52-year-old Breckenridge skier ranked on the Freeride World Qualifier circuit hopes to help grow the sport

 

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Breckenridge resident John Spencer may be the oldest guy on the Freeride World Qualifier circuit, but that doesn’t pose a challenge for him.

Instead, the 52-year-old has steadily worked himself up the ranks, landing at 45th overall after the competition season last year.

The Freeride World Qualifiers feed into the 18-rider Freeride World Tour, where the world’s best freeride skiers and snowboarders compete on some of the biggest, most jagged mountains in the world.

Spencer got into the sport close to 11 years ago and has lived in the area for the past 30 years. Spencer has skied since he was a kid back in Michigan, but it was when he moved to Colorado that he started to stack 100-day seasons.

Along the way, Spencer has grown as a skier, learned how to compete at his highest level and even worked his way out of alcoholism.

Summit County government leaders review latest data after implementing new short-term rental regulations in December

 

It’s been over a month since Summit County government overhauled its short-term rental program, which left many community members feeling disgruntled  about some of the new regulations.

When the Summit Board of County Commissioners voted to install the new regulations  they promised community members that they’d continue to gather data and make tweaks as needed once the program takes full effect. They started making good on that promise during a work session meeting on Tuesday, where Summit County Senior Planner Jessica Potter presented the board with the latest data and insights about the new program.

According to a memo produced by Potter, the county has received 63 short-term rental applications since the new program took effect as of Jan. 10. Of that total, 48 applications are based in a neighborhood overlay zone, and 15 are located in a resort zone. 

Potter also broke down how her team would be collecting various data points moving forward. This includes tracking the number of active licenses by both week and by month, how many applications for licenses are received per week, a percentage breakout of how many licenses are in resort zones and neighborhood zones, complaints, and breaking out data by neighborhood. Potter also said her team would be tracking home sales and how the use of these properties changes over time.

Potter then gave insight on how enforcement of short-term rental rules and regulations was being handled. This was a point of contention for many community members, especially those living in neighborhood zones. Since the adoption of the new program in December, Potter’s report said there’s been 44 substantiated complaints reported to the short-term rental hotline, 42 of which have been located in neighborhood zones.

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Dillon officials prepare to open up winter recreation activities at Dillon Marina

 

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With the water in Dillon Marina frozen over, it’s time for Dillon officials to get the ice ready for winter recreation activities.

“Based on the success of the lake loop last season, we are really excited that Denver Water and the Dillon Reservoir Recreation Committee approved the town of Dillon to expand our winter offerings out on the reservoir this year,” Dillon marketing and events director Kerstin Anderson said.

Anderson said the loop will look similar to last winter, when the multiuse recreation track was built about 20 feet out onto the lake and marked with bamboo poles every 80 yards or so.

The longer 2-mile route loops individuals around the reservoir and runs along the shoreline from Dillon Marina to the Dillon Nature Preserve, down to Roberts Tunnel and all the way across the lake to Lodgepole Street.

The reservoir trails will accommodate the usual winter staples like snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, fat biking, hiking, ice kiteboarding, ice fishing and ice sailing.

New this year will be a community ice rink, which will be maintained as the weather allows throughout the winter.

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Lake Hill Q&A: Summit County residents ask questions about the development going in near Frisco

 The Lake Hill workforce housing development project that will be located on the outskirts of Frisco is still years away.

Nevertheless, Summit County and Frisco are continuing to engage the community about its impact as the two entities move forward on next steps.

Currently, the county is working on rezoning the nearly 45-acre property to accommodate what could be a mix of 436 deed-restricted affordable housing unit types. The property was previously zoned as natural resources, and in order to be developed, it has to be rezoned as a planned unit development.

The process began in November, and the county has contracted Norris Design as a planning consultant to prepare the application and facilitate the rezoning process. The goal is to wrap up this stage of the project by February.

Read the full story here

Breckenridge Town Council not on board with potential e-bike share program

 

A majority of Breckenridge Town Council members were skeptical of an e-bike share program that was presented at the Tuesday, Jan. 11, meeting, expressing concerns about how the bikes would be used.

Town Sustainability Administrator Teddy Wilkinson said town staff thinks the program is aligned with several town goals, including environmental stewardship and sustainable practices as well as its goal to have more boots and bikes in town than cars.

