DENVER Skier safety laws that require skiers to recognize inherent risks in the sport and be responsible for their own behavior have for decades protected the resort industry from large legal settlements and kept the public from understanding how often people are seriously hurt on the slopes.
But new statistics provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment offer a peek behind the resort industry’s curtain. A study of ski-season hospital admissions in 20 mountain ZIP codes shows as many as 55 skiers and snowboarders a day arriving at emergency departments.
Another report shows 4,151 skiers and snowboarders transported to emergency rooms in ambulances or helicopters in 2018, 2019 and the first part of 2020, which is about 10 patients every day of the season.
Monday’s snowstorm dropped 3-4 inches of snow along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor, according to National Weather Service forecaster Russell Danielson.
From Monday morning through Tuesday morning, Danielson said there was a report of 4.1 inches of accumulation recorded in Silverthorne and a report of 2.5 inches in Dillon.
Most of the precipitation for this storm cycle has ended, Danielson said, although there could be a continued dusting of snow at higher elevations and the ski areas Tuesday.
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area announced via Twitter on Tuesday morning that it had received 5 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. Breckenridge Ski Resort and Copper Mountain Resort reported 4 inches, and Keystone Resort got 3 inches.
Photo from Vail Resorts
The goal of every ski area is to get as much terrain open before the holidays that typically bring crowds of eager skiers and snowboarders to Summit County. This year there is the added incentive that more terrain means more room to spread out and, at ski areas using reservation systems, more availability. Unfortunately Mother Nature hasn’t helped out much, but snowmaking has allowed resorts to get lower mountain terrain open.
At Breckenridge Ski Resort, terrain on Peak 10 opened last weekend with the Falcon SuperChair, which means four of the resort’s five peaks have open trails, said Breckenridge spokesperson Sara Lococo. She added that mountain operations teams are prepping Peak 6 the last peak to open and Peak 8’s Imperial Express SuperChair and T-Bar with snowmaking and patrol work. Lococo reported that Breckenridge had just over 750 acres open as of Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Photo by Liz Copan / Summit Daily archives
What makes the X Games special in many ways is the atmosphere.
Fans from all across the state, country and world many with their ski and snowboard gear in tow board public buses packed to the gills and snake their way through security lines. With a Coachella-like feel, the X Games isn’t just about sports. It’s a festival where people shop at vendors, listen to live pop music and, of course, watch the world’s best skiers and snowboarders soar into the crisp January night sky.
But amid an ongoing pandemic, X Games formally announced Tuesday, Dec. 15, that the 2021 event will take place without fans
Photo by Matt Sklar / Dew Tour
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include reaction from athletes.
One of Summit County’s largest winter sports events just became the latest casualty amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
The 2021 Winter Dew Tour at Copper Mountain Resort has been canceled, the Adventure Sports Network and Copper Mountain Resort announced in a news release Thursday morning
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The release said the event was canceled “in light of safety regulations and guidelines concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The four-day Winter Dew Tour includes the world’s best skiers and snowboarders competing in halfpipe, slopestyle and Dew Tour’s Streetstyle and Team Challenge competitions. The weekend also includes snowboard and ski industry award shows and fan-based activities at the resort.