Despite Breckenridge Ski Resort’s Sunday, April 19, closing day, the resort has announced that it will reopen Peak 8 for one day on Saturday, April 25, for the Peaks and Beats event. The one-day reopening will include skiing and riding off the Colorado Chair with access to Middle 4 O’Clock to Freeway and Park Lane, a small terrain park on Freeway, a free lunch for the first 500 Epic pass holders, free music all day and the Gold Runner coaster running. Jorts, bikini tops and tropical looks are encouraged.

Live music will include Sunny Side Up from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Gravagerz from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Nimino from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The vendor village will be open from 1-6 p.m.

Free parking will be available in the North and South Gondola lots and the BreckConnect Gondola will spin from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for transfers between town and Peak 8.

The town of Dillon released the official results from its April 7 municipal election. The results were finalized April 17 after accounting for uniformed and overseas citizen absentee votes and ballot signatures that needed verification. No results changed from the unofficial results.

Joshua Samuel won the mayoral race with 206 of 311 votes (66%) and will serve a four-year term. The three candidates who won Town Council seats — Shannon White, Linda Oliver and Benedict Raitano — will also serve four-year terms. White earned 218 votes, Oliver received 192 votes and Raitano got 184 votes.

Dillon proposed seven ballot questions to voters, and all but one passed. Ballot question A received 180 “yes” votes (58%), B received 207 (67%), C received 176 (59%), D received 164 (55%), E received 156 (53%) and F, the only question to fail, received 122 “yes” votes (41%).

Four of the questions, C through F, asked voters about amending the charter to allow the council to complete different actions via resolution rather than ordinance. Ballot Question G had to do with updating town charter language to align with state statute. Ballot questions A and B deal with Town Council meeting scheduling and where official notices are posted. Failed Ballot Question F would have allowed acts that place direct burdens upon or direct limitations on the use of private property to be done by resolution.

Out of 708 registered voters, 324 casted ballots.

The Early Childhood Service Corps, which helps train older adults to volunteer in early childhood education centers, will host an informational session with Timberline Learning Center in Breckenridge.

The event will be Friday, April 24, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Timberline. Adults 50 and older can attend to learn more about the corps and the learning center.

The corps provides older adults with free training to be able to volunteer in classrooms or as business advisors at early childhood learning centers. It also provides more extensive training for older adults who want to become early childhood teacher substitutes.

Those with questions about the corps or the information session can email recruitment@earlychildhoodservicecorps.org.

The last Summit County ski resort to announce its closing day, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, will end its season Sunday, May 3, according to a news release.

The resort’s season will have lasted 194 days, which the release stated is the longest this season in Colorado, “even in a historically low snowpack year.” A-Basin was the second resort to open in Summit County this season after Keystone Resort announced its opening day-of to get ahead of A-Basin.

To celebrate its closing, A-Basin will offer $39 lift tickets starting Monday, April 27. It will also have beer specials at 6th Alley all weekend and live music May 2-3 with Moonstone Quill and Don Fuego playing Saturday and Sunday, respectively, from noon to 3 p.m.

The resort normally has several themed skiing days in May, including a swimwear day, a denim day and a Star Wars day on May 4. With the slopes closing earlier than normal, the release stated riders are invited to join “one giant party” on closing day.

A-Basin will tie Copper Mountain Resort for the latest closing in Summit County this year, as Copper, originally slated to close April 26, announced last week it has extended its season through May 3.

A man arrested in April 2025 on seven charges related to sexual assault of a child will appear in court April 27 for a plea sentencing hearing.

Silverthorne Police arrested Adam Dayer LeBaron, 49, on April 14, 2025, according to court records. The 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office later that month brought seven felony charges against LeBaron — one count of sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault of a child by someone in a position of trust and three counts of sexual assault of a child by someone in a position of trust as part of a pattern of abuse.