Wilkinson said the town was awarded a grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation’s multimodal options fund for $420,000 for a feasibility study and subsequent implementation of an e-bike share system. He said the town has about $370,000 left from the grant for implementation and that the start-up could cost around $575,000, with annual operating costs of between $187,000 and $262,000 a year.

Representatives from Alta, the firm that conducted the feasibility study, presented their findings and suggestions to council. The system would allow folks to take an e-bike from a designated bike hub and ride it to a destination around town. The bike then would be left for someone else to potentially use at a different hub or spot around town. The first 30 minutes would be free, and then folks would be charged $5 a minute to keep the bike after that, unless they’re in the local workforce, a student or low income, in which case they’d be charged $1 a minute.

Alta representative Libby Nachman said the purpose of the fee is to encourage the bikes to be used only for transportation purposes — like getting to and from work or running errands — as opposed to recreational use. For that purpose, folks would be encouraged to go to a local bike shop. Nachman said the system works best for one-way trips and added that she sees it complementing other transit services in town like Breck Free Ride.

Frisco Town Council approves short-term rental excise tax ordinance on 1st reading

 

An excise tax on short-term rentals moves one step closer to appearing on the April ballot. Frisco Town Council approved the ordinance for the tax on first reading Tuesday, Jan. 11.

After discussing the excise tax — which is a tax imposed on goods, services or activities — in November, the originally proposed 7.5% tax has been lowered to a 5% tax. It is estimated to generate between $1.2 million and $1.5 million in additional revenue each year that would be used for workforce housing programs, supplementing 5A revenue.

“I want to ensure you that we are not looking purely to short-term rentals to fund workforce housing,” council member Melissa Sherburne said. “What we’re looking to do is to help offset the problem short-term rentals have created in our local housing landscape. … Workforce housing is an age-old problem in mountain towns — has been for decades.”

Adding a new 5% excise tax to the current 10.725% in taxes applied to short-term rentals brings the total tax to 15.725%. To compare, Crested Butte has the highest short-term rental tax among mountain towns at 20.9%. Avon has a 14.4% tax, Vail is 10.3%, Breckenridge is 12.275%, Dillon is 10.875%, and Silverthorne is 10.375%. Breckenridge’s figure does not include the bedroom license fee, and Silverthorne is proposing a 4% incremental increase to the lodging tax.

Breckenridge opens Imperial Express, highest lift in North America

After picking up a surprise 6 inches over the weekend, Breckenridge Ski Resort announced Sunday, Jan. 9, that Imperial Express SuperChair is open for the season with access to Imperial Bowl and Imperial Ridge.

Serving in-bounds terrain above 12,800 feet, the Imperial Express is the highest chairlift in North America. The move means the resort now has 65% of its terrain open.

The lift opened once the resort had tallied 136 inches on the season. Last season, the lift opened Feb. 19 when the resort had 173 inches of snow. In the 2019-20 season, it opened Dec. 20, when there was 131 inches of total season snowfall at Breckenridge.

Be Careful Out There

 

Two snowshoers who were killed in an avalanche Saturday, Jan. 8, on Hoosier Pass have been identified as Hannah Nash, 25, and Drake Oversen, 35, of Colorado Springs, according to the Summit County coroner.

The pair died along with their dog, Valerie, after they were caught and buried in an avalanche they triggered while snowshoeing near North Star Mountain. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, according to the coroner.

The slide broke about 10 feet deep, 400 feet wide and ran about 250 vertical feet.

Ethan Greene said the avalanche danger was rated considerable (3 out of 5) in the Summit County area on the day the snowshoers died, and the location where the avalanche occurred near North Star Mountain was exposed terrain where avalanches are more common. He said the area was a wind-loaded, near-treeline slope that also happened to be facing northeast, making it particularly high risk for an avalanche.

The magic and science of snowflakes

 

Snow is, of course, also essential to our rivers and water supply. The 40 million people in the Colorado River basin, and the vast agricultural network that we take for granted when we shop for groceries, depend on winter snowpack. Summit snow fills reservoirs with essential spring and summer water.

We hear a lot about how many inches of powder we can expect, and we plan our days around those predictions. But how many snowflakes actually fall in these storms? Many billions of these spectacular crystals create a snowfall. One pound of snow has an average of 22,400 snowflakes. And each snow crystal is an incredible work of science and art.

