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

1. With another storm in the forecast this week and 2 next week, Colorado’s winter is ‘just getting going’

Colorado’s high peaks, including several ski resorts, received a smattering of snow Monday as forecasters predict a turn toward more wintry conditions ahead.

Meteorologist Seth Linden — who runs Seth’s Weather Report, a popular Facebook page that provides mountain forecasts — said snow from the brief storm on Monday morning hit Summit County, the Berthoud Pass area and several ski resorts. He said the mountains could be in store for another small storm this week before more winter weather early next week.

“This time of year, the winter jetstream is just getting going,” Linden said. “People want to make calls about how winter is going to be based on how October goes. I always have to remind people, ‘You can’t. We’re just getting started.’ There’s going to be a lot of variation, and October weather doesn’t translate very well into what December and January are going to be like.”

— Ryan Spencer, Oct. 20

2. Colorado agency denies livestock associations’ claims that Canadian wolves released in mountains violated Endangered Species Act 

Livestock associations are questioning whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife violated the federal Endangered Species Act when it imported 15 gray wolves from Canada last year.

The livestock associations signed two letters on Monday, requesting records from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife had the approvals it needed to import the wolves.

“Recent statements from CPW indicate that ‘all necessary procedures were followed’ in conducting these activities,” the livestock associations wrote in the letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik.

“However,” the letter continues, “given the cross-border nature of the import, the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora require specific federal authorizations that only the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is empowered to issue.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Public Information Officer Luke Perkins said the state worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife to ensure that the reintroduction efforts complied with the Endangered Species Act.

— Ryan Spencer, Oct. 23

3. Colorado’s reintroduced wolves are moving toward the New Mexico border, though many are sticking to the central mountains

Colorado’s collared gray wolves have continued spreading across the Western Slope, with more movement toward southern parts of the state near New Mexico’s border during the month of October.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s latest wolf map — which highlights watershed activity from the state’s collared gray wolves between Sept. 23 and Oct. 21 — shows a broad trend of southward migration, with wolf activity recorded in several counties across southwestern Colorado including southern Mesa County, Chaffee, Montrose, San Miguel, Ouray and others. Wolves also remained active in Gunnison, Saguache, Mineral and Rio Grande counties from September into October.

In Colorado’s central mountain region, wolf activity remained consistent across several familiar counties including Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Grand, Jackson and Routt counties. Significant activity moved away from watersheds in Moffat, Rio Blanco and Garfield counties, with slight activity still recorded.

A few watersheds in Colorado’s Front Range — including in Larimer County — also saw new wolf activity over the past month.

If a watershed is highlighted on the map, it means that at least one GPS point from one wolf was recorded in that watershed during the 30 days. GPS points are recorded around every four hours.

— Andrea Teres-Martinez, Oct. 22

4. ‘We lived and breathed the freeski movement’: Breckenridge’s Slope Style Ski to close shop

It was when Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy called looking for a ski part that made Chris Brophy truly recognize the notoriety of the shop he bought a week beforehand. 

Slope Style Ski + Bike sort of just fell into the lap of then Summit County newcomer at the end of 2021. The East Coast native went into the store to get a job application hoping to expand his ski circle and ended up with an offer to buy it. 

Soon, the ski shop tucked into Breckenridge Main Street known as a place to spot the occasional freeski legend will close its doors after nearly 15 years. 

Brophy said the amplification of industry trends like people opting to shop online as opposed to from locally owned stores, compounded with trends in manufacturing and trade, drove his decision.

He said the industry was expensive before, and a turn to more products made abroad only intensified costs. It’s also led to changes with brands and vendors, he added.

“With these broader economic changes, manufacturers are re-evaluating and considering risk in a more intense way than in the past,” he said. 

He said this places a significant burden on small, independent shops without the capital available to sustain these changes. 

— Kit Geary, Oct. 23

5. Roads reopen following crashes, spun-out vehicles during Colorado snowstorm

The first storm to cause snow to accumulate in the valleys of Summit County has also caused traffic issues on Monday morning, Oct. 20.

— Summit Daily staff, Oct. 20