Court records show LeBaron posted a $40,000 surety bond after his arrest and that the conditions of his release on bond included GPS monitoring. At a March 23 hearing, the prosecution and defense informed 5th Judicial District Judge Reed Owens that they had reached a plea agreement and asked for more time to complete paperwork, according to court records.

Joanna Ray, who wrote in an email that she is LeBaron’s sister-in-law, expressed concerns about LeBaron’s case ending with a plea agreement. She wrote that a plea agreement could lead to LeBaron receiving a lighter sentence. 

As of April 21, no plea agreement had been filed with the court, according to court clerks.

Law enforcement’s investigation into the charges against LeBaron started in January 2023. Members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Mexico reported LeBaron had sexually abused a child in their family, according to an arrest affidavit. They also told police LeBaron spends time in Mexico and Silverthorne and has two wives, who were both pregnant in Silverthorne in August 2022.

The reporting parties stated relatives of the pregnant women came from Mexico to Silverthorne to help them with their pregnancies, according to the affidavit. While the relatives were in Summit County, according to what the reporting parties told police, LeBaron sexually assaulted one of them who was a minor.

Police interviewed the victim of that assault, and a summary of the interview in the affidavit stated the victim told police LeBaron had assaulted them previously when they were in Mexico. 

The affidavit stated that several people, in separate interviews with law enforcement, said LeBaron had been sexually assaulting children in Mexico for as many as 10 years, but his actions came to light in January 2023, when one of the victims told family members about his actions and other victims followed suit. 

LeBaron fled Mexico with his wives and children after victims started talking about his actions, according to what several parties in the affidavit told law enforcement.

The affidavit indicates three victims told law enforcement LeBaron had assaulted them in Silverthorne and Mexico. It stated that the charges of sexual assault as part of a pattern of abuse come from LeBaron committing sexual assault “numerous times with more than one child.”

The April 27 plea sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Judge Owens’ courtroom. 

Construction has begun near the Blue River behind the Silverthorne Pavilion as the town aims to improve access to the pedestrian bridge. 

Work began in early April near the intersection of Fourth Street and Blue River Trail, where the town plans to add a new staircase, an ADA-accessible ramp and upgrades to the surrounding river access area. The improvements will connect the bridge leading to the pavilion with nearby destinations like the Silverthorne Recreation Center. 

In the past, people using wheelchairs or pushing strollers had to travel farther down the bike path to find a safe place to cross the river. 

Officials expect crews to finish the staircase by the end of May, reopening a more direct pedestrian route. Work on the accessible ramp and improved river access will continue into early summer, with the full project expected to wrap up by the end of June. 

A pedestrian detour remains in place around the construction zone. Town officials are asking residents to follow posted signs until construction ends. More information about current and upcoming construction projects can be found at Silverthorne.org/construction. 

Loveland Ski Area will close for the 2025-26 season on Sunday, April 26, according to a news release.

Closing weekend will be full of celebrations, including the 25th Annual Corn Harvest Benefit Ski Party on Saturday, April 25. The party will be all day, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and will include a barbecue lunch, refreshments, a raffle and live music.

Guests are encouraged to preregister in advance at SkiLoveland.com.

Mark Morris and the Rope Duckers will play at the base area from 2-5:30 p.m. both days. On-Mountain music will be at Ptarmigan Roost Cabin from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 pm. both days.

Loveland is still offering more than 500 acres of terrain, including 41 open trails and four lifts.

The Summit Board of County Commissioners held a wildfire preparedness roundtable at a special work session March 31. Representatives from local fire districts, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, state-level agencies and more attended the meeting.

The group discussed the “risk picture” for the upcoming wildfire season, mitigation efforts, defensible space, community preparedness and fire restrictions and bans. The agenda had other topics that the group did not have time to discuss, like evacuation response and communication during incidents. Commissioner Eric Mamula asked county staff to schedule another session so the group could discuss those topics.

