Guide to New Year's Eve activities around the coounty

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily News Link

There are many ways to spend the holiday season in Summit County, from outdoor activities to cozying up to a fire at a favorite après ski spot. Whether you’re in town just for the week, or have family visiting from another state, the Summit Daily has compiled a list of special events and activities offered by the towns and ski areas during the holidays.

BRECKENRIDGE

DEC. 31: NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION

Bring in the New Year with a boom. Watch a spectacular array of fireworks, (launch location TBD). You can find best visibility from downtown Main Street. Weather permitting, catch the Torch Light Parade flowing down the Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Schedule:

Glow Worm Parade: Kids ages 5-13 are invited to join the Glow Worm Parade, in which they’ll ski down green terrain in a long formation with glow sticks, giving off the appearance of a glow worm. Registration begins at 5 p.m. at the Beaver Run Ski and Snowboard School on Peak 9, and the parade will begin at 5:45 p.m. Participants must be able to stop and turn on green terrain.

Torchlight Parade: At 6 p.m., enjoy a Breckenridge tradition as the Breckenridge Ski Resort Ski and Snowboard School kicks off the evening with a dazzling luminary procession, parading from the top of Peak 9. The best views of this parade are from anywhere you can see Peak 9.

Fireworks: At 9 p.m. catch the brilliant fireworks display. With clear skies, these fireworks can be seen from most locations in downtown Breckenridge.

Free, Extended Transit Service: The town of Breckenridge is offering special late night service on the Breckenridge Free Ride Transit System. All scheduled routes will operate as normal until 2:15 a.m. with the last routes of the night leaving Breckenridge Station at 1:45 a.m. The goal is to provide a safe way for guests to enjoy a Breckenridge New Year’s Eve celebration by not drinking and driving.

KEYSTONE

THROUGH JAN. 8: CHOCOLATE VILLAGE

More than 5,000 pounds of milk, semi-sweet and white chocolate from Switzerland, Belgium and Germany comprise the Chocolate Village at the Keystone Lodge & Spa. Featuring a working chocolate gondola, and cascading chocolate waterfall, a 6-foot tall white chocolate Christmas tree with ornate chocolate presents all homemade by Keystone Resort’s pastry chef Ned Archibald. The Chocolate Village is free to view, and will be on display at the Keystone Lodge & Spa through Jan. 8.

DEC. 31: TROUT STEAK REVIVAL AT WARREN STATION

Trout Steak Revival has earned a place in the mountain states’ bluegrass scene, performing to sold-out audiences, winning the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, placing in the 2012 Rockygrass Band Competition, and even winning an Emmy Award for a soundtrack with Rocky Mountain PBS. Tickets are now just $20 for adults and will increase to $25 on the day of the show. Save $5 per person by purchasing your tickets online at WarrenStation.com.

DEC. 31: NYE CELEBRATION

Keystone’s New Year’s Eve celebration will include face painting, crafts, a scavenger hunt, family cookie decorating and Riperoo’s Village Parade. For those 21 and over, 9280’ will host a NYE celebration, with a champagne toast at midnight. There is no cover before 9. There will be fireworks in Lakeside Village at 9 p.m. Please note that there are limited reservation spots remaining for dining during both Christmas and New Year’s, call (970) 496-4386 for reservations.

Schedule:

9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Kidtopia Headquarters

12:30–3 p.m.: Face painting & Craft-er-noon

1–4 p.m.: Kidtopia Scavenger Hunt

3:30–6:30 p.m.: Family Cookie Decorating at the Adventure Center

4–4:30 p.m.: Riperoo’s Village Parade

4:30 p.m.: Cookie Time at Dercum Ice Rink

4:30–7:30 p.m.: Family WII & Board Games

5:45 p.m.: Bigfoot Adventure

6:30 p.m.: Ski & Ride School Torchlit Parade

7:15 p.m.: Bigfoot Adventure

8:30 p.m. doors open, 9 p.m. Concert: New Years Eve Concert at Warren Station; opener Pandas & People: 9–10 p.m.; Trout Steak Revival: 10:15 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. with brief intermission. Save $5 per person by purchasing your tickets online at WarrenStation.com. Ballroom will be standing room only with all ages welcome. Historically, the concert has sold out.

No cover before 9 p.m.: 9280’ NYE Celebration; Special Guest: Trash Punk; Age: 21 and above; Champagne toast at midnight

9 p.m.: Lakeside Village Fireworks

Frisco

EVERY DAY: ADVENTURE PARK TUBING

The Adventure Park is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all other days.