How do these spectacular snow crystals form? Snow crystals generally are hexagonal (six-sided) due to the way they form. And they’re not frozen raindrops (those are sleet). Snow crystals appear when water vapor converts directly into ice without going through a liquid state. Water molecules in ice crystals join together in a hexagonal structure because it is the most efficient way. After the crystals form a small hexagonal plate, branches sprout from the six corners as the crystal grows larger and more complex.

Read the full story here

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News

Front-line workers struggle to enforce mask mandate as some people refuse to comply

 

Front-line workers in restaurants, retail stores and public transit are finding themselves once again tasked with enforcing a mask mandate and taking the brunt of criticism from those who don’t comply.

Summit County Commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence said she’s heard from many who are concerned about seeing a lack of compliance at big-box stores and was shocked herself to see more than half of people in one such store without a mask.

“We are not trying to put front-line workers in a confrontational situation,” Lawrence said. “I think a lot of them have a lot of trauma from the last year and a half of that sort of thing, and that was not our intention. We’re hoping to gain compliance through education.”

Tim Jones is a bus driver with Breck Free Ride, and while public transit has required masking throughout the pandemic, he said he ended up in an altercation with a rider who refused to put on a mask after being asked multiple times.

Jones said the rider threatened him after he repeatedly asked the rider to put on a mask. Jones said that while he was reporting the incident over his radio, the rider came up and shoved him, and the police were called.

Leadville’s Holiday Express train captures holiday spirit, with family at the forefront

 

This Christmas season the Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad has been transporting riders on an enchanting holiday-themed ride as riders are taken through the snowy mountains surrounding Leadville on the Holiday Express.

Ken Olsen, who has owned the railroad with his family for 33 years, started the holiday ride for the first time this year on Nov. 19.

Olsen says the idea of a holiday train originally spurred from his son about three or four years ago. However, in order to make this idea a reality, Olsen’s crew — which includes hired on staff as well as his son, daughter and their spouses — had to overcome the challenge of running a train in the winter at 10,000 feet above sea level.

For reservations:  1-866-386-3936. The winter train season will last until Jan. 15.

Courtesy the Summit Daily News.

Summit County real estate sales set to break another record, surpassing $2.5 billion in 2021

 

New short-term rental regulations put into place after final vote by Summit Board of County Commissioners

 

County resident Todd Ruelle agreed with Richmond and told the board that instead of creating more rules for short-term rentals, they should be examining “bedroom communities” where, through collaboration with other counties, more housing could be built in towns like Alma, Fairplay and Leadville.

“This is spiraling fast and the argument is going to become, ‘Hey, what are you going to do to compensate us for the property you’re infringing upon,’” Ruelle said. “You have to take that into consideration. You’re imposing rules and regulations that take away financial compensation, all in … trying to solve the issue of employee housing.”

Ruelle said the county needed to look at a “tri-county solution” and said he believed that just because someone works in Summit County doesn’t mean they have the right to live here.

“You live with what you can afford,” Ruelle said. “People in Washington, D.C., live in Maryland and Virginia and as far out as West Virginia, but this is what the commissioners should be focused on, not dividing a community by taking away property rights that literally have been exercised over the last 50 years or more.”

Even still, the board approved the code amendments and told audience members that they’d continue to examine various issues and components of the new rules throughout the next year.

This entire short term rental cap thing is out of control.  The county and the towns in Summit County are taking away peoples ability to make a living without due compensation.  And they think this will solve the housing problem for workers in Summit County.  It will not.

My newest listing

 

 

