1 year ago: Arapahoe Basin Ski Area to be sold to Ikon Pass owner Alterra Mountain Co.

Alterra Mountain Co., a ski resort conglomerate that owns the Ikon Pass, plans to purchase Arapahoe Basin Ski Area this year, according to statements released by both organizations on Feb. 5, 2024. A-Basin is currently owned by Dream Unlimited Corp., a Canadian real estate company based in Toronto, which acquired the ski area in 1997. The sale, if it goes through, would bring Alterra’s portfolio to 18 year-round mountain destinations throughout North America. In Colorado, Alterra owns Steamboat Ski Resort and Winter Park Resort. (The sale was officially closed on Nov. 19, 2024.)

— From the Feb. 5, 2024, edition of the Summit Daily News

5 years ago: Breckenridge resident to represent Summit County at Westminster dog show

Breckenridge resident Melissa Olson and her dog, Nora, a 6 1/2-year-old Bernese mountain dog, will be among the more than 3,000 canine entrants in the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. According to Olson, owner-handled dogs are in the minority at shows, with most owners opting for a professional to step in and assist. But Olson and Nora have proved quite the team over the past few years. Since Nora first stepped into the spotlight in 2016, she’s won multiple Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America Versatility Dog Awards and achieved her silver Grand Champion title from the American Kennel Club — a designation given to dogs that have accumulated enough points through placing at shows.

— From the Feb. 7, 2020, edition of the Summit Daily News

10 years ago: Mining relic named among Colorado’s Most Endangered Places

The site of the Reiling Gold Dredge, which mined millions of dollars in gold from French Gulch east of Breckenridge about 100 years ago, was named to Colorado’s 2015 Most Endangered Places list on Feb. 5, 2015, at the 18th annual Saving Places Conference in Denver. From about 30 nominated sites, Colorado Preservation Inc. chose to list the Reiling site, along with three others, to promote the dredge’s preservation as a rare remnant of Colorado’s mining history. The Reiling Gold Dredge was built in 1908 to mine gold from Summit County for the French Gulch Dredging Co. The Reiling operated for 14 years until its accidental partial sinking in 1922. For most of that time, the Reiling mined year-round, chugging away 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Larissa O’Neil, executive director of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance.

— From the Feb. 6, 2015, edition of the Summit Daily News

15 years ago: Summit School District braces for expected budget cuts

The recession dealt a blow to Colorado schools, and Summit School District is no exception. The district, which runs six elementary schools, Summit Middle School and Summit High School, expects to see its general-fund revenue drop by about $1.6 million for the 2010-11 school year. Education funding for the 2009-10 school year totals $7,542 per student. Next year, it will be about $7,100. While some programs, services and supplies may be preferred targets for belt-tightening, such cuts might not be enough for needed expense reductions. District officials said some cuts to salaries and benefits could be achieved through attrition.

— From the Feb. 3, 2010, edition of the Summit Daily News

30 years ago: Unincorporated Summit County reported to lead the state in crime

Unincorporated Summit County leads the state in crime, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. However, Summit County Sheriff Joe Morales said that news is not a revelation. What consistently drives the figures are ski thefts, he said. The top most crime-ridden areas of the state in 1994 are led by Summit County, then Aspen, Northeast Denver, Commerce City, Grand Junction, Durango, Northwest Denver, Glenwood Springs and Greenwood Village, according to the bureau.

“It’s been like that since the mid-’80s,” Morales said. “A lot of that is due to ski thefts. They base those numbers on our permanent population of 14- to 15,000 people. If they based those same crimes on our daily visitor population of 60- to 90,000 people, we’d be the safest place in the world to live.”

— From the Feb. 3, 1995, edition of the Summit Daily News

125 years ago: Breckenridge naturalist Edwin Carter dies

Professor Edwin Carter, the taxidermist, naturalist, historian and worthy example of what mankind should be, is dead. During the past year his health has been failing rapidly, though his friends could not persuade him to seek a lower elevation to recuperate his impaired energies until the early part of January 1900, when he journeyed down to Galveston, Texas. After three weeks of careful nursing, he died on Feb. 3, 1900. Carter, alone and single-handed, has gathered together and carefully preserved the subjects for the finest, most valuable and priceless museum of the kind, which he has left as a legacy to the people of Colorado. (Carter’s collection would eventually become the founding exhibit of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.)

— From the Feb. 10, 1900, edition of the Summit County Journal

125 years ago: Silver streak turns to gold at Summit County mine

The Germania Mine, which has heretofore been noted for its high-grade silver and lead production, recently made a surprise discovery. In following the main silver vein, a streak of iron was encountered, in which free gold was found. Grab and average samples returned assays of 75 and 20 ounces, respectively.

— From the Feb. 10, 1900, edition of the Summit County Journal