EVERY DAY: PRIVATE SLEIGH RIDES

Take a horse-drawn sleigh ride with Two Below Zero. Go to DinnerSleighRides.com

DILLON

DEC. 30 & JAN. 6: BIGFOOT ADVENTURE WALKS

Dillon’s Bigfoot Adventure Walk teaches children about the area and wildlife while they embark on a nature walk in search of Bigfoot in Dillon’s Town Park. The adventure walk activity is approximately one hour and fifteen minutes long, beginning and ending at Dillon Town Hall. This fun-filled activity is available to children ages 3 to 12 years. Parents are welcome to join or leave the tracking to the littles while they go shopping or grab an appetizer at a local restaurant. The Adventure walk is outside. Please wear suitable clothes and footwear for winter weather. Register in advance. Call (970) 468-2403 to make your reservation. 5:30–6:45 p.m.

Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper and A-Basin contribute to $20 million in Forest Service fees

#Colorado

Abby Hein / Breckenridge Ski Resort

Summit Daily News Link

The White River National Forest is reaping increasing revenues in fees from Colorado ski-area operators that use public lands.

The 11 resorts in the White River National Forest paid $19.94 million in fees in fiscal 2016 compared with $17.92 million in 2015, according to the U.S. Forest Service. That is an increase of 11 percent.

Fees went up on all 11 resorts, and Keystone Resort notched the second-largest increase at 27.5 percent. Arapahoe Basin Ski Area’s fees went up a healthy 18.7 percent, while Breckenridge Ski Resort and Copper Mountain Resort posted more modest gains at 8.6 and 5 percent, respectively.

The increases reflect the strong year for the Colorado ski industry in 2015-16, when it topped 13 million skier visits for the first time, said Melanie Mills, president and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA, a state trade group.

The U.S. Forest Service uses a complicated formula to determine the fees the ski areas must pay for revenue generated on national forest lands. Skier visits and related business, such as lessons, figure into the fee. The agency uses a sliding scale, so smaller ski areas and those that don’t use a lot of federal land in their operations pay a smaller fee.

Breckenridge posted the biggest fee in Summit County with $4,724,929, and Keystone came in at second with $2,886,771. Both are operated by Vail Resorts, whose Colorado flagship, Vail Mountain, paid the highest fee in White River with $6,532,063. That was a healthy 9.3 increase from last year.

Copper Mountain paid $1,309,656 compared to $1,246,664 in 2015 and A-Basin pitched in $505,535, up from $425,796 last year.

FUNDS GO TO TREASURY

The ski-area fees helped the White River National Forest generate about $10 million more in revenue than it spent in fiscal year 2016, according to Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams.

In addition to the ski-area fees, the Forest collects revenue from oil and gas leases, timber sales and grazing.

“The problem is, of course, we don’t see any of that — it goes to the U.S. Treasury,” Fitzwilliams said. “That’s Congress’ choice of where the money goes.”

Congress allocates the budget of the Forest Service. The agency’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office divides the funds among the national forests in its jurisdiction.

The White River’s budget for fiscal 2016 was about $16 million — or about $4 million less than what was reaped from ski area fees alone.

Unlike ski area fees, which go to the U.S. Treasury, guide and outfitter fees remain in the White River National Forest.

AS FEES INCREASE, BUDGET FALLS

At the same time ski-area fees are increasing, the White River National Forest has been forced to reduce its budget and staff, including the number of workers overseeing the ski industry.

Fitzwilliams said there were eight full-time equivalent staff members working as winter sports administrators and other positions related to the ski industry seven years ago. There are now 4.5 positions devoted to working with the ski industry.

Fitzwilliams said he has fewer staff members available to review ski areas’ applications for lift replacements and other proposals to build infrastructure on national forest lands.

“I’ve had to tell the resorts, ‘We can’t move forward at the pace you want,’” Fitzwilliams said.

The White River staff talks to ski-area representatives about their proposals, then sets priorities. Some projects must wait.

Breckenridge, for instance, was asked to delay submitting its plan for summer amenities for a year, Fitzwilliams said. And in nearby Pitkin County, Aspen Skiing Company was told that a review of plans for improvements on Aspen Mountain would have to wait until another year.

Ski resorts pay for third-party contractors to perform studies required by the federal National Environmental Policy Act. The resorts also pay a portion of the Forest Service’s costs to review the plans.

Nevertheless, the agency cannot keep pace. Mills said ski areas have money to invest in infrastructure when business is up, like it is now.

