Meredith Hanson --Summit County Colorado Realtor

There are a lot of activities in Summit County any time of year.

Holidays are no exception. Valentine's Day in Summit County held many options for sweethearts. Your choices included dining at one of many Summit County restaurants, ice skating at Keystone, or Valentine's Day Comedy at the Silverthorne Pavilion.

Jason, my Valentine, and I had no reservations for dinner this Valentine's Day. I wasn't looking for anything extravagant and expected that the not-so-fancy restaurants wouldn't be that busy. We worked a little bit later than anticipated so we were going to be eating later too, at nearly 7:00; prime time for dinner at the restaurants. Our first choice was Old Chicago in Silverthorne. I thought there might be some guys without girlfriends eating there but didn't expect it to be a busy Valentine's Day dinner kind of place. Boy was I wrong. The place was packed! If Old Chicago was packed I expected everywhere else would be too. As we were trying to decide what to do next we drove by Village Inn. Village Inn is the fail safe. When you can't find a table anywhere else in Summit County, Village Inn always has several open. So we had our Valentine's Day dinner at Village Inn. It was a good meal with no waiting. We finished it up in Valentine's Day fashion, with one strawberry sundae topped with whipped cream and two spoons.

After dinner we headed to the Silverthorne Pavilion for the Valentine's Day Comedy show. The comedians were Nora Lynch and Phil Palisoul; no one I had ever heard of before. Nora Lynch was on first. The humor was a little more crude than I was expecting but was still good for a few laughs. Then Phil Palisoul took the stage. Phil was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I was crying at one point during the performance. I know Jason was laughing hard too, I don't think he was driven to tears like me, but definitely having a great time. I left wondering why I had never heard of this guy before. If you get a chance to see Phil Palisoul's comedy act yourself, don't let it pass you by. Make your evening a joke too!

This Valentine's Day turned out to be one of my best Valentine's Days ever. For less than the price of a bouquet of flowers, we both had a fun evening out and really enjoyed our time together. Isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about?

There's no need to wait until a holiday to enjoy yourself in Summit County.

Activities are almost always going on somewhere. See a complete list of current activities in Summit County. A-Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Dillon, Frisco, Keystone and Silverthorne are all represented on the calendar taking the hassle out of finding your next Summit County activity.

There's a variety of activities available all winter at Copper Mountain that include skiing and boarding, tubing, snowshoeing, ice skating, shopping, and transportation to almost any off-site activity, Summit County location and Denver International Airport.

This 2 bedroom condo is located in Tucker Mountain Lodge, a newer complex in the heart of Copper Mountain's Center Village. With one of the best floor plans available, this corner unit has bedrooms separated by living space, a huge deck and lots of windows. Views look down the streets of Center Village with the slopes off to the side. At over 900 square feet this is a spacious Copper Mountain condo. The master bedroom easily accomodates a king size bed and a queen size bed in the second bedroom. Two full bathrooms and a sofa in the living room that pulls out into a bed allow this condo to comfortably sleep six. In the evening, after enjoying a home cooked meal made in the full size kitchen, you can relax in front of a cozy fire. If you're ready for a night out, many restaurants and bars are right outside your door. Tucker Mountain Lodge has a fitness room, hot tub, ski lockers, laundry facilities and underground parking for your use.

Copper Mountain is no longer just a winter destination. They host several events over the summer months like Guitar town and a rodeo. You can ride the lift up the mountain and bike down, play mini golf, regular golf, and go horseback riding.

If you enjoy Copper Mountain and Summit County make the most of your time there in your own Copper Mountain condo. More information available on this fun Copper Mountain condo at www.mountain-living.com/206tucker.html

On average there are 2300 avalanches reported to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center every year. It is expected that 10 times that number actually occur in the state of Colorado but go unreported. These avalanches include those naturally occurring as well as accidentally or intentionally triggered slides.

We can expect 6 people on average to die every year due to avalanches but 68 people are caught in them. In the 2006-2007 season five people were killed and in this 2007-2008 season there have been at least 8 avalanches reported in Colorado with 4 deaths.

According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center the most dangerous type of avalanches are slab avalanches. Slab avalanches can form when stronger snow overlies weaker snow. The difference in strength can be very subtle or quite dramatic. Often, human triggered slab avalanches are 1-2 feet deep, have an area about half the size of a football field, and can reach speed over 20 mph within seconds.

The other problematic avalanche type in Colorado is a loose snow avalanche. Loose snow avalanches are a greater issue in spring, when the snow-pack surface is rapidly warming and losing strength. Loose snow avalanches happen when the surface snow has little strength. They usually start from a point, often under trees or cliffs. A chunk of snow starts tumbling, and knocks more snow loose. The loose avalanches fan out as they descend. Loose avalanches can be big enough to tumble a rider or climber around, and can have serious consequences if they carry you into trees, confined gullies, or over cliffs.

How do we protect ourselves? The obvious answer is abstinence. Don't go into the back country. While some people may stay away, that is not the answer for most. Education, awareness and preparedness is the answer and even then, you may not walk away from an avalanche. Your chances will be better if you take an avalanche awareness class and carry the necessary gear when you head into the back country. Check out the Forest Service National Avalanche Centerfor more information and an online class. A-Basin is offering a 3 day Avalanche school too. You can buy Avalungs and beacons as well as other essential gear online easily. There's no excuse for being in the back country unprepared. It could mean your life!