Stephen Traweek has 30 years of Summit County memories. 

From sledding down Peak 8 on tower pads before Breckenridge Ski Resort had expanded to Peak 6 or Peak 7, to local discounts in old businesses and coming up in the old Frisco high school, Traweek’s life story has been written all over the county.

Traweek moved to Summit County with his parents when he was in middle school. His family lived in a 400-square-foot chalet at Tiger Run Resort outside of Breckenridge. He says he learned to ski for the very first time at the age of 13 at Breckenridge on a black diamond run.

Traweek laughed about his first experience. 

“I fell the whole way down,” Traweek said. By the time he found a way out, he was on a blue trail and had lost his instructor altogether. Traweek strolled into town, called his mom from a pay phone and said, “I guess I’m done skiing for the day.”

But not all experiences in Summit County have left Traweek so traumatized. He fondly remembers old stores he used to visit. He said an old Chinese restaurant called the Red Orchid used to be where the Breckenridge Tap House is now. He remembers they had a buffet every Friday where locals could eat lunch for $10. 

While the local discounts were nice, Traweek says, it went deeper than the money.

“It made you feel special,” he said. “Also, it kind of got you in a routine.”

His father was the head of maintenance for Tiger Run Resort at the time, so every Friday in the summer he and his dad would eat lunch with the maintenance crew to get out of the heat.

“It’s like that was our common ground,” Traweek said. “It was really nice to have that.”

He still loves many of the restaurants in Summit County. His favorite brewery is now Syndicate Brewing, which only recently opened its doors.

Traweek lived in Texas for six after graduating from college, and he now works for Pinnacle Lodging in Frisco. He lives along the border between Dillon and Silverthorne with his wife, Mikel, who was born and raised in Summit County and now is the membership director for the Summit Association of Realtors.

“This is our home,” he said. 

Though he said the county has changed in many ways, Traweek still adores where he grew up, volunteering with the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District and donating to the library and animal shelter. Past the mountains, weather, biking and skiing, he loves the passion people seem to bring to this county, something he hopes will continue into the future.

“Let’s all use the passion we have for this place to continue to make it a better place,” Traweek said.

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