Fitzwilliams said the ski areas are justifiably frustrated that reviews are taking longer at a time when the fees they are paying are increasing. Some officials in government and the ski industry want the system revamped so that fees generated in the forests stay in the forests.

SKI INDUSTRY SEEKS FEE RETENTION

Mills said Colorado Ski Country USA and partners have laid the groundwork in the past for legislation on fee retention. The concept of fee retention by national forests has received bipartisan support in the past.

But where such legislation stands among the priorities of Congress is unclear, she acknowledged. The Republican Party controls both the House and Senate and has vowed to work with President-elect Trump on an aggressive agenda after he takes office in January.

“It’s a priority for us and we’ll be working on it with the new Congress,” Mills said.

Another way that funds could be freed up, Mills noted, is if the federal government reworks the way it funds fighting forest fires. As it stands, firefighting reduces funds available for recreation and other Forest Service responsibilities.

SKI FEES CONTINUE TO RISE

Meanwhile, Fitzwilliams expects that fees paid by ski areas will continue to rise. The increasing revenue reflects the greater emphasis resorts have placed on summer business, Fitzwilliams said. Vail has been at the forefront of attracting mountain bikers, hikers and sightseers to its slopes during summers.

Just over a year ago, Vail Resorts got approval for its Epic Discovery summer activity expansion in Breckenridge, which will include zip lines, a climbing wall, observation tower and hiking and biking trails.

A-Basin and Copper haven’t been far behind — both were given the green light this year for summertime activity expansions.

The White River also anticipates reaping more in fees from increases winter business.

For the foreseeable future, those fees will be plowed back into the national treasury.

Real estate in Summit County continues on upward trend

#Summit County #Colorado

Courtesy of O'Brien & Associates Real Estate Inc.

Summit Daily News Link

Summit County real estate sales brought in more than $1 billion in 2016.

Condominiums are still the highest portion of real estate sales in the county. Condo sales remained consistent with last year, said Dennis Clauer, broker and owner at Real Estate of the Summit Inc.

“The discrepancies in our market this year, year-to-date, are really in the luxury market, which would be over $2 million for single-family homes,” he said to the Daily earlier this month.

The average time that a luxury home spent on the market increased by 50 percent in 2016. A lack of inventory of single-family homes and condos caused those options to move through the market more quickly.

The there were 2,338 total sales through November this year, bringing in more than $1.2 billion. Last year, during the same period, saw 2,254 sales, and $1.17 billion in revenue. There were also more sales over the million-dollar mark. This year, 217 homes were sold for more than $1 million. This was 11 more sales than last year. For both years, sales over $1 million represented 9 percent of the total.

Summit County Assessor Beverly Breakstone told the Daily in October that the boost in sales followed the increasing price trend that has been happening for the past two years.

Over the course of 2016, sales were neck and neck with last year. September, the county’s biggest month, had a total of 300 sales, and more than $161 million in transactions. It was one sale short of what was done in 2015, but still squeaked ahead in revenue by a little less than $10 million. September is a bigger month for real estate because buyers become more serious in their search for a new home, said Cody Thomas, a broker associate with Paffrath and Thomas Real Estate, to the Daily in October. Homeowners will also begin lowering prices in the hopes of selling before the winter months.

Sales began to slow down in October and November, but both months still brought in more than $140 million each.

The slowest month for real estate in Summit was January, with 124 sales and $63 million in revenue. From there sales started going up month by month. Two of the year’s largest sales were in March. Lot 2 in Shock Hill in the Breckenridge area sold for $5.675 million, and Parcel A at River’s Edge sold for $5.5 million.

Sales for the month of December will be posted in the New Year, but in 2015, the month had 269 sales with a value of nearly $130 million. Of those sales, 17 were more than $1 million. December had more sales and higher revenue than November that year.

In 2016, 34 homes went into foreclosure, compared to 33 last year. Eleven of the foreclosed properties from this year are still in the first step of the process, and have had the Notice for Election and Demand recorded. Of the remaining homes, 16 of the foreclosures have been withdrawn, four because the debt was paid. Another four of the houses have already been resold. Last year, 21 of the foreclosures were withdrawn, and 12 were sold.

Get better at powder skiing and mogul skiing with tips from the pros

#Colorado

Special to the Daily

Summit Daily News Link

It’s happened to everyone. For the first time since you stepped on snow, you’ve reached the limit of your skiing knowledge and just can’t seem to get better. It happens to beginners and experts and everyone in between: the plateau.

