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

1. Breckenridge and Keystone ski resorts replace guest service volunteers with paid staff

Ski areas in Summit County use volunteers to help guests find their way around the mountain. This year, Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort discontinued their volunteer program and have replaced the volunteers with paid positions, to some former volunteers’ disappointment.

A program that uses volunteers to help visiting skiers and snowboarders wayfind is commonplace in the ski industry, with the two other ski areas in Summit County, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Copper Mountain Resort, running similar programs.

Visitors to Breckenridge and Keystone likely won’t notice the change from volunteers to paid employees helping them find their way, as spokesperson Sara Lococo said the paid employees serve the same function.

— Taylor Sienkiewicz

2. Breckenridge 3-year-old dies a week after head-on car crash near Hoosier Pass

The Summit County community this week is mourning the death of 3-year-old Elli Goodman, who died at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora on Tuesday, Nov. 16, after suffering severe injuries in a head-on crash near Alma earlier this month.

“Elli was something special,” family friend Stephanie Strauss said. “She had just this beautiful smile, beautiful eyes and just the kindest spirit.”

On Nov. 9, Michelle Goodman was driving her three children from Colorado Springs to meet their father, Matt Gales, at their new home in Breckenridge. Strauss said the family moved from the Orlando, Florida, area earlier this year, and Gales began working for her about a month ago at her business, All Flooring Design.

— Sawyer D’Argonne

3. 34-year-old Summit County resident dies from COVID-19

A 34-year-old Summit County man died Nov. 16 due to pneumonia from COVID-19, according to a news release from the Summit County Public Health Department. The man was not vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions, according to the release. He is the youngest resident to die from the virus.

Prior to the man’s death, Summit County has had six residents die from the virus since the pandemic began.

No specific cause of death was provided for the Sept. 21 and Oct. 10 deaths, which took place at St. Anthony Summit Hospital. Of the deaths caused by the virus since the vaccine has been widely available, three people were not vaccinated and one was.

— Summit Daily staff report

4. Coroner identifies victim in fatal trench collapse

The individual who was killed in the construction site accident earlier this week has been identified as 20-year-old Marlon Diaz of Honduras, according to Summit County Coroner Regan Wood.

At about 4:15 p.m. Nov. 16, emergency workers responded to a construction site at the Trails at Berlin Placer development on Sallie Barber Road east of Breckenridge, where a trench collapsed and buried two individuals. One person was dug out uninjured, but Diaz did not survive the incident.

Wood said the exact manner and cause of death are still pending autopsy and further investigation.

— Sawyer D’Argonne

5. Driver in I-70 crash charged with drug trafficking; passenger who fled the scene sustained serious injuries

On Nov. 20, Summit County sent out an alert that authorities were looking for a man near Officers Gulch along Interstate 70. Authorities located the man within the hour. On Monday, Nov. 22, Colorado State Patrol trooper Josh Lewis explained what happened over the weekend.

Lewis said that at about 11:30 a.m., officers received reports of an aggressive driver on I-70. Before officers could make contact, they received reports that the vehicle had crashed. No other vehicles were involved.

There were two individuals in the car: a 30-year-old male driver and a 24-year-old male passenger. Both individuals are from Iowa. The driver remained on scene and was evaluated at St. Anthony Summit Hospital.

— Taylor Sienkiewicz