On several occasions, officials made the point that Summit County’s emergency response organizations have spent years preparing for a situation like the upcoming wildfire season, which could be exacerbated by a historically low winter snowpack. Matt Benedict, a Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District division chief, said the county’s fire districts are well prepared for wildfires thanks to training, capital investment and resilience initiatives.

“We talk about it in meetings all the time, that this is what we do,” Benedict said. “We are prepared. Are you?”

Dan Gibbs, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, started the meeting by saying the statewide snowpack is around 23% of the average and that Summit County, like most of the state, is experiencing extreme drought conditions. He said the lack of water stresses forest ecosystems and impacts agriculture, municipal water systems, recreation and tourism.

The lack of snow had one benefit for fire mitigation this year, according to Creighton “Dusty” Calfee, a U.S. Forest Service Dillon Ranger District fuels specialist. He said pile burnings can only happen before the snow gets too deep, which is usually around January. Low snow totals meant the Forest Service and other agencies could burn piles throughout more of the winter, Calfee said, and even led to the Dillon Ranger District accessing regional funds to increase efforts and take advantage.

Benedict estimated that, between the Forest Service and the county’s fire districts, Summit County saw around 6,500 pile burns this winter.

“That’s more than I can remember doing in my career,” Benedict said.

Brian Bovaird, the county’s director of emergency management, said that, in terms of fire risk this summer, “it’s pretty obvious what we’re facing.” The public has started paying attention to wildfire danger earlier than normal, Bovaird said, and his office is trying to capitalize on that attention.

Summit County has a “robust” public safety system, Bovaird said, that works on public safety issues like wildfire year-round. Bovaird said the county’s emergency services organizations are therefore preparing for this fire season the same way they would for any other.

“We get paid to think about the most extreme risk and how to respond to that,” Bovaird said. 

Jay Nelson, the CEO and fire marshal of Red, White and Blue, said that new fire codes include state requirements for increased mitigation efforts in new and remodeled homes. While Summit County local governments and fire districts are working to implement the new requirements, Nelson said, the county has required some level of mitigation efforts since the 1980s, so it is “not something new to the county.”

Similarly, Benedict said that work like fuel mitigation and defensible space home assessments have been especially common in the county since pine beetles increased fear of wildfires, especially in 2007.

“We started then preparing for this year, straight up,” Benedict said. “And (for) every dry year in between then and now.”

Benedict said that fuels experts warned Summit County would have about 20 years after the peak of the beetle infestation before it would see “very aggressive fire behavior” because of the fuel build up caused by beetles killing trees. Since then, he said, the county’s fire districts have done hundreds of defensible space home assessments per year and worked with local, state and federal partners on cross-boundary fuel reduction projects.

In recent years, rising home insurance rates have led to more homeowners associations of condominium complexes getting home assessments, Benedict said. He called those assessments a “massive bang for the buck” because of how many units they contain and their location in the county’s urban centers.

Benedict and Hannah Ohlson, the Summit Fire & EMS Wildland Divisions fuel specialist, said the fire districts have worked over the years to increase their wildfire preparedness. Benedict said every firefighter in the county is trained to wildland firefighting standards and receives annual training. Ohlson said Summit Fire has five wildland specialists and is adding a hazardous fuel reduction crew this summer.

Bovaird turned the conversation toward communications, saying the county is implementing a new feature in its SCAlert system, which he said allows for detailed emergency communications, that will allow visitors to sign up for alerts just for the time they are in the county. 

He also emphasized the importance of the public being engaged and aware of fire danger, saying around 85% of wildfires are human caused. Bovaird said people should take “small actions,” like fully extinguishing their campfires, making sure chains on their trailers are not dragging and causing sparks, and creating a plan of action for “when we do have a wildfire.”

“It’s not if; it’s when,” Bovaird said. “Wildfires are a natural phenomenon … are you prepared to actually listen to the direction and, in an efficient manner, get out of your home and get to a safe place?”