Good to know this is Ski Country and progress is the name of the game. Summit County is a hotbed for professional instructors and coaches who have helped hundreds of other skiers correct bad habits and reach the next level, whatever that is. For some it’s powder, for others it’s just keeping up with the kids. No matter what, pros at every level recommend one thing: find someone — preferably a certified someone — who knows what they’re talking about.

“Try to have one mentor, whether it’s an instructor or you read about them or watch them on a YouTube video or anything else,” said Jonathan Lawson, ski and ride school supervisor at Copper Mountain. “You can even find a pro here, someone who is a certified instructor, someone who is a very skilled skier and knows how to bring that information to your ability level. It’s so you don’t run into the roadblocks: You can progress without having to unlearn old moves before you get to new ones.”

For everyone except for true never-evers, the biggest roadblocks to moving higher and higher are bad habits. We talked with local instructors and coaches for tips on how to break the worst.

For skiers

BAD HABIT: SITTING IN THE BACKSEAT

It’s one of the first and most difficult lessons for any skier: lean downhill, not uphill.

“This is the trick to being efficient,” said Doug Pierini, vice president of skier services at Breck and a ski instructor with more than 15 years of teaching under his belt. “When you’re back in the boots you’re using big muscles just to stand up. You need to move with the mountain and move downhill, following with your center of mass.”

It’s also one of the most frightening sensations for beginners, especially when you move from flat terrain to steeper terrain with obstacles like bumps, trees and more. But if you aren’t centered it’s nearly impossible to initiate turns quickly, effectively and with minimal effort. In other words, it’s the first skill you need to master.

Pierini has a simple trick to remedy the backseat: pretend you have a few $100 bills tucked between your shins and your boot tongues. This keeps you in the proper position to initiate turns with your legs and feet instead of your arms and shoulders.

BAD HABIT: OVERCORRECTING FOR THE BACKSEAT

For every old and remedied bad habit, there’s at least one way to form an entirely new one.

“Usually the quick fix for the backseat is to get forward, but what you’re really looking for is to be centered over the arch of your foot,” said Jeff Lifgren, director of the Keystone Ski and Ride School and another instructor vet with 15-plus years of experience. “If you lean too far forward it can almost be as detrimental as being in the back seat.”

The trick, he says, is to feel your entire foot on the base of your boot: on your toes is too far forward, on your heels is too far back, centered over your arches is just right. Take a few runs on slow, mellow greens and pay close attention to your feet and how it affects body position. Once you find the balance point, remember what it feels like and check in with your feet every few runs. Soon enough it’ll be second nature, aka a new, good habit.

Moral of the story: Be careful to avoid overcorrecting. Again, working with a pro even once gives you a second set of eyes to spot these issues.

BAD HABIT: LIFTING SKIS TO START A TURN

Proper form is all about efficiency, but proper form isn’t easy. At Copper, Lawson sometimes sees intermediate skiers lift and pull their skis off the snow to start a hard turn. It can work and usually does, at least on groomers. But when you move to powder and other advanced terrain it sets you up for failure.

Why? Because your balance is compromised. Lawson (known as Johnny Law around Copper) calls it a “gross movement,” meaning you’re using major muscle groups to perform a demanding — and inefficient — movement.

To remedy, head to easy and comfortable terrain for fine-tuned movements. Make, deliberate turns, Lawson says, beginning the turn with your foot and ankle before engaging the leg muscles. When you feel comfortable taking turns at low and high speeds move to more difficult terrain.

BAD HABIT: WACKY, WAVING, FLAILING ARMS AND UPPER BODY

You’ve mastered the basics. Your body is centered and your skis are parallel. You can even maintain that form on steep terrain and mellow bumps. But, once things get real steep and it’s time for snap-quick movements, you begin to flail. Your arms are doing all the work and your legs are struggling to catch up.

It’s something even ski racers struggle with, which is one of the major reason Team Summit athletes train in the gym and on the hill. Core exercises two or three times per week can maintain your strength and help prevent strains, coaches said.

Keystone, Breckenridge ski resorts outline future upgrades for 2017-18 season

#Breckenridge #Keystone #Colorado

Joey Reuteman / Keystone Resort

Summit Daily News Link

Keystone and Breckenridge ski resorts announced Monday morning plans for a new batch of improvements to existing on-mountain amenities for the 2017-18 ski season.

