Editor’s note: Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com for the past week.
1. Skier dies at Keystone Resort on Christmas Day
A 66- year-old skier died at Keystone Resort on Christmas Day. Durwood Marshall of Silverthorne was discovered unconscious on a trail, and was transported to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased. The death was the result of medical events related to cardiac issues, according to Summit County Coroner Regan Wood.
2. Skier death at Keystone Resort
On Dec. 22, a 52-year-old male skier was found unconscious and not breathing at the bottom of a ski run at Keystone Resort. Daniel Mares of Arvada was transported to the Keystone Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. The death was also related to cardiac issues. The two deaths last week represent the second and third fatalities stemming from ski resorts in Summit County this year. Daniel Giger, a 21-year-old University of Colorado Boulder student, was killed following a collision with a tree at Breckenridge Ski Resort on Dec. 16. In addition to three deaths in Summit County, there have been at least two other skier deaths this season.
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A few days before Christmas, Copper Mountain Resort announced its new American Flyer lift would not be spinning for the holiday. In a statement, the company tasked with completing construction of the lift, Leitner-Poma, said it still had some installation and inspection steps that needed to be completed. The company also said it could not commit to a specific date until “critical steps” were completed. The new American Flyer lift is a high-speed, six-person chair with bubble enclosures that should increase uphill capacity by 33 percent. The new Flyer lift and the resort’s new American Eagle lift — which opened several weeks ago — are the first two lifts in North America to run on direct drives as opposed to a complex gear system.
4. Snowpack has declined by an average of 41 percent in the Rocky Mountains over past 3 decades
Some researchers are saying that today’s Rocky Mountain snowpack is significantly less than it was just a few decades ago, revealing their findings at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting on Dec. 13. University of Arizona researchers said that snowpack had declined by 41 percent over 13 percent of Western land area — mainly in the Colorado River Basin mountain ranges — between 1982 and 2016. They attribute the decline to climate change and the effect it is having on Western seasonal patterns. The Arizona Daily Star, which first reported the research findings, pointed out that the 41 percent overall snowpack decline is the equivalent of losing 7.17 million square acre-feet of water. That is enough to supply drinking water to the cities of Tucson and Phoenix for four years.
5. Breckenridge owns November’s top 5 sales
Summit County’s highest sale in November went for $3.3 million — a four-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot home inside Breckenridge’s Highlands Park subdivision. The top five leaders among 43 real estate transactions worth $1 million or more in Summit County for the month were all claimed by Breckenridge. The Shock Hill neighborhood typically posts some of the most expensive housing sales in Summit, and November was no different with three Shock Hill homes included in the top five. The 43 sales represent a steep increase in the number of luxury homes compared to November last year. According to Liv Sotheby’s International Realty’s most recent quarterly report covering January through September, the average price of a home in Summit County increased more than 10 percent and the average number of days one spends on market dropped by one-fifth compared to last year.
Social Calls are comments pulled from the Summit Daily’s website and Facebook page.
“TABOR has ruined a great opportunity and windfall. We need to repeal TABOR so we can fund our infrastructure and schools properly.” — Jacob Deneault on “ ‘Where’s all the marijuana money?’ Colorado’s pot dollars help schools, but maybe not as much as you think”
“Going in the pockets of you know who. Wonder how politicians become millionaires?” — Anthony Sacco on “ ‘Where’s all the marijuana money?’ Colorado’s pot dollars help schools, but maybe not as much as you think”
“Well I love Colorado. And I don’t judge people on where they came from, or when they got here. I’d rather live next to a kind and loving person that just arrived this week, than live next to some negative and hateful person that is a ‘native’.” — Steve Rankin on “With 80,000 new residents, Colorado is the seventh-fastest growing state in the U.S.”
“So much for Vail Resorts in another 20 years.” — Anne Wheeler on “Snowpack has declined by an average of 41 percent in the Rocky Mountains over past 3 decades”
“Sure, selling it out of state helps the black market grow, but so do the crazy high taxes and regulations added to buy it at a licensed dispensary. The state got greedy, the black market grew…. surprised? nope.” — Erik Thorsteinson on “Cultivating Crime: How the state became a major exporter of black market marijuana”
“Because it’s still illegal nationwide. While the pharmaceutical company’s make more fentanyl and doctors give people OxyContin and tell them everything will be ok. Have a beer smoke some cigs the real and only gateway drugs that exist.” — Fritz Ritter on “Cultivating Crime: How the state became a major exporter of black market marijuana”
“The first time I rented a car in the high country (Eagle county airport) the rental company said they don’t put on snow tires because they don’t know where you’re going. (But it had a ski rack on it. )That was their justification. Scary ride to Salt Lake City on those tires. I had no clue that mountain rentals would no be up to par.” — Wendy Snapp on “Sub-traction: Most rental car companies don’t offer snow tires, can’t guarantee all-wheel drive”
“Hey, if they are in the ditch they are not in the lift line.” — Tom Mack on “Sub-traction: Most rental car companies don’t offer snow tires, can’t guarantee all-wheel drive”