The stories on this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from August 11-17.

1. Dog rescued after more than 2 months in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains is now available for adoption in Leadville

A dog who survived for more than two months in a forest near a popular recreation area in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains is now in the care of a local animal shelter and available for adoption.

Caitlin Kuczko, director of the Leadville-Lake County Animal Shelter, said Two Socks, a 1.5-year-old German shepherd mix, was first spotted on May 20 by hosts of the Baby Doe Camp at Turquoise Lake near Leadville. The camp is located at an elevation of 10,000 feet.

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“We don’t know how long she had been out there before because no one was camping at the lake before because the campgrounds were still closed,” Kuczko said. “The campground operators started providing food for her.”

— Ryan Spencer

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2. Man suffers serious injuries but is in stable condition after fall at Breck Epic mountain bike race

The athlete who crashed and injured himself while participating in the Breck Epic mountain bike race on Friday, August 16, has been identified as Howard Grotts, 31, of Durango.

According to Breck Epic founder Mike McCormack, Grotts received the best care possible from first responders who arrived at the scene. McCormack was able to confirm that Grotts was taken to a hospital for further treatment and is currently in stable condition but has several serious injuries.

Grotts is a well-known cross-country mountain biker who was a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Cross-Country Mountain Bike Team..

— Summit Daily News Staff

3. Xcel Energy confirms “more frequent outages” in Summit County after another case on Wednesday

After nearly 5,000 customers in the Summit County area were without power on Wednesday morning, August 14, Xcel Energy acknowledged in a statement that some customers are experiencing more frequent outages.

Summit County has experienced several power outages in recent weeks, including a series of outages that affected thousands of customers four times in four days between late July and early August.

“We recognize that some of our customers are experiencing more frequent outages and are taking both short-term and long-term actions to improve the situation and increase reliability in the Summit County area,” Xcel Energy spokesman Tyler Bryant said in an email statement. “This includes adjustments to the system, a focus on equipment, repairs and upgrades.”

— Summit Daily News Staff

4. Here’s a way-too-early forecast for Colorado’s 2024-25 winter season

Initial forecasts provide indications of what the 2024-25 winter season in Colorado might look like.

This week, several ski resorts announced their opening dates, including Keystone Resort, Vail Mountain and Steamboat Resort.

Although nothing is certain about the coming season, confidence is growing in the return of La Niña, the atmospheric pattern characterized by wet, cold weather in the north and drier, warmer weather in the south. While last winter was dominated by the opposite pattern, El Niño, the three winters before that were all La Niña years.

La Niña occurs when surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific fall below average, pushing the jet stream northward.

According to Peter Goble, a climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center, this can lead to a drier, warmer fall and a slower start to the winter season. However, once temperatures start to drop between December and February, this pattern can bring above-average precipitation, which, when combined with the cold, will create better snow conditions.

— Robert Tann

5. Breckenridge and Keystone Resorts announce opening days for the 2024-25 winter season

On Wednesday morning, August 14, Vail Resorts announced that Keystone Resort is scheduled to open in mid-October, while Breckenridge Ski Resort is scheduled to open a few weeks later, on November 8.

Outside of Summit County, Vail Mountain is scheduled to open on November 15, while Beaver Creek Resort and Crested Butte Mountain Resort are both scheduled to open on November 27.

All scheduled opening dates are subject to change due to winter conditions.

After announcing a planned opening date of mid-October last year, Keystone Resort became the second ski resort in Summit County to open its doors last season, with opening day on November 1. Breckenridge Ski Resort opened over a week later, on November 10.

—Cody Jones