In a joint news release, the two Vail Resorts, Inc.-owned properties declared intentions of upgrading a lift chair at each ski area, as well as an expansion and renovation of Labonte’s Smokehouse BBQ restaurant at the base of Keystone’s North Peak. Because each operates on federal lands by permit, all are subject to U.S. Forest Service approvals.

Breckenridge’s hope is to increase the capacity of Peak 10’s Falcon SuperChair, serving guests with advanced terrain on the resort’s southern-most peak, to a six-person lift. The idea of the 25-percent expansion would be to boost skier and snowboarder flow to allow each to get more out their respective ski day.

“Breckenridge has seen many large projects over the last six years,” John Buhler, COO of Breckenridge Ski Resort, said in the release, “and we’re ecstatic to continue with a new Falcon SuperChair for winter 2017-2018.”

Meanwhile, Keystone aims to update the Montezuma Express Lift — the main access point to Dercum Mountain’s beginner and intermediate terrain — also with a six-person chair. Expanding guest circulation by 25 percent for more efficiency is also the resort’s goal. The enlargement of Labonte’s, from a large outdoor seating area with picnic tables and a small warming hut to a 150-seat indoor facility, reimagines the on-mountain dining venue while attempting to maintain its signature outdoor “ski beach” that guests know and love.

“We are committed to continually reinvesting in the mountain experience across Vail Resorts,” Mike Goar, vice president and COO at Keystone, said in the release, “and are confident that these upgrades will elevate the guest experience at Keystone and Breckenridge.”

Additional details on the design and White River National Forest approval process for these proposed improvements will be available in the coming months.

Frisco accepting Christmas trees for annual Spontaneous Combustion bonfire

#Frisco #Colorado

Courtesy Todd Powell 

Summit Daily News Link

The town of Frisco will be accepting Christmas trees until Feb. 3 to fuel the Spontaneous Combustion bonfire on Saturday, Feb. 4. Trees must be stripped of all lights, tinsel, garland, tree stands and decorations prior to drop off at the Frisco Bay Marina dirt lot at the corner of Summit Boulevard and Highway 9 and Marina Road. Only real trees will be accepted, and no other materials, like building supplies or packaging, will be accepted. The tree drop off is open 24 hours a day.

The Spontaneous Combustion bonfire is a community celebration featuring a bonfire and fireworks as well as beverage and chili sales to benefit the Summit Nordic Ski Club. The bonfire, fueled by Christmas trees, will begin at 6:00 p.m. with fireworks at 8:00 p.m. The Frisco Nordic Center will also be hosting the inaugural Frisco Freeze Fat Bike Race on February 4, 2017 with the awards being presented at the bonfire.

For further information about tree drop off and Spontaneous Combustion, please contact Nora Gilbertson at 970-668-9132.

Teensy Sunlight Mountain in Glenwood one-ups Vail Resorts with $700 lift ticket

#Colorado

Summit Daily News Link

Think a ritzy resort like Deer Valley or Vail Mountain boasts the most expensive lift ticket in the ski industry this season? Wrong. This year, the honor goes to Sunlight Mountain Resort, found about 100 miles west of Summit County in Glenwood Springs.

With a $700 lift ticket this season, Sunlight is expected to hit the mark for the highest priced one-day lift ticket in the nation, according to a release from Sunlight. The Sunlight “Sunny 700” lift ticket will be offered for $700 this season and includes one full day of skiing at the resort, as well as a pair of limited edition Sunlight 50th anniversary Meier skis, plus a ticket to Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood. A $600 version is available and includes a 50th anniversary snowboard.

At 680 acres, Sunlight is roughly seven times smaller than Vail. It also might not have the swagger or celeb-status of Aspen, the release continued, but that didn’t stop officials from offering the caviar of lift tickets.

In the release, Troy Hawks, the resort’s director of marketing and sales, said Sunlight is celebrating its 50th birthday in style and ready to take on the bigger, more famous resorts.

“Sunlight might not have any fur shops or an influx of celebrities, but we do have big skiing and riding in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains,” says Hawks. “And, now we can boast that we have one of the most affordable skiing experiences in the industry, as well as the most expensive, special one-day lift ticket offering in the country, if not the world.”

Roundup of Christmas, New Year’s Eve week activities in Breckenridge, Keystone, Dillon, Frisco

#Summit County #Colorado

Courtesy Breckenridge Tourism Office

Summit Daily News Link

There are many ways to spend the holiday season in Summit County, from outdoor activities to cozying up to a fire at a favorite après ski spot. Whether you’re in town just for the week, or have family visiting from another state, the Summit Daily has compiled a list of special events and activities offered by the towns and ski areas during the holidays.

