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Jack skis

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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation will be running busses from Denver to Loveland and Arapahoe Basin during the next ski season. Don't know how many trips per day, but several at $25 for the round trip That won't cure the I-70 congestion, problems, but it sounds like a good alternative to mountain travel for skiers. The service is for skiers and the busses will be called Skitangs as the existing CDOT busses are called Bustangs a take off on Mustangs. Parenthetically I have no idea why the name Bustangs was chosen in the first place.
 

Itinerant skier

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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation will be running busses from Denver to Loveland and Arapahoe Basin during the next ski season. Don't know how many trips per day, but several at $25 for the round trip That won't cure the I-70 congestion, problems, but it sounds like a good alternative to mountain travel for skiers. The service is for skiers and the busses will be called Skitangs as the existing CDOT busses are called Bustangs a take off on Mustangs. Parenthetically I have no idea why the name Bustangs was chosen in the first place.

This is awesome! Only on weekends and holidays though.... SMH. Minor correction though: CDOT calls them SnowStang.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...ervice-to-some-colorado-ski-areas-in-december
 

Ken_R

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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation will be running busses from Denver to Loveland and Arapahoe Basin during the next ski season. Don't know how many trips per day, but several at $25 for the round trip That won't cure the I-70 congestion, problems, but it sounds like a good alternative to mountain travel for skiers. The service is for skiers and the busses will be called Skitangs as the existing CDOT busses are called Bustangs a take off on Mustangs. Parenthetically I have no idea why the name Bustangs was chosen in the first place.

Thats awesome unless they get stuck in traffic like everyone else :huh:
 
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Jack skis

Jack skis

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Here's more info on the number of days Snowstang will operate:

"Snowstang will operate on 40 dates from December to April, including weekends, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, the Martin Luther King holiday and President’s Day. Bustang is talking to other ski areas about joining the effort, which would involve helping to pay for it."
That's from the Denver Post.
 

James

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Sounds like they need to build another lane and tunnel tube for buses/emergency vehicles only.
 

coskigirl

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I do find it interesting that they will operate on Christmas Day but not the week between Christmas and New Years. Christmas Day traffic tends to be pretty light.
 

mikel

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Nothing new. There has been private company bus service in the past that came to an end a couple of seasons ago and I believe another company started up this past winter. Maybe CDOT pricing is more enticing or they are willing to try it to see if it helps?
 

RachelV

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Thats awesome unless they get stuck in traffic like everyone else :huh:

With express lanes in both directions soonish (they're starting construction on a westbound express lane) the buses should move decently.

It's nice to see ANYTHING like this happening. We don't need a perfect solution for I-70 weekend traffic, we just need a bunch of small improvements that get a few thousand people off the road during peak times. A cheap bus from Union Station that has access to express lanes for a good part of the trip is a fantastic step in the right direction imho. $25 round trip to Summit for a day is skiing is pretty appealing pricing.
 

Ski&ride

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$25 round trip to Summit for a day is skiing is pretty appealing pricing.
Since Loveland and A-basin are not on EPIC/IKON pass, they should also offer a “package” of total cost less than full price life ticket + bus for the day trippers.

A-basin would welcome the benefit of reduced parking demands.
 

Dave Petersen

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I get so tired sitting in that traffic :nono: -- at least there is scenery! ogsmile I always make great time driving to Denver, and then I head up to Breck or Vail and around Evergreen or Idaho Springs things come to a stop. Then stop and go traffic all the way to the tunnel.
 

jmeb

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Nothing new. There has been private company bus service in the past that came to an end a couple of seasons ago and I believe another company started up this past winter. Maybe CDOT pricing is more enticing or they are willing to try it to see if it helps?

Maybe not new, but this is the first time CDOT has entered the to-resort game. They have advantages over private industry to make this one stick. And I hope they do. Small incremental changes are all we are going to get until TABOR disappears from CO.

I'll probably take it at least once just to show my support. Hopefully your round trip ticket doesn't depend on the ski resort. Because I'm thinking I could make a pretty fun day out of taking the bus to Loveland, Lift 1 to Mine Dumps, tour over Loveland Pass, and ski down Abasin before catching the bus home from there. The idea of driving 2 mins, a 7min train, then a bus, then skiing between two resorts before bus home is like European skiing done super half assed.
 

mikel

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I hope your right and CDOT does have some kind of advantage to make it stick. I think CDOT is asking each participating resort to subsidize a chunk of the cost and it sounds like both Loveland and A Basin have given a preliminary "we're in". I'm not sure what happened with the Front Range Ski Bus. They went straight to the resort/area. I know there still is the RTD ski bus to Eldora. Obviously going straight to your favorite ski spot is easier than doing a transfer but they have Bustang now. It goes to the transfer station in Frisco and to Vail. Works if you are going to Copper, Breck, or Keystone. No help for Loveland and A Basin requires yet another transfer.

Who knows maybe this will work.
 

Wilhelmson

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How long is the average slow weekend ride to skiing from Denver? Say Denver to Vail since that's an even 100 miles.
 

jmeb

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How long is the average slow weekend ride to skiing from Denver? Say Denver to Vail since that's an even 100 miles.

Not sure average is a good metric here, as it will be skewed heavily upward by the many weekends of extreme delays and closures. Vail is also not a good destination to consider as it is over an additional major mountain pass and represents a relatively small fraction of skier traffic from the Front Range.

I would guess the median slow weekend traffic from Denver to Dillion is 1:45. But that could be slow or fast depending on when on the weekend you're traveling. You leave Denver at 7:30 on a Saturday - it's going to be far longer. If you leave at 6:30 that's probably close. It's probably more like 1:30 if you're driving westbound at 2pm.
 

RachelV

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Best case (no weather, no traffic) I can get from Boulder to Dillon in about 1:20. On a weekend I'm pretty happy with anything 2:00 or under, and that's with actively trying to avoid the slowest times.
 

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