​NancyYearout's Holiday Greetings  and News, ​Wishing you all a Holiday Season filled with Joy and Laughter. And may the coming year bring you happiness, well being and success! ​ The Real Estate Market - December 2021 Breckenridge  Frisco  Silverthorne  Dillon  Keystone  Copper Mountain  Residential Sales in Summit County, CO  ​Based on sales in Summit County, CO from 1/1 - 11/30 for Residential property (Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhomes and Duplexes) Number of Sales - The number of residential sales are up 2%.  Average Price Increase - The average sold price increase for residential property sales in Summit County is 25%. The County's average sold price is $1,131,241 Inventory - Today there are only 99 residential properties for sale in all of Summit County. The average list price of those 99 is about $3,121,000.  Percent of List to Sold Price - The average percent of the list to sold price for residential sales is 101% in Summit County. Average Sold Prices - Everything lumped together (Homes, Duplex Homes, Townhomes, and Condominiums) for residential is up 25%, with the Single Family Home average sold price at $1,905,651 and condominiums are at $672,940. Inventory of Properties 'for sale' - The number of properties for sale is down 46% from last year and down 81% from 2019 at this time of year. Statistics - These charts and graphs have been updated for sales through 11/30. Condominiums, Single Family Homes, Residential. All by town with a total of 20 pages! Market Statistic Details: History of Sales & Average Sold Prices 2004 - 2020, Condominium Sales by Town, Single Family Home Sales by Town, Residential Sales by Town,  Nancy Yearout Broker Associate RE/MAX Properties of the Summit 970-485-0293 nancy@buyinbreckenridge.com buyinbreckenridge.com ​ Source: Sold Data from SAR MLS. Stats pulled on 12/16/21. *SAR MLS Data  Annual sales 1/1 through 12/31. *Residential Sales (home, Condo, Townhome & Duplex),  Sales for Jan, Feb, Mar, April, May, June, July, August , September, October , and November. Change is Year over Year 2021 vs 2020. **The information contained herein is based on information provided by others. Accordingly, we make no guarantee of its accuracy and suggest you make an independent inquiry of any matters you regard as important. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Peak 7 designated a neighborhood zone in final reading of new Summit County short-term rental ordinance

 

Summit County’s short-term rental moratorium has officially ended, and in its place is a short-term rental ordinance that places the Peak 7 neighborhood in a neighborhood zone.

The vote took place during an extended Summit Board of County Commissioners special meeting Thursday, Dec. 16, which marked the last day of the county’s 90-day moratorium and the deadline for when the board needed to pass a new short-term rental ordinance. After hours of public comment about whether the Peak 7 neighborhood should be classified as a resort or neighborhood zone, the commissioners came to a decision in a vote five hours after the meeting started.

The commissioners originally voted to classify the neighborhood as a resort zone during the ordinance’s first reading in late November. In the weeks leading up to the second reading, the county received a substantial amount of public input leading up to the vote on the second reading. Case in point: Nearly 100 virtual attendees tuned in to Thursday’s meeting and another few dozen spoke in person. Most of the attendees spoke about Peak 7, and over half of those who spoke were in favor of designating the area as a neighborhood zone.

Read the full story here.

Breckenridge top destination according to movebudda

 

It's no secret that Colorado is one of the top winter getaway spots in the country, known for its ski slopes and picturesque scenes of snowcapped mountains. According to a recent data analysis, two local towns are among the best places to visit during winter nationwide, but for very different reasons.

Writers at moveBuddha sought to provide their readers with a list of spots to "flee the cold or embrace it," designing a winter getaway list that's not just about snow. They divided towns into four themes – snow & slope, sun & sand, cozy & cuddly, and trails & trekking – and crunched some numbers, with two spots in Colorado making the cut to break into the top five of their respective category.

The highest ranking place in Colorado was Breckenridge, ranking first in the 'snow & slope' category. Home to a world-famous ski resort, a main street filled with shops and aprés ski spots, and a number of beloved winter events, Breck is a top year-round tourism spot in the Centennial State. Its close proximity to Denver and the rest of the Front Range makes it easy to get to, plus this town is well-known, thanks to a lot of positive press. For example, it was also recently dubbed a top spot in the country for Christmas celebrations.

Though it's not too surprising to see Breckenridge on this list, the list wasn't just created based on assumptions or opinion. The 'snow & slope' towns were ranked based on favorable skiing temperatures, average annual snowfall, proximity to ski resorts, and number of ski lifts adjusted for population differences.

While Breckenridge earned these honors based in-part on their local skiing, the annual International Snow Sculpture Championships also got a shout-out, with the publication calling the town "a winter wonderland."

Read the movebudda story here

Breckenridge Heritage Alliance celebrates Breckenridge’s birthday with ‘60 Years of Breckenridge Ski Resort History in 60 Objects’

 

Breckenridge Ski Resort turns 60 years old this week. To mark the occasion, Breckenridge Heritage Alliance has a new exhibit opening Thursday, Dec. 16, the same day the resort opened in 1961. Called “60 Years of Breckenridge Ski Resort History in 60 Objects,” the unique collection doesn’t follow a chronological history of the resort like museumgoers might expect.

Instead, it relies on the displayed artifacts to tell the story of how the resort was shaped over the years.

