Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Jan. 19-25.

1. Dozens of Breckenridge Resort employees called in sick Wednesday out of protest. Here’s why.

Dozens of employees of Breckenridge Ski Resort called in sick Wednesday, Jan. 22, in protest of living conditions at an employee housing complex owned by Vail Resorts. 



More than 14 residents at Breckenridge Terrace said in interviews Tuesday and Wednesday that long-standing maintenance issues that reached a breaking point this week. Many described losing heat and hot water during an “Arctic cold front” that brought temperatures below zero. 



The 17-building complex contains 180 employee housing units made up of one- and two-bedroom apartments, which residents said are often shared by at least two occupants.

One group of roommates who invited a Summit Daily News reporter into their apartment pointed out holes in the ceiling and another resident pointed out mold in their shower. One person also shared a video of a mouse in their silverware drawer and water dripping through the ceiling in their bathroom.

Another group of roommates said the heat in their apartment has not worked in months and provided screenshots of maintenance requests documenting the issue. At least a half dozen others said their heat and hot water would come and go and that the taps in their apartment have, at times, received no water at all.

— Ryan Spencer

2. Interstate 70 reopens to traffic following crash Saturday night

Editor’s note: This story was published on Saturday, Jan. 18

Interstate 70 between Exit 203 at Frisco and Exit 216, which leads to Loveland Pass, has fully reopened to traffic, according to CoTrip.org.

— Summit Daily staff

3. From tragedy to advocacy: How a family is striving to make skiing safer after a deadly accident

Chauncy and Kelli Johnson’s lives changed forever on Christmas Eve in 2010.

Avid skiers and snowboarders, the Johnsons wasted no time in igniting the same passion for the sport in their kids. They were used to going on family ski trips, full of lighthearted turns, but a trip to Hogadon Ski Area near Casper, Wyoming, ended in tragedy.

As Kelli was out on the mountain skiing with her 5-year-old daughter, Elise, a snowboarder riding at approximately 50 mph collided with the pair.

The force of the collision killed Elise and the snowboarder, while Kelli sustained life-altering injuries including a traumatic brain injury that she continues to live with to this day.

The loss of Elise was gutting to the family and the snowsports community. After overcoming her head injuries and a trauma-induced coma, Kelli was released from the hospital, allowing the Johnsons to begin turning their focus towards finding a new normal.

It was during this period that Chauncy felt emboldened to do something to increase ski and snowboard collision safety on the mountain. 

Chauncy reached out to the National Ski Areas Association in 2016 to see if they would be interested in starting a safety campaign. The national organization jumped at the idea. In early 2017 the “Ride Another Day” safety campaign was launched across the country.

The campaign specifically featured a poster of a snow angel left in the snow with text reading, “She was 5. You were doing 50.” For the most part, the poster was received well at ski resorts and eventually led to requests for the Johnsons to visit staff at different ski areas to promote skier safety.

“As those requests increased, we sort of saw more of a need to amplify the message,” Chauncy Johnson said. “We then realized we needed an organization to do that. Prior to that, we would pretty much go to speak to a patrol team or a safety team, and they would help us out with a hotel room and lift tickets. I continued to feel inspired that we needed to do more in the industry.”

— Cody Jones

4. Lodge reopens at Copper Mountain Resort following evacuation

Copper Mountain Resort has reopened all outlets at Copper One building after evacuating the lodge around 1:30 p.m. 

Communications manager Olivia Butrymovich said a single sprinkler head burst in an entryway of the lodge, causing the evacuation so crews could clean and inspect the affected area.

— Summit Daily staff

5. Keystone gets a new, ‘groovy’ restaurant — and it’s definitely cheesy

Spencer Davis had a gig building decks, patios and outdoor kitchens in Dallas when his dad called him with an offer that would uproot his life. 

His father, Jeff, learned to make homemade mac and cheese, and he’d perfected the craft enough that he was looking into opening his own restaurant, according to the call. With a former Starbucks storefront still available in River Run Village at Keystone Resort, his father had both a concept and a potential place to house it, too. 

Spencer said he spent three weeks considering the offer. He thought it might be nice to get a break from constructing decks in Texas’s 115-degree summers, so he said yes.  

The two soft launched Groovy’s Mac n’ Cheesy for the Keystone Bacon and Bourbon Festival in late June before fully opening the first week of December.

— Kit Geary