BRECKENRIDGE

DEC. 31: NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION

Bring in the New Year with a boom. Watch a spectacular array of fireworks, (launch location TBD). You can find best visibility from downtown Main Street. Weather permitting, catch the Torch Light Parade flowing down the Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Schedule:

Glow Worm Parade: Kids ages 5-13 are invited to join the Glow Worm Parade, in which they’ll ski down green terrain in a long formation with glow sticks, giving off the appearance of a glow worm. Registration begins at 5 p.m. at the Beaver Run Ski and Snowboard School on Peak 9, and the parade will begin at 5:45 p.m. Participants must be able to stop and turn on green terrain.

Torchlight Parade: At 6 p.m., enjoy a Breckenridge tradition as the Breckenridge Ski Resort Ski and Snowboard School kicks off the evening with a dazzling luminary procession, parading from the top of Peak 9. The best views of this parade are from anywhere you can see Peak 9.

Fireworks: At 9 p.m. catch the brilliant fireworks display. With clear skies, these fireworks can be seen from most locations in downtown Breckenridge.

Free, Extended Transit Service: The town of Breckenridge is offering special late night service on the Breckenridge Free Ride Transit System. All scheduled routes will operate as normal until 2:15 a.m. with the last routes of the night leaving Breckenridge Station at 1:45 a.m. The goal is to provide a safe way for guests to enjoy a Breckenridge New Year’s Eve celebration by not drinking and driving.

KEYSTONE

THROUGH JAN. 8: CHOCOLATE VILLAGE

More than 5,000 pounds of milk, semi-sweet and white chocolate from Switzerland, Belgium and Germany comprise the Chocolate Village at the Keystone Lodge & Spa. Featuring a working chocolate gondola, and cascading chocolate waterfall, a 6-foot tall white chocolate Christmas tree with ornate chocolate presents all homemade by Keystone Resort’s pastry chef Ned Archibald. The Chocolate Village is free to view, and will be on display at the Keystone Lodge & Spa through Jan. 8.

DEC. 31: TROUT STEAK REVIVAL AT WARREN STATION

Trout Steak Revival has earned a place in the mountain states’ bluegrass scene, performing to sold-out audiences, winning the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, placing in the 2012 Rockygrass Band Competition, and even winning an Emmy Award for a soundtrack with Rocky Mountain PBS. Tickets are now just $20 for adults and will increase to $25 on the day of the show. Save $5 per person by purchasing your tickets online at WarrenStation.com.

DEC. 31: NYE CELEBRATION

Keystone’s New Year’s Eve celebration will include face painting, crafts, a scavenger hunt, family cookie decorating and Riperoo’s Village Parade. For those 21 and over, 9280’ will host a NYE celebration, with a champagne toast at midnight. There is no cover before 9. There will be fireworks in Lakeside Village at 9 p.m. Please note that there are limited reservation spots remaining for dining during both Christmas and New Year’s, call (970) 496-4386 for reservations.

Schedule:

9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Kidtopia Headquarters

12:30–3 p.m.: Face painting & Craft-er-noon

1–4 p.m.: Kidtopia Scavenger Hunt

3:30–6:30 p.m.: Family Cookie Decorating at the Adventure Center

4–4:30 p.m.: Riperoo’s Village Parade

4:30 p.m.: Cookie Time at Dercum Ice Rink

4:30–7:30 p.m.: Family WII & Board Games

5:45 p.m.: Bigfoot Adventure

6:30 p.m.: Ski & Ride School Torchlit Parade

7:15 p.m.: Bigfoot Adventure

8:30 p.m. doors open, 9 p.m. Concert: New Years Eve Concert at Warren Station; opener Pandas & People: 9–10 p.m.; Trout Steak Revival: 10:15 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. with brief intermission. Save $5 per person by purchasing your tickets online at WarrenStation.com. Ballroom will be standing room only with all ages welcome. Historically, the concert has sold out.

No cover before 9 p.m.: 9280’ NYE Celebration; Special Guest: Trash Punk; Age: 21 and above; Champagne toast at midnight

9 p.m.: Lakeside Village Fireworks

Frisco

EVERY DAY: ADVENTURE PARK TUBING

The Adventure Park is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all other days.

