Editor’s note: Stories on this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com in the past week.

1. Breckenridge discusses rules to limit new short-term rental units

Breckenridge town staff estimates there are more than 100 residences in town where a room or lock-off unit is rented out short-term, and the town council plans to do something about it.

Community Development Director Mark Truckey explained during a Breckenridge Town Council work session Tuesday, Feb. 23, that the town planning commission is concerned about an increasing number of short-term rental units in town. He explained that new single-family residential proposals include areas that easily could be converted into lock-off apartments, potentially creating a second short-term rental unit on the property.

Currently, town code says that if a lock-off apartment includes a separate kitchen, it must be deed restricted as an accessory dwelling unit to someone who works at least 30 hours per week in the county.

However, Truckey said many new home plans include areas that could be used as apartments but technically aren’t required to be deed restricted because they don’t include a separate kitchen. Truckey said that while staff plans to clarify what constitutes an accessory dwelling unit that must be deed restricted, he doesn’t think the issue will be resolved in the code because there will always be loopholes.

— Taylor Sienkiewicz

2. Breckenridge’s Benji Farrow sends double backflip at Kings and Queens of Corbet’s contest

Breckenridge local pro snowboarder Benji Farrow had been to the famed Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort only once before Feb. 18. And on that previous trip to the couloir, the former U.S. Pro Snowboard Team member didn’t send it into the icy, cavernous conditions below.

Thursday was another story. Farrow sent a double backflip, which has yet to be landed by a snowboarder in the competition, into the menacing in-bounds terrain in Wyoming. Farrow did so twice as part of his rookie participation in Red Bull and Jackson Hole’s Kings and Queens of Corbet’s big-mountain ski and snowboard event, which has become one of the most revered competitions by ski and snowboard fans and pros alike.

“Corbet’s is really gnarly, and I think everyone in the industry recognizes that,” Farrow said. “So being able to take part in this event is an honor in itself. Just, like, jumping into Corbet’s is considered pretty insane, much less doing a crazy trick and much less landing. It’s really hard to land something because you’re dropping 30-40 feet and traveling 60 feet down the hill.”

At the competition, Farrow’s double backflip into 6 feet of stiff powder was the second ever attempt of the trick by a snowboarder.

— Antonio Olivero

3. Summit County could move to level yellow as soon as Thursday, Feb. 25

Summit County could be operating under level yellow restrictions as soon as Thursday, Feb. 25, if current COVID-19 metrics remain in place.

At a Board of Health meeting Tuesday, Feb. 23, Dan Hendershott, Summit County’s environmental health manager, said the county will be able to petition the state to move to level yellow if all three of the COVID-19 metrics remain in that level or lower when the state updates the data dashboard at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.

County officials heard back from state officials Tuesday that the change could be effective as soon as Thursday. Under the state’s new COVID-19 dial, which is referred to as Dial 2.0, data is looked at on a seven-day average as opposed to the old dial’s 14-day average.

Because of that change, counties only have to show metrics within a desired level or lower for seven days to move on the dial. Since Thursday, Feb. 18, the county has been showing all three metrics in level yellow.

Editor’s note: Summit County moved to level yellow on Friday, Feb. 26.

— Libby Stanford

4. Summit County locals jump at the opportunity to be a part of the COVID-19 vaccine effort

After experiencing a year of uncertainty and stress, some Summit County locals found themselves jumping at the opportunity to volunteer for the county’s COVID-19 vaccination effort.

Since the county held its first drive-thru vaccination event on Dec. 26, volunteers from the Summit County Community and Senior Center have been a major part of the effort, directing traffic, filling vials and administering vaccines.

“It was a way that I could give back to the community and do something that I was capable of doing,” said Marc Schlesinger, a retired physician who has helped administer vaccines at nearly all of the drive-thru events to date. “It was the right thing to do.”

— Libby Stanford

5. Restaurant owners at a standstill with capacity restrictions as 6-foot rule prevents adding tables

On Friday, Feb. 26, Summit County officially moved to level yellow on the state’s dial, allowing nearly all businesses to operate under 50% capacity or up to 50 people. Under level orange, businesses that were not part of the 5 Star Business Certification Program had to operate under 25% capacity or up to 50 people.

Five-star businesses moved to level yellow two weeks prior, as the program lets certified businesses operate under restrictions that are looser than the county’s current level.

For five-star restaurant owners, the move to level yellow hasn’t meant much because they are still required to maintain 6 feet of distance between tables.

“We can’t push out the walls,” said Ken Gansmann, owner of the Mint Steaks and Seafood in Silverthorne. “We’ve got the same amount of tables. So if you go to 50%, it doesn’t do a thing.”

— Libby Stanford