Steve Johnson/Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com in the past week.
1. 24-year-old skier from Lakewood dies at Copper Mountain Resort
Lakewood resident Nicholas Vigil, 24, died at Copper Mountain Resort on Jan. 30, according to a news release from the Summit County Coroner’s Office.
According to the release, Vigil was skiing with friends in a treed area along the intermediate run Collage when he lost control and crashed.
The manner of death was accidental, and the cause of death was traumatic brain injury.
The release states that Vigil was wearing a helmet.
— Jenna deJong
2. 48-year-old snowboarder from Centennial dies at Breckenridge Ski Resort
On Feb. 1, Centennial resident Allen Lai, 48, died while snowboarding at Breckenridge Ski Resort.
According to a news release from the Summit County Coroner’s Office, the incident occurred at around 2 p.m. on intermediate run Reverie on Peak 6. The release stated that Lai lost control and crashed into a treed area.
The manner and cause of death are under investigation. No further details were provided.
— Jenna deJong
3. Old highway resurfaces when Dillon Reservoir levels are low
Under Dillon Reservoir, remnants of infrastructure that once ran the old town of Dillon remain, and once in a while the reservoir is low enough to spot some of these pieces of Summit County history, particularly former pieces of road.
Summit Cove resident Steve Johnson said that when he’s driving over Swan Mountain Road, he can sometimes see pieces of the old U.S. Highway 6 and Colorado Highway 9 routes starting to make an appearance, and in mid-December, he decided to get a closer look. He captured a photo of one of the old highways.
“When the lake gets really low, you see it,” Johnson said. “The striping is still visible, which amazes me.”
Historian Sandra Mather wrote her dissertation at the University of Oregon on the geographical history of Summit County and learned endlessly about the history of the reservoir and what was here before it. She said she was amazed to see striping on the roads when they’d show up from below the reservoir in the 1980s.
— Lindsey Toomer
4. Dillon resident charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct after alleged altercation at Clint’s Bakery & Coffee House
On Nov. 8, a manager at Clint’s Bakery & Coffee House was allegedly assaulted by a customer after the customer got into an argument with another employee.
According to a Breckenridge Police Department report, the incident occurred at around 8:15 a.m. at the bakery. The report states that Dillon resident Stephen Wahl had overheard Clint’s Bakery employee Kyle Peel talking about him and got upset.
The two got into an argument, but Wahl eventually walked away and headed upstairs to the second level of the bakery, where he reportedly got into another verbal argument with manager Kelley Wren.
After ordering a sandwich, the report stated that Wahl told Wren that she had an employee who was bad-mouthing a customer. Later, he came back and began yelling at her and called her a sexist slur, according to the report. As he walked out of the restaurant, he allegedly threw something at the door and spit on the floor.
The report stated that Wren followed him out to get his license plate number. Wahl then spit on her, according to the report. In response, Wren slapped him. Wahl then allegedly punched her in the face twice then kneed her in the stomach and in the chin.
— Jenna deJong
5. Community members excited to have unique concept like Bluebird Market in town
Bluebird Market in Silverthorne has officially opened its doors, and while not all of the vendors are up and running, those who are open are excited to finally be doing business.
Open now in the market are the Nomad Coffee House, the Mighty Bar, Baja Chimayo, the Mighty Colorado Burger, Hook and Harvest, Tilford’s Wood Fired Pizza and retail pop-up store LUE Outdoors.
Milender White’s Director of Property Operations Scott Vollmer said Charlie’s Ice Cream will be opening before Valentine’s Day, and the new Crepes a la Cart location and Lazo Empanadas should open shortly after that. The Colorado Marketplace and Bakery is expected to wrap up closer to early March.
Vollmer also said The Old Dillon Inn has a potential operator who is negotiating a lease and could open the space sometime this summer. The Lucky Bird will open closer to April or May.
Vollmer said the vendors who are already open were eager to get started, which is why they went with a phased opening of the market hall.
— Lindsey Toomer