Adrienne Saia Isaac, the Summit County government communications director, spoke about the coordination of preemergency communications. She emphasized that messaging will aim to be simple and easy to understand while not inspiring “panic.” While the wildfire season will have high risk, she said, the county still needs tourists to visit and support local businesses.

Summit County Sheriff Jaime Fitzsimons, who also acts as the county’s fire warden, gave an overview of how fire restrictions and bans are implemented. Fitzsimons makes recommendations to the county commissioners based on certain scientific criteria, he said, and the commissioners decide whether to implement or lift restrictions.

Fitzsimons and other officials at the meeting said the relevant criteria do not yet constitute implementing fire restrictions.

Isaac wrote in an email that, with the commissioners meeting twice a month this year, if the sheriff recommends a change in fire restrictions on a week with no scheduled meeting, the board will call a special or emergency meeting to discuss the fire conditions and take a vote.

Coloradans who look up at the night sky this Earth Day could catch a glimpse of two celestial phenomena.

Colorado astronomy guide Mark Laurin said that the holiday on Wednesday, April 22, will be “book ended” by cosmic occurrences: A planetary conjunction before dawn and a meteor shower after dusk. Both phenomenon can be viewed for a period of time after Earth Day, as well.

“The cosmos and the solar system gives us a point of reference to see ourselves as part of a much bigger system,” Laurin said. “On Earth Day, we see ourselves in relation to the cosmos. We see that we are part of something and Earth is something worth protecting.”

A member of the Denver Astronomical Society and the Astronomical League, Laurin is also an adjunct instructor with Keystone Science School. He leads astronomy and stargazing events in Colorado under the nickname Astro Mark.

Laurin noted that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis II mission that circumnavigated the moon earlier this month has renewed American’s interest in our solar system and outer space. Astronauts trained for the Artemis II mission in northwestern Colorado in the months leading up to the April 1 launch.

Artemis II was the first human-crewed flight since the agency’s first lunar program, Apollo, had its last flight 56 years ago. The modern lunar mission captured high-resolution photos of the Earth that harkened back to famous photos of Earth taken by the Apollo missions more than half a century ago.

The “Earthrise” photo taken by Apollo 8 on Dec. 24, 1968 is often credited with sparking the modern environmental movement and leading to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, according to the nonprofit Earth Day Network.

While NASA has framed the Artemis II mission as a “crucial step toward eventually sending crews on to Mars,” Laurin said that this Earth Day should serve as a reminder that this is the only planet we have.

He suggested reflecting on the importance of protecting our home planet, while watching neighboring planets rise above the horizon in the morning, then watching the debris of a centuries-old comet burn up as shooting stars in the atmosphere.

“Why are we so enamored with going and colonizing another planet? Because we’re afraid of destroying the one we’ve got,” Laurin said. “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just take care of our home and address the issues here?”

Here’s how to witness the planetary conjunction and meteor shower on Earth Day:

Planetary conjunction

A planetary conjunction is an astronomical event where two or more planets appear close together in the night sky, as observed from Earth. 

The parade of planets will be visible before dawn everyday through about April 23. Mars, Saturn and Mercury will be visible to the naked eye close together, Laurin said, and Neptune will also be visible but only with binoculars or a telescope.

“Get up with your morning coffee and just watch them rise,” Laurin said. 

To spot the planetary conjunction, look toward the eastern horizon just before sunrise, Laurin said. Since the mountains tend to block part of the horizon in Colorado, he suggested looking for the conjunction around 6:30 a.m., when the planets should be high enough off the horizon to be visible.

Mars, which will be a soft pinkish-red color, will be the easiest to spot as it will hug the eastern horizon, Laurin said. Mars will form a triangle with Mercury, which will appear with a faint peach or pinkish-white color, and Saturn, which will be a muted gold or soft yellow color, he said. Unlike stars, planets don’t twinkle but instead shine with a steady light.

