But when Ullr Festival kicked off Thursday, Dec. 7, one woman who partook in this year’s successful bid to break the world record for the longest shot-ski was not just celebrating winter — she was also celebrating her 99th birthday.

Maxine Eldridge traveled from her home on Grand Island, New York, to Colorado to visit her daughter Deb Lesinski, a Breckenridge resident, and join in the Ullr Fest activities that happened to coincide with her 99th birthday.

“You have no idea how much we’ve all looked forward to this,” Lesinski said. “We all have our ridiculous viking hats. I just love it.”

Read more at summitdaily.com.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outdoors news sent straight to your inbox.

After two summers of minor road impacts related to the project, Colorado Department of Transportation executive director Shoshana Lew said Tuesday, Dec. 5, that crews have wrapped up work on the project.

“This is anticipated to reduce crashes, help people move around each other in rough conditions, make it easier for freight traffic, single-occupancy vehicles, buses — everyone,” Lew said. “This area, as we all know, experiences very high volumes of traffic, particularly on the weekends, and in the winter we’re navigating weather conditions as we just saw over the weekend.”

With construction costs totaling around $24 million, the I-70 auxiliary lane project included the construction of an additional lane along approximately 3.5 miles of eastbound I-70 between Frisco and Silverthorne, according to the transportation department.

Read more at summitdaily.com.

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.

But that’s only part of the reason why the opening of a new, updated operations center at the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels — where I-70 crosses beneath the Continental Divide — is so important to the transportation department as winter approaches.

“Not only do closures delay important deliveries and transportation of goods, it also has a real impact on the livelihood of our travelers, which cannot be summed up by a figure,” Lew said in a Nov. 7 news release.

The upgraded technology, including installation of fiber optic cables and new cameras and screens, will reportedly help improve response times and safety. The project also included replacing decades-old copper wire at the operation center, the release states.

Read more at summitdaily.com.

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.

But about a week later, the driver who somewhat inexplicably traversed his GMC Canyon up a hiking trail at Mount Lincoln, a 14,293-foot peak in Park County, on Aug. 27, called Mountain Recovery back.

After an unsuccessful attempt to recover the truck, the vehicle was still at the top of the mountain, and he decided he needed the tow company’s expertise after all, Mountain Recovery owner Charlie Stubblefield said.

“Anything we do off-road is very expensive. The equipment is expensive and the liability is expensive,” Stubblefield said. “You have to have a five-star, awesome operator go out there. It’s not a cheap date.”

Read the full story at our partner, Summit Daily.

While parts of the southwestern Colorado Rocky Mountains were locked under the same heat dome that broiled states like Arizona and New Mexico, the northern mountain region mostly escaped that unprecedented pattern of heat.

Still, most Coloradoans, like people in many parts of the world last month, felt the influence of climate change helping to drive up temperatures. In the U.S., 244 million people — 73% of the population — experienced at least one July day with temperatures made at least three times more likely due to human-caused climate change, according to an estimate from independent scientists at the nonprofit Climate Central.

The record-breaking July was marked by heatwaves, “in multiple regions of the world,” a climate scientist told the United Nations this month. Based on data known as proxy records, which include cave deposits, calcifying organisms, coral and shells, the scientist said, it “has not been this warm for the past 120,000 years.”

Read more at summitdaily.com.

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.

David Lesh, 37, appearing virtually before Judge Edward Casias for a scheduled arraignment Wednesday, June 14, requested through his lawyer, JB Katz, that he be allowed to travel to Cartagena, Colombia, for a birthday trip organized by his girlfriend.

Lesh faces charges of second-degree assault by strangulation, a Class 4 felony, and third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor after a snowmobiling dispute in unincorporated Summit County on March 25, according to court documents. The victim of the alleged assault reportedly captured the incident on his GoPro camera at the west end of Spring Creek Road north of Heeney.

“It is a really big request for someone on felony bond to make to go out of the country,” Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Cava said. “It’s not something the court has granted lightly in the past.”

Read more at Summit Daily.

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.

If not for that small cry, Hackett probably never would have spotted Riley, a 9-year-old sheltie that somehow survived five weeks through Colorado’s wintry conditions. But there, off trail where Hackett had just happened to wander, the small black-and-white dog sat among the downed trees, emaciated and hardly able to move.

“He had no energy when I found him. He knew he was in trouble. He knew he needed to be rescued,” Hackett said. “So that little ‘yip’ was the only exertion of energy he had that night. It was a, ‘Hey, save me.’”

In steep, timber-laden terrain above 12,000 feet and having crossed the Blue River to reach the trailhead, Hackett knew it wouldn’t be any easy task to get the dog home — but he also felt he had no other choice.

Read more at vaildaily.com.

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.

David Lesh, 37, is facing charges of second degree assault by strangulation, a Class 4 felony, and third degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor. He is scheduled to appear in Summit County court in Breckenridge on Wednesday, May 10, for an appearance on bond.

JB Katz, a defense attorney representing Lesh, declined to comment on the assault charges he is facing beyond stating, “Facts will come out in court, not in a newspaper.”

On March 25 around 1 p.m., a Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the west end of Spring Creek Road, north of Heeney, according to an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant filed in the assault case.

Read the full story at SummitDaily.com.

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.