Ryan Spencer is an investigative journalist covering the ski industry, outdoor recreation, public safety, transportation and more for Swift Communications, the Colorado mountain newspaper group that includes the Summit Daily, Vail Daily, Post Independent, Aspen Times, Steamboat Pilot & Today, Ski-Hi News and Craig Press.
Always drawn to the mountains, Ryan moved to Colorado in 2022 to join the Summit Daily News. After nearly three years covering local government and public safety, Ryan moved to the regional reporting team in 2025. He is based in Summit County, where he enjoys skiing, hiking, backpacking, playing guitar and birdwatching whenever he is not digging for his next story.
Having grown up in Vermont, Ryan found a passion for journalism while earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Brandeis University. He’s previously worked for The Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire, where his reporting focused on police accountability and legal issues, and the Enterprise Newspapers on Cape Cod, where he covered the environment and local government.
Avalanche danger is rising across Colorado as the unusually warm weather impacts the state’s snowpack. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center warned in a news release Thursday, March 19, that conditions will continue to worsen through...
The Colorado Department of Transportation is ramping up the amount of roadside fire mitigation work it does as drought conditions raise wildfire concerns statewide, according to a news release. Colorado has experienced a record-warm winter...
A study has found a mismatch between wildfire risk and mitigation resources in Colorado, including a lack of local resources in the northwest, where the fourth largest wildfire in the state’s history burned last summer....
Volunteer search and rescue groups in Colorado can apply for a total of $150,000 in grant funding from Rocky Talkie, according to a news release from the company. Rocky Talkie, a Denver-based company that sells...
As the spring break holiday kicks into high gear, most of Colorado’s major ski resorts have yet to open all of their terrain. With week-long vacations at schools around the country and Colorado’s snowpack nearing...
As a record-hot winter continues across much of the West, forecasters are dialing back estimates for how much water will flow into the Colorado River during the spring runoff. The latest models show that the...
Colorado Democrats in Congress are continuing to call for an independent investigation into Ace of Spades “death cards” that were found on the cars of people detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Eagle County....
Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer Robert Katz told investors this week that skier visits and revenues are down amid “the most difficult weather environment in the Rockies we have ever seen.” Skier visits to the...
Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress are calling on the U.S. Forest Service to prioritize wildfire mitigation efforts as the West faces a historically low snowpack that is raising concerns about wildfire risk this summer. U.S....
The outdoor recreation industry has continued to grow across the country, and in Colorado, according to the latest economic data published this week by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The outdoor...