EVERY DAY: PRIVATE SLEIGH RIDES

Take a horse-drawn sleigh ride with Two Below Zero. Go to DinnerSleighRides.com

DILLON

DEC. 30 & JAN. 6: BIGFOOT ADVENTURE WALKS

Dillon’s Bigfoot Adventure Walk teaches children about the area and wildlife while they embark on a nature walk in search of Bigfoot in Dillon’s Town Park. The adventure walk activity is approximately one hour and fifteen minutes long, beginning and ending at Dillon Town Hall. This fun-filled activity is available to children ages 3 to 12 years. Parents are welcome to join or leave the tracking to the littles while they go shopping or grab an appetizer at a local restaurant. The Adventure walk is outside. Please wear suitable clothes and footwear for winter weather. Register in advance. Call (970) 468-2403 to make your reservation. 5:30–6:45 p.m.

Bird enthusiasts flock to Summit County to see state’s first-ever purple sandpiper

#Summit County #Colorado

Steve Rash / Special to the Daily

Summit Daily News Link

If you’ve made the drive either direction between Frisco and Breckenridge in the last week, you’ve seen scores of people out on the south end of Dillon Reservoir attempting to catch a glimpse of something special.

The cars congregate near Leslie’s Curve along State Highway 9 each morning so people can make the snowy trek, toting heaps of camera gear down to the frozen section of the lake to capture a memory of an arctic shorebird known as the purple sandpiper. The recent — and seemingly confused — visitor has taken up temporary residence in Summit since at least this past Friday. The bird’s appearance is an avian dream for the state’s birders because it’s the first-ever documented case of its presence in the state.

“It’s more than rare,” said Alison Holloran, executive director for Audubon Rockies. “It’s bizarre. I don’t know what to say about it except perhaps it’s blown off course and lost its way. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, unless you’re going up to Nova Scotia or parts of Canada in the summertime.”

The small, orange-beaked bird typically breeds in northern Canada and winters along the American Northeast, not straying too far from this migration path. In recent years, however, the purple sandpiper has been recorded within the region, first showing up in southwest Utah in 2010, central Oklahoma three years later, and once each in western Kansas and Montana in 2015.

“This is a bird that generally sticks to the East Coast and doesn’t even get that far down,” said Bill Kaempfer, former president of the Colorado Field Ornithologists. “It’s a rare bird in Florida, for example.”

Kaempfer, a 35-year vet of the bird-watching hobby, said he’s observed about 600 unique species in that time, 435 just in the state. The Colorado Birds Records Committee, a council that works directly with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, had previously certified 501 different birds on the state list. The purple sandpiper’s presence now makes 502, and it’s one that Kaempfer was after before he made the drive from Boulder to cross it off his bucket registry.

“I’ll tell you, on Thursday night I happened upon a list I’d written for myself 25 years ago of my 10 most-wanted bird species,” he recalled. “Of the 10 since that time, I’d seen eight, and one of the two remaining was the purple sandpiper. Not 48 hours later I was looking at it.”

IMPROBABLE DISCOVERY

Kaempfer, just the same as many of the droves of enthusiasts who have since made the pilgrimage to the icy banks of Dillon Reservoir in the last week, admits he was skeptical when he first heard rumors of the bird. The fact that two 13-year-old boys discovered it makes it all the more improbable.

Twin brothers Jack and Ryan Bushong braved blizzard conditions a week ago today to pursue their pastime and explore the frosty edges of the local water body after a day skiing at Breckenridge with their father. While most kids their age might still be spending their time trying to nab uncommon Pokémon with their smartphones in hand, the Louisville, Colorado, residents prefer the real thing and have been casually birding for five years before getting more serious in the last two.

On Friday, they were just aiming to spot a more ordinary fowl to check off their list. But through budding birding know-how, and some admitted luck, the studious siblings happened upon something quite a bit more extraordinary.

“Yeah, I thought it was highly unlikely,” Jack explained Thursday by phone. “I was trying to remember everything I’d seen just looking at bird books and field guides for many years.”

“At first we didn’t know if it was a sandpiper,” added Ryan. “Since we were scoping it at a long distance, we had to get closer to confirm what we thought it was.”

They believed it might be a dunlin, another diminutive species known for wading, or maybe even a rock sandpiper. But the bird’s bill was clearly orange, not the dull yellow they’d remembered of the other type, so they began to settle on the purple variety, snapped some blurry images in haste because of the weather and sent them off to the experts. By morning, the state’s birding community was in a tizzy.

The boys stayed over for the night in the family’s part-time home in Frisco to anxiously accept a landing party the next day and reveal where they’d witnessed the bird. The authorities on the subject arrived, and not long after were celebrating at a nearby human watering hole. Hundreds of bird-watchers have made the trip since.

