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Top 5 most-read stories last week: Real estate market survey, summer concerts announced and tunnel plans

The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels are pictured in December 2023. With ice infiltrating the walls of the tunnels, Colorado Department of Transportation officials say they have a $71 million project aimed at addressing the issue.
Ryan Spencer/Summit Daily News

Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Jan. 26-Feb. 1. 

1. Keystone Resort confirms closure of Summit Express ski lift and provides timeline on reopening

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Keystone Resort confirmed its Summit Express lift near River Run Village was forced to shut down on Saturday, Jan. 25, due to an electrical issue.

Keystone communications manager Max Winter said the electrical issue affected the lift’s brake pump motor, forcing the lift to shut down at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The lift has remained closed since the event.



“Our teams have been working hard on repairs since the initial incident and anticipate being able to resume full operations by this upcoming weekend,” Winter said.

— Cody Jones



2. Tides shifted in Summit’s 2024 real estate market, experts say. Here’s what changed.

Buyers largely held the upper hand in Summit County’s real estate market in 2024 and had more negotiating power compared to recent years as trends moved away from the High Country’s pandemic-fueled real estate spike, real estate agents say.

Residential real estate transactions amounted to over $1.9 billion from approximately 1,269 transactions in Summit this year, according to the Land Title Guarantee Co. This is a bump from the approximate $1.6 billion accumulated from around 1,221 transactions in 2023. 

Inventory, the number of days a property spent on the market and average sales price all rose in 2024, according to the area’s Multiple Listing Service data. While the average sales price climbed around 10%, the listed-price-to-sold-price ratio dropped a percent or two and remained at 95-97% throughout the year. Homes were often sold for less than originally listed.  

Increases in inventory and days-on-market data are indicative of a market favoring buyers, real estate agents say, and sellers’ aspirational listing prices further fueled the trend. 

— Kit Geary

3. Dillon Amphitheater announces summer concerts including Modest Mouse, Sierra Ferrell, Train and Dispatch

Summer is still far away, but the Dillon Amphitheater is offering music lovers something to look forward to with a slew of recent concert announcements.

The venue is set to welcome indie rock band Modest Mouse on Friday, June 27, roots rock outfit Dispatch on Friday, Aug. 8, singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell on Friday, Aug. 29 and pop rock group Train on Sunday, Sept. 7. 

Modest Mouse, a long-running live act that broke into the mainstream with singles “Float On” and “Ocean Breathes Salty” in 2004, most recently released the album “The Golden Casket” in 2021. Tickets for that June 27 show will be available on Friday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m.

Dispatch is set to return to Dillon Amphitheater with special guests John Butler (with band), Donavon Frankenreiter and Illiterate Light. Tickets for the Aug. 8 show will go on sale Friday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m.

Folk artist Sierra Ferrell, who released the album “Trail of Flowers” in 2024, will visit the amphitheater as part of her “Shoot for the Moon Tour.” Tickets for Ferrell’s Aug. 29 concert will go on sale Friday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m.

— Summit Daily staff

4. Ever noticed water leaks and ice buildups inside Colorado’s longest tunnel on I-70? The state has multimillion-dollar plans to fix it.

People who frequently drive through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels on Interstate 70 might notice more visible structure leaks and ice mounds building up in the travel lanes this winter. The Colorado Department of Transportation has a $71 million plan to fix it.

Colorado Department of Transportation representatives said the agency has some of the more perennial issues under control, yet there’s one which became more prevalent this year. Spokesperson Stacia Sellers said the organization has long monitored and removed ice mounds from the tunnel lanes.

“This annual occurrence forms when water seeps through the mountain and permeates the tunnel, where it collects, … freezes and slowly gathers near the roadway below,” Sellers said via email. “This is not a new challenge, and not unique when managing a complex structure that is more than 50 years old.”

— Kit Geary

5. Keystone Ski Patrol Union shares frustration with Vail Resorts’ counterproposal on skills-based pay for medical certifications

After formally being recognized as a union at the end of last ski season, the Keystone Ski Patrol Union is bargaining with Vail Resorts and upper management for a contract. 

According to Keystone ski patroller Jake Randall, the Keystone Ski Patrol Union formally started negotiations with Vail Resorts this past fall. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Keystone Ski Patrol Union formally met with Vail Resorts to specifically discuss the company’s first counterproposal related to wages. Randall says that the union first presented its own wage proposal on Dec. 5 and did not hear back from management about a counterproposal until the Jan. 22 meeting.

Randall described the wage counterproposal meeting as frustrating for members of the ski patrol union. Most notably, Randall said Vail Resorts did not counter with pay increases that were substantial enough for its advanced medical-certified patrollers.

“The company declined to make a new wage category for patrollers with higher medical certifications,” Randall wrote in an email to Summit Daily News. “To justify this, the company spent (roughly) 1 hour debating the importance of providing several different medical procedures on the mountain. During this exchange, the company said as a general statement that they believe ski patrol should prioritize transporting patients rather than providing medical care.”

— Cody Jones


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