ve come a long way in 50 years.”
Five decades later, the Breckenridge Nordic Center has found a state-of-the-art home in its “Oh Be Joyful Lodge,” one that Dayton could have only dreamed of 50 years ago.