Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4. 

1. Missing hunter’s military experience and supplies keep him alive in Jackson County backcountry

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Search and Rescue, and nearly 20 other agencies headed to the Rawah Wildnerness area, on a mission to find a lost hunter.

First responders faced snow and winter-like storm conditions during the mission before successfully finding the hunter on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 24.

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Grand County Search and Rescue and the Grand County Sheriff’s Office assisted during this multiagency mission.

Mission to Rawah Wildnerness

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office stated that on evening of Monday, Sept. 22, deputies were notified a hunter had gone missing near the Jack Dickens Trail off Jackson County Road 12E, close to the Three Sisters Trailhead.

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According to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office, the hunter had become separated from his group earlier that afternoon.

The missing hunter, a 57-year-old man from Illinois, had previous military experience, the reporting party told the sheriff’s office.

The last communication the reporting party had received from the man was a text message at 3:21 p.m., indicating he was lost, the sheriff’s office stated. However, he was well-prepared with warm clothes, water and a sleeping bag.

The sheriff’s office attempted to use a cellphone ping to determine a location, but were unable to due to either to his phone being out of service or off.

“With deteriorating weather conditions and darkness approaching, it was unsafe for rescuers to deploy that evening,” the sheriff’s office stated.

— Meg Soyars Van Hauen, Sky-Hi News

2. More details emerge on immigration enforcement operations in Summit County

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released more information about its operations in Frisco and Dillon involving Hacienda Real as federal agents perform operations in Summit County, which was met with a community protest Friday. 

Two more people were detained Friday, Sept. 26, during ongoing immigration enforcement operations in Summit County, bringing the total number of detainments to 10, according to Voces Unidas.

Summit Daily News has not been able to independently verify the detainments, but Voces Unidas CEO Alex Sanchez said eight of them have been confirmed in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement database. The two most recent detainments were vetted by talking with family members of people detained and verifying that images and information posted online that captured the incidents.

The most recent activity came Friday, Sept. 26, when photos circulated that morning showing unmarked vehicles and people wearing law enforcement vests performing traffic stops near Dillon Dam Road in Dillon and detaining a man at the Smith Ranch Apartments in Silverthorne. The information family members told the organization aligned with information posted online, as they said one person was detained in the traffic stop and the other at the apartments.

Sanchez said Voces Unidas has spoken to family members of six people detained by federal agents Thursday, Sept. 25, and has found those six people in the ICE detainee database. Through its conversations with family members, the organization believes five people were detained when agents stopped them near the Super 8 hotel and the Shell gas station in Dillon while they were driving to work.

— Kyle McCabe

3. Vail Resorts bracing for fewer guests again this ski season

Vail Resorts on Monday briefed investors on its earnings for fiscal 2025 and pass sales for the 2025-26 season, saying this upcoming ski season may be slower based on the current level of pass sales.

Pass product sales through Sept. 19 decreased approximately 3% in units and increased approximately 1% in sales dollars as compared to the same time period last season. Last season was down 2% in units but up 4% in total sales dollars.

Vail Resorts was on target in its earnings projections issued in June, predicting at that time that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would be between $831 million and $851 million. On Monday, CEO Rob Katz told investors its resort-reported EBITDA was $844.1 million for fiscal 2025, up from $825.1 million for fiscal 2024.

Katz also issued a projection for this upcoming season, telling investors the company was projecting resort-reported EBITDA for fiscal 2026 to be between $842 million and $898 million.

The company’s fiscal 2025 earnings also included $15.2 million of one-time costs related to the company’s “resource efficiency transformation plan,” along with $8.1 million in one-time costs related to the company’s chief executive officer transition. In June, the company said the CEO transition was expected to cost $9 million.

— John LaConte, Vail Daily

4. New Peak 9 project at Breckenridge Ski Resort advances toward full approval

Peak 9 at Breckenridge Ski Resort is possibly about to look a little bit different. 

The U.S. Forest Service issued a decision memo approving initial scoping of the project and outlining next steps. The project is pending approvals.

Breckenridge Ski Resort expects the project to transform Peak 9, enhancing the user experience of beginner skiers and riders on the mountain. Scoping for the project officially began in May 2024, and the scoping was formally approved on June 10, 2025. 

The resort is currently looking at next steps for project implementation.

“The request for review filed by Breckenridge Ski Resort with the U.S. Forest Service and the agency’s decision memo is part of our standard planning process and the project is pending approvals. This step reflects our ongoing commitment to enhancing the guest experience across our Five Peaks, as demonstrated by the resort’s investment in three new chairlifts over the last four years: Freedom SuperChair on Peak 7 in 2021, the upgraded Rip’s Ride chair on Peak 8 in 2022, and the upgraded Five SuperChair on Peak 8 in 2023,” Breckenridge Ski Resort said in a statement.

— Cody Jones

5. Colorado skiers may need to wait longer for snow this winter

Colorado’s ski season may see a later start this winter as unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures and a budding La Niña are forecast to delay snowfall across much of the Rockies.

The consensus thus far is that climate patterns are trending toward a weak La Niña phase, which signals a shift towards drier-than-average conditions. According to meteorologists at OpenSnow, the latest sea surface temperature anomaly in part of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific is -0.4ºC, just shy of the -0.5ºC threshold needed to reach La Niña.

This only shows a lean toward La Niña because the threshold “must be met for five consecutive 3-month overlapping periods” for it to officially be classified as a La Niña. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest outlook shows a 71% chance of La Niña from October to December, with neutral conditions returning by spring.

When looking at the incoming winter ski season, sea surface temperatures are a large indicator of whether the onset of winter weather will come earlier or later in the season.

The North Pacific in particular is currently seeing warmer temperatures than what is considered normal for this time of year, which is changing circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere. This anomalous ocean warming was coined the Pacific “Blob” by Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond and is largely why forecasters have switched from predictions of neutral conditions to La Niña. 

— Andrea Teres-Martinez