Using binoculars, Neptune will also be visible as part of the conjunction. Laurin said Neptune will be along the same line as Mercury and Saturn, but further to the observers’ right side of the sky. Neptune will be pale blue in color.

Lyrids Meteor Shower

The Lyrids Meteor Shower will peak on the night of April 22 and continue through April 29. 

Unfortunately, Laurin noted that some of the weaker meteors that occur during the shower will be washed out by light of Jupiter and the moon, which will be about one-quarter full. Still, he estimated that stargazers could see up to 10 shooting stars per hour.

“The moon and Jupiter are going to wash out some of the dimmer meteor showers,” Laurin said, “but the fire balls, the long streakmakers, the bullseyes, those you’ll be able to see.”

A meteor shower is caused by debris that is left over from a comet that passed Earth, often centuries ago, Laurin said. As Earth rotates in its orbit around the sun, it passes through that debris and small particles of ice and dust burn up in the atmosphere, creating shooting stars, he said.

The Lyrids Meteor Shower is caused by debris from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the sun every 415 years, according to NASA. Humans have observed the meteor shower caused by this comet for nearly 2,700 years.

To view the meteor shower, stargazers should look toward the northeast to find the radiant point, or the point from which the meteors appear to emanate from anytime after sunset on April 22, Laurin said. He suggested scanning the sky to the north for meteors, while looking away from the moon to minimize the impact of its light.

The best views of the meteor shower may be in the early morning hours of April 23, between roughly 3 to 4 a.m. when the moon has set, Laurin said. 

“That’s what astronomy and looking at the night sky does for me, it just reminds me of my place in the universe,” Laurin said. “It’s an important place. I’m part of the universe, but in (relation) to the universe, I’m just one small grain of sand hitting the atmosphere and burning up in a meteor shower.”

Summit County’s best budtender has worked at High Country Healing in Silverthorne for three years and has no plans of stopping.

Pele Marley was working at a Wendy’s on the Front Range in 2014, only able to work the drive-thru window thanks to a broken arm, when a friend asked if he wanted to try working at a dispensary.

“I was just like, ‘That’s the dream come true,'” Marley said. “‘Absolutely, I would love to take the time to try and take this head on.'”

Marley worked at other dispensaries, learning “essentially everything” he knows about growing marijuana. He said he visited High Country Healing and liked its atmosphere for around four years before he decided to drop off a resume.

“I was like, ‘Honestly, I’m ready to work for you guys,'” Marley said. “This seems like the perfect kind of environment.”

Marley said he moved to the mountains to snowboard and learn more about growing cannabis and its medical effects. Three years into working at High Country Healing, he says he has learned “so much more” about marijuana’s effects and found coworkers that feel like family.

Helping customers find the right product for their needs makes Marley love his job, he said. It can take a few tries to find the right fit for someone, he said, but once people find what works for them, they stick with it.

“They still get the same thing every single time because they know it works,” Marley said. “I feel like I helped guide you to that conclusion, and that makes me feel good.”

A good budtender needs to be genuine and empathetic, according to Marley. He tries to understand if a customer is dealing with some physical or emotional pain or stress so he can give them the best experience possible.

“Everyone has their own thing going on,” Marley said. “It’s like, how can you intertwine that in with your day-to-day work? … How can you make what you do at work more beneficial to what they have going on?”

High Country Healing won the Best Marijuana Dispensary and Accessories category in the 2025 Best of Summit contest, and Marley said its focus on healing helps make it special. 

“There’s a difference in just smoking to get high and smoking because it helps you alleviate some of the things so that you can get through your day to day,” Marley said.

Workers at High Country Healing care about staying on top of the latest information in the marijuana industry, Marley said, to help their customers the best they can.

For more information about High Country Healing, visit HighCountryHealing.com.

This story originally published in the Best Of Summit 2025 magazine.