The Summit County Sheriff’s Office last week investigated after a man reported losing his handgun while skiing, attempted to locate the owner of skis left abandoned in the backcountry and assisted with a backcountry rescue.

The following incidents occurred between Monday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, March 1, according to the weekly log of notable calls published by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

On Monday, Feb. 24, a homeowner in the Keystone area alerted deputies that he had seen what appeared to be two men casing his house on his security cameras. Deputies responded but did not find the men or their vehicle in the area. Later that day, a deputy patrolling nearby spotted the two men and their vehicle. When questioned, they explained they were renting a short-term rental near the homeowner’s residence and were wandering around the area while waiting for the cleaning crew to finish before they could enter their rental. The deputy warned them and explained how it might look to the homeowner. They were apologetic and the homeowner was relieved to hear the explanation.

Also Monday, a skier reported to deputies that he lost his handgun while skiing in Summit County. It was later discovered that another skier located it and took it home to another state before calling the Summit County Sheriff’s Office to report the found property. It was shipped back to Summit County and booked into the evidence vault for safekeeping until the owner could collect it.

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, emergency services in Keystone reported that there was a dog in a vehicle with all its windows closed while temperatures outside were about 38 degrees. Summit County Animal Control officers responded and observed that the dog did not appear to be in distress. The office managed to contact the dog’s owner and asked them to make sure they checked on the dog regularly while out skiing and to open the windows for some fresh air. The owner was already on their way back to the vehicle.

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, a rental car driver reported a road rage incident on Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6. A man who was unable to pass the rental car when there was a passing lane began tailgating the rental car before passing it on a double yellow, then coming to a stop. The man jumped out of his truck, onto the hood of the rental car and smashed the windshield. He then went back to his truck and drove off. There were three people in the rental car who were unharmed. An investigation is ongoing.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, a resident of unincorporated Breckenridge met a Denver couple at a bar and struck up a friendship. She ran into the couple again and later offered them a place to stay for the night. She alleged the man slapped his girlfriend in the face at the bar and when they got to her home, the fight continued in the driveway as they yelled at each other. The resident went inside to call for help but didn’t know their last names or their phone numbers. At the time of the call, the couple left in their vehicle in an unknown direction. Deputies searched from Breckenridge to Hoosier Pass and around the bar but did not locate the couple.

On Friday, Feb. 28, a resident in unincorporated Breckenridge reported that children and adults staying at a short-term rental on their steep and often icy road were sledding in the roadway and had nearly collided with vehicles passing on the road. When a deputy arrived, they were no longer sledding and no one answered the door. The management company for the property and the Summit County Planning Department, which is responsible for short-term rental licenses in unincorporated parts of the county, were informed of the issue.

On Saturday, March 1, a mother calling from out of state was concerned about her daughter who was staying in the Keystone area. The mother could track her phone and saw that it was at the residence she was supposed to be staying at but hadn’t moved and her daughter wasn’t answering her phone. A deputy went to check on her and found her to be unharmed, just taking a nap.

Also Saturday, deputies received a report of two men fighting in a parking lot in unincorporated Breckenridge. On scene, deputies contacted the men and after speaking to them it was determined that the fight had only been verbal and was over a preferred parking spot, although spots are not assigned in the lot. There was nothing criminal but a routine running of both men through the Colorado Crime Information Center returned an active warrant for one of the men, and he was subsequently placed under arrest and was taken to the Summit County jail on a Silverthorne Municipal Court warrant without incident. He was later given a courtesy ride home after bonding out of the jail.

In another incident Saturday, a backcountry skier on Bald Mountain took a fall and potentially fractured his leg. Deputies and the Summit County Rescue Group deployed into the backcountry to extract the man back to the trailhead. Using a ski toboggan and then a snowmobile trailer, the man was towed out and traveled by private vehicle to a medical facility for further care.

Also Saturday, a backcountry skier reported finding a pair of unattended skis at the top of Bald Mountain, near a cornice. The skis were equipped with skins and were positioned in the snow as if someone were about to step into them. There was no one around, and footprints could be seen leading away from the skis but not back to them. It appeared the skis had been there for a couple days, with windblown snow partially covering them. A sticker on the skis prompted deputies to contact several local ski shops but none provided any useful information. A search and rescue team was requested and began to prepare to look for someone who may have fallen over the cornice. While the rescue team was getting ready, another call was made to a ski shop in Denver. By “sheer coincidence,” this ski shop employee had met a man earlier in the week while selling a sleeping bag on Facebook. During the conversation, the buyer, a relatively inexperienced backcountry skier, mentioned that he had gone up Bald Mountain, removed his skis to look at something and then had been unable to find the skis again. He searched for a long time but it became late and dark and he ultimately walked down the mountain back to his car, leaving the missing skis behind. With this new information, the search team was canceled.

In another incident Saturday, a bus driver reported seeing a man throw a woman to the ground several times while yelling at her. The driver along with other witnesses rushed to the woman’s aid and got her separated from the man who turned out to be her husband. Deputies interviewed all the involved parties and learned that the husband, who was intoxicated, had driven them from Leadville to Copper Mountain. He had reportedly wanted to go get more cigarettes but the woman didn’t want him to drive, so she took his keys and walked toward their apartment. That angered the man and he threw her to the ground. Deputies, who located open containers of alcohol and many empty beer cans in his vehicle, arrested the man and took him to the Summit County jail on multiple charges including assault, domestic violence and driving under the influence.