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Top 5 most-read stories last week: Search and rescue groups kept busy, winter forecasts and progress on local lift upgrades

Rescuers from Summit County Rescue Group exit a Black Hawk helicopter sent from the High Altitude Aviation Training Center in Eagle during the search for the missing man near Upper Cataract Lake.
Summit County Rescue Group/Courtesy photo

Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com in the past week.

1. La Nina could bring relief and extra inches of snow after warm, dry September

Winter sports fanatics are looking toward the late fall and winter to see if a substantial La Nina pattern will fall over Summit County, and current predictions show it not out of the realm of possibility. 

Each month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases a three-month outlook for the entire country. Currently — for the prediction spanning December, January and February — much of the country besides states on the southern border is expected to have a chance at average or above-normal precipitation.



— Eliza Noe

2. Missing man found alive, ending search-and-rescue effort involving Black Hawk helicopter in northern Summit County

Following a roughly five-hour search, a 50-year-old man was found alive after he went missing near Upper Cataract Lake Sept. 7.



The man was part of a hunting party camping near Upper Cataract Lake. After venturing out, the group split up, and the man did not return to camp Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

He was found alive and uninjured around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, so rescuers escorted him back to camp. He was located off trail and “not far” from the group’s campsite, Summit County Search and Rescue Group spokesperson Anna DeBattiste said.

The call for assistance went out Wednesday morning, DeBattiste reported, and the search began around noon.

— Luke Vidic

3. 900-foot fall from Capitol Peak kills Denver woman Saturday

A Denver woman died on Sept. 3 after falling 900 feet from below the summit of Capitol Peak into Pierre Lakes Basin, according to a news release from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was hiking solo and fell after a rock that she was trying to cling to gave way, according to a witness of the fall who called dispatch shortly before 8 a.m. to report the incident. The Pitkin County Coroner’s Office was not releasing her name until her closest relatives were notified.

The Sheriff’s Office then notified Mountain Rescue Aspen of the situation, and the witness was able to provide the rescue group with the exact location of the woman’s body. It was then estimated that she fell approximately 900 feet from the route that connects the knife edge to the Capitol Peak summit down to Pierre Lakes Basin. 

— The Aspen Times

4. Two bodies pulled from Dillon Reservoir Friday, Sept. 9

The bodies of two drowned men were recovered from the Dillon Reservoir Sept. 9. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths is ongoing. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office sent out a news release at 3 p.m. Friday. No further information is available at this time.

At approximately 7:20 p.m. Sept. 8, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding two intoxicated men driving around the Heaton Bay Campground. When deputies arrived, they found the suspected vehicle, but no one was inside.

Deputies then searched the area for over an hour — both in the campground and on the water by boat — but were unable to locate the men.

— Luke Vidic

5. Working toward snow: Breckenridge Ski Resort and A-Basin enter final stages of lift upgrades

It may be hard to believe, but the 2022-23 ski season is less than two months away in Summit County. 

With the unofficial end of summer taking place on Labor Day, local ski resorts are making plans to finish any outstanding construction projects before snowmaking begins in a couple weeks.

Within Summit County, both Breckenridge Ski Resort and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area will see the addition of newly updated lifts for the 2022-23 winter season. 

— Cody Jones


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