“I just thought it was a really neat experience, and what I’ve been hoping for since I started birding,” said Ryan. “A lot of people are happy and joyful they got to witness this bird in such odd conditions for it.”

SOLITARY REFINEMENT

Why the bird is here in the first place remains a mystery. It’s possible that during the species’ standard late migration, the bird either got lost or was simply forced to seek shelter during last week’s snowstorm. Even if this purple sandpiper has been able to successfully forage in the winter destination ahead of prime mating season, it remains out of its element and there are some concerns it may not survive.

“It probably doesn’t have what it’s looking for food and resource-wise,” said Holloran, “so it’s more prone to a total loss of life, because it just shouldn’t be here. Maybe it will somehow pull through and shouldn’t be there long, so I assume it will get up and go. It’s got a long way to go to winter grounds.”

Studies have shown the heating of the earth from changes in the climate has already led to altered bird migration patterns. They can end up in places earlier in the year than usual — or in other locations they’ve not been detected before. But because this one purple sandpiper is flying solo, experts say it’s difficult to draw any such scientific conclusion as to why it landed in Summit.

Based on the markings of its plumage after seeing the bird up close, Kaempfer thinks this purple sandpiper could be a yearling. As a result, and because birds tend to be creatures of habit with migratory cycles, it’s possible that if it perseveres it might even return to the area in future seasons.

“I would not rule it out,” said Kaempfer. “Birds have some fidelity to territories.”

That would keep the birding community coming, and they’re continuing to show up each day, parking on the roadside near Summit High School in the hopes of sneaking a peek of the prized purple sandpiper before it potentially flies the coop. And for people like Kaempfer, Dillon Reservoir is not a place he ever imagined would help him fulfill a significant goal of his life.

“We’re happy to have rare birds,” he said. “It makes people excited. And when the purple sandpiper is seen, it’s on the East Coast because it’s a winter bird. I just never felt the urge to go to Cape Cod in November. I certainly never thought it would be in Colorado.”

REI a welcome neighbor in Summit County

#Dillon #Colorado

AAron Ontiveroz / The Denver Post

Summit Daily News Link

REI’s first store in Summit County promises to energize the region’s retail landscape, largely void of chain sporting goods stores. Perhaps surprisingly, one retailer that isn’t troubled by the newcomer is Christy Sports, the Colorado specialty ski and snowboard retailer.

Christy Sports has a store in Park Meadows Mall across from REI and “we have been happily sharing customers for many, many years there,” said Christy Sports spokesman Randy England.

“We think Christy Sports and REI are very complementary. We don’t consider this a threat to our business in any way,” England said. “From a brand standpoint, we are excited that REI is coming to Dillon and we think they will provide a benefit to the community and its visitors.”

The town of Dillon floated a sales-tax rebate to help lure REI to town. The town offered REI a rebate of 25 percent of its sales tax for 10 years, up to a total of $600,000. The rebate was offered to help REI redesign the interior of the former Sports Authority building it is renting.

“We are open for business and sometimes you gotta partner with people to make things happen,” said Dillon town manager Tom Breslin.

For the full text of this story visit The Denver Post website

Boy Scouts selling Christmas trees in Breckenridge

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Special to the Daily

Summit Daily News Link


The Scouts of Troop 187 in Breckenridge, in partnership with local scoutmaster Hook LaFrankie, are selling Christmas trees in the parking lot behind the Riverwalk Center on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4–6:30 p.m. 

The Scouts use the money raised for summer camp experiences and outdoor adventures that they may otherwise be unable to participate in. The boys learn about and gain experience in salesmanship as well as marketing and community outreach. 

This year, thanks to a grant from Breckenridge Grand Vacations, the troop was able to purchase a new trailer from which to operate its fundraiser.

Highway 9 construction update

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily News Link

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has issued a traffic advisory for some scheduled construction work on a portion of State Highway 9 on Tuesday, Dec. 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

SEMA Construction, contractor for the Iron Springs project in Frisco, will be performing grinding work to smooth out sections of the road on both the north and southbound lanes just north of Swan Mountain Road. Traffic flow will be reduced to one lane at approximately mile marker 92 near Summit High School, with flaggers present for traffic control. Commuters along the road can anticipate delays of up to 20 minutes.

For more information about this two-year project, email cdotironsprings@gmail.com, or call the hotline at (970) 401-0901. Information about weekly lane closures is also available via CDOT at: coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html.