The Silverthorne Pulse

You’ve heard of POTUS, FLOTUS and SCOTUS, but have you heard of FDOTTOS?  We didn’t think so. Meet Rippy Van Pinkle, the First Dog of the Town of Silverthorne! The K9 companion of Mayor Ann-Marie Sandquist, Rippy takes his role as First Dog seriously. A golden retriever, Rippy turned three this past fall and his main job duty is to welcome folks to Silverthorne, as well as serve as a symbol for the authentic mountain lifestyle that Silverthorne provides.   Throughout the year, Rippy attends official town events from the …

Colorado native Lee Beard always said he’d move back to the Centennial State when he retired from a successful career in automobile racing. In the fall of 2017, after winning 55 national events and three world championships, Beard found his home in Silverthorne. Born in Pueblo and a graduate of University of Southern Colorado (now CSU-Pueblo), Beard studied mechanical engineering before becoming an elite crew chief and team manager with the National Hot Rod Association. Beard worked for all the big elite teams and had major sponsorships from Fortune 500 …

They met at a medical class. She was working for Eagle County Ambulance, going to paramedic school, and he was working as a ski patroller at Copper Mountain. For their first date, he took her kayaking. Fast forward a couple of decades, and they are finally finding their way back home to Silverthorne, a place that’s been Dave’s home since the sixth grade, and Amanda’s for more than 20 years. Most everyone in Summit County knows Dave Repsher’s name. In 2015, while he was working as a flight nurse, the …

Barbara Baer is a current exhibitor at the Silverthorne Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Her installation is on display in the lobby of the SPAC. Barbara Baer is a Denver-based sculptor who specializes in big — and we mean big — public art installations in Colorado and across the U.S. Barbara works with metals like aluminum and steel, as well as plastics. Because most of her work is commissioned, she develops art for a specific setting and often creates only a portion of the piece in her studio before finishing the …

They call themselves “serious mountain climbers.” After hearing their credentials, you might say that’s an understatement. Silverthorne residents Doris Spencer and Kent Willoughby have achieved the following: They’ve climbed 400 mountains in Colorado alone and achieved the summit of 199 of Colorado’s 200 highest peaks. The couple finished all the 14ers in four years and are now set to complete the list of 14ers again. (“It’s not my idea,” says Spencer with a chuckle.) They’ve summited 49 of the 50 highest points in the United States, with only Denali remaining …

Silverthorne is apparently THE place to be a professional athlete if you’re a teen. This summer, 15-year-old Jagger Koch joined the ranks of elite teen athletes Red Gerard and Chris Corning when he won the 125-cubic centimeter “C” class at the Amateur National Motocross Championships. “Winning was a dream come true,” admits Jagger. “It was a lot to take in at the time, and it still is now.” “This is the biggest amateur motocross race in the world, and it’s a dream just to qualify, let alone win,” says Jagger’s …

You don’t have to be a kid to take skateboarding lessons from Cordell Crosby. And if you’ve ever seen him coaching on a weekday morning at the Silverthorne Skatepark, you’ll probably want to pick up a board and ride, too. It just looks like that much fun. Cordell has been skating since he was a kid growing up back in St. Louis, and he’s been teaching in Silverthorne for over 10 years. In the last decade, Cordell has instilled some solid life lessons and a good bit of discipline as …

The Summit County Chamber of Commerce’s Exit 205 Chapter — which encompasses businesses in the communities of Silverthorne and Dillon — recently embarked on a fundraising effort, which was reported in the Summit Daily last month,  to help elementary students and families in Summit County: They paid off their school lunch debt. Michael Spry, one of the champions of this effort through the Exit 205 Chapter, explains it this way: Every school year, some families have outstanding bills for their children’s school lunches. If the families can’t pay, their children …

Nadine Carter laughs easily and often. As a fifth grade teacher at Silverthorne Elementary School, this gift comes in handy. Nadine excels at making learning fun and tries to instill each student with the value of education. Between the laughter and fun, there’s room for tons of cool stuff at Silverthorne Elementary. Highlights include the Bear Bolt 5K in September and the new Dual Language Program where students will be taught in both English and Spanish. We sat down with this fifth grade teacher to see what gets her going. …

Talk about a lucky town! After three successful years in Dillon, La Escondida needed more room because their tasty treats were in such high demand. Last October, they found a new home, tucked away in Silverthorne at 252 Warren Ave. If you check the online reviews for Panadería La Escondida — which means “the hidden bakery” — you’ll see glowing reports of their delicious pastries and baked goods. The Summit Daily News even calls it a “hidden gem.” The Latin American bakery’s co-owners Kevin Pelen and Alberto Galvan love to …