This year’s Mr. Summit County Bob Barto arrived in the county for the same reason many do: the ski season.

Barto, who is now the general manager of Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center, started his career in the county in 1979 as a dishwasher at Keystone Resort. He worked various positions at Keystone for 12 years before coming to Beaver Run in 1991 as the assistant general manager. In 2009, he became the general manager.

Embracing a work-hard, play-hard philosophy, Barto is the leader of a local group called the Fat Boys.

“We night ski in the winter, and we road bike in the summer. We’ll have anywhere from four to 24 guys ride their bicycles around the lake on Wednesday nights,” Barto said, adding that he also golfs with the group. “I still ride a bike. I ski. I hunt. I fish.”

Barto noted that Tony Pestello, the runner up for Mr. Summit County, is also a member of the Fat Boys group.

In addition to his hobbies and role at Beaver Run, Barto sits on the Summit Combined Housing Authority’s advisory group and is on the Breckenridge Resiliency Task Force. In the lodging world, Barto is a board member for the Colorado Hotel Lodging Association and a general manager at the American Hotel & Lodging Association GM Roundtable, which he described as a think tank for the industry.

In his more than four decades in Summit County, Barto feels his greatest contribution to the community is providing a balance for his staff between work and life.

“I think the biggest contribution that I’ve given Summit County is to provide a work-life balance if you work at Beaver Run,” Barto said, emphasizing the importance of family. “Work hard and enjoy where you live. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve instilled in Summit County, is working here provides for that.”

What makes Summit County special to Barto is the solid relationships he and his family have formed, especially as his children have moved back to the area. He added that he and his wife, Karen, met in Summit County and have been married for 35 years.

“After 40 years, I have a lot of good relationships, a lot of good friends,” Barto said. “… I’ve got deep roots in Summit County.”

This story previously published in the Best of Summit guide. See complete results at SummitDaily.com/bestofsummit.