“It was important for every object to have its own story,” Breckenridge Heritage Alliance Executive Director Larissa O’Neil said. “The resort has had kind of a unique history. It wasn’t founded by the 10th Mountain Division veterans. … We just felt like we could do a neat job of doing a display that wasn’t chronological, that wasn’t along a timeline, that was just a funky collection of things that together tell this complete history in a unique way.

For the full story click here

1st major winter storm of the season drops up to 11 inches on Summit ski resorts

 

The first major winter storm of the season lived up to expectations, dropping double-digit snow totals as some Summit County ski areas over the past 48 hours.

Copper Mountain Resort got 11 inches out of the storm system through 5 a.m. Friday, reporting 6 inches Thursday and 5 additional inches Friday. Breckenridge Ski Resort reported a total of 10 inches in 48 hours, tallying 5 inches each day.

Keystone Resort and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area didn’t fare quite as well, with each reporting 5 fresh inches in 48 hours. Loveland Ski Area, just over the Continental Divide, reported 4.5 inches.

The resorts should have an additional 2-5 inches of accumulation on their 5 a.m. Saturday reports with heavy snow expected to continue on and off through Friday afternoon, according to forecasting site . Saturday is expected to be windy, and the National Weather Service issued a high wind watch with gusts up to 75 mph.

After the storm rolls out, the weekend is expected to be dry, but the next chance for snow isn’t far behind. The next storm is expected Wednesday, Dec. 15, and even more snow could arrive the following weekend.

How Breckenridge distinguishes exempt short-term rentals from lodges and hotels

 

Beaver Run

With the town of Breckenridge passing its new short-term rental regulatory fee, properties previously exempt from the administrative fee will now have to pay $400 per bedroom to the town come Jan. 1, 2022.

The only short-term lodging properties exempt from the fee are ones registered as a lodge with the town, which applies to traditional hotels owned entirely by one person or corporation.

“Per our town code, a lodge is a property with multiple rental units that is owned by one entity,” accommodations compliance administrator Bela Del Valle said. “… Breckenridge does not have very many of those.”

Del Valle said lodges will still have a different type of business license, and they don’t need short-term rental licenses. Properties that currently hold a lodge license in Breckenridge are the DoubleTree by Hilton, the Breck Inn, Skiway Lodge, the Residence Inn by Marriott, the Fireside Inn, the Bivvi Hostel, Gravity Haus and Welk Resorts.

Previously, properties with short-term rental licenses that had 24-hour front desk, security and phone service were exempt from the administrative fee. Examples of exempt properties include Beaver Run Resort, Crystal Peak Lodge, Grand Colorado on Peak 8, Main Street Station, Mountain Thunder Lodge and One Ski Hill Place. These properties are still exempt from the new license cap of 2,200, but are not exempt from the regulatory fee.

This has to be the most convoluted, idiotic move by a town council since Breckenridge was founded.  Can anyone understand why a "lodge" as Breckenridge has defined it is exempt from this new tax?  And why properties like Beaver Run, Grand Colorado on Peak 8, etc. are exempt from the new license cap of 2,200.

Ullr Fest, other seasonal traditions return to the High Country

 

Breckenridge’s Running of the Santa's

December is here, meaning Christmas is right around the corner, and Summit County communities are itching to celebrate. Following in the footsteps of Frisco, Keystone and Copper — Silverthorne and Breckenridge are turning on the holiday lights. Other festivities happening soon include the Race of the Santas and the long-awaited return of Ullr Fest.

For the complete list click here

Locals react to what are likely to be Summit County’s new short-term rental licensing regulations

 Throughout the year, Summit County leaders have taken numerous steps to increase the amount of attainable and affordable housing for locals, and one such measure is revamping its short-term rental license regulations. Over the past few months, the county’s planning department has led the charge in gathering public feedback and collecting data to determine the best course of action for its program.

When condos, townhomes and other properties turn into short-term rentals, it effectively removes these properties as potential housing for locals. Summit County leaders believe these changes will indirectly “stop the bleed,” or slow the pace of short-term rental unit conversions. Others aren’t so sure.

Kyle Rogers and his wife, Marlene, own a second home outside of Breckenridge in unincorporated Summit County. The couple said they remain unconvinced that these new regulations will create housing for full-time residents.

“If you cap these (short-term rentals) at a certain number less than what they are being rented for, those (guests) will simply go elsewhere, and they’ll take their money with them, and they’ll go to communities where they can have that superhost-like experience in a mountain home,” Rogers said.

For the full story click here