I 70 sucks

[Ken_R]

Yeah, I hear what you are saying about rentals and the infrastructure, and agree it's not Camaro guy's fault.

I think flipping it around and making Camero guy drive at midnight or 5 am outside the storm hours makes more sense. I'm sure he would have been far happier enjoying the evening in Denver than abandoning his rental on an interstate in a blizzard. I doubt he's coming back to Colorado after that terrible experience.


Are the shuttles expensive compared to renting an AWD? Guessing it depends on the number of people.


Maybe try a strict law without checkpoints, just dire warnings. If you stop traffic and don't have the right equipment, you get $1000 fine, no questions asked. Seems that's the strategy with commercial vehicles. Do that for passenger vehicles too.

I also say ban commercial vehicles during big storms. Or, require the drivers to take a day-long course on mountain driving in a snowstorm. They could do that if their employers need them to get through in the worst conditions, otherwise sit it out.

For sure. Ban Commercial Vehicles during severe storms. It will halt fuel and goods delivery for a few hours but its better than the alternative.

I though that the fine for stopping / delaying traffic was already in place for non-commercial vehicles as well? If not you are right it should be for all vehicles.

Again, this should all be for severe storms. Freak storms / conditions do happen but for well forecasted storms all this should be easy to implement.

 

[TexasStout]

So, today I had planned on skiing Vail, as it was forecast to be a powder day, with only an inch predicted to fall today. Left Evergreen by 6:25 and was cranking along until Georgetown. There, two snowplows taking up the whole westbound at about 30 mph, which was ok because it was snowing and appreciate them clearing my path. Unfortunately, they pulled off at Loveland exit and the rest of way to the Eisenhower tunnel looked like it hadn't been plowed in hours.
Sure enough, exiting the west side of the tunnel there were vehicles which had spun out. Fortunately, for me not them, they had spun all the way off the road and weren't blocking traffic. Downhill wasn't too bad, although the right lane was crap from Dillon to Frisco.
Fearing a $hi+show on Vail Pass, i bailed at Frisco and went to Breckenridge instead.

Are there snowplow crews specifically for the mile or so on each side of the tunnel only and are they employed by a different governmental agency than the rest of I-70?

 

[palikona]

Took my kid skiing today...I70 may have broke me. I’m so depressed skiing in CO on the weekend has become like this. It took 3:30 to get on the hill, and lines at the Mtn were horrendous. I am just blown away how crowded it’s become. How do people do this every weekend?! How is this worth it? It is soul sucking.

 

[givethepigeye]

had not skied at BC for a long time, seemed super crowded everywhere but the liftlines. Which was weird. Given the snow the last couple of days, groomers were pretty scraped off and hard, offpiste was nice until Sun hit it and started to get a bit heavy (compared to Aspen blower 2 weeks ago) mid - upper 30s on the hill.

 

[TexasStout]

Took my kid skiing today...I70 may have broke me. I’m so depressed skiing in CO on the weekend has become like this. It took 3:30 to get on the hill, and lines at the Mtn were horrendous. I am just blown away how crowded it’s become. How do people do this every weekend?! How is this worth it? It is soul sucking.

I learned my lesson a few years ago about weekends, after spending over five hours on the ride back. Typically, I'll skip Saturday completely and ski at Loveland on Sunday and head back early afternoon to avoid the traffic east of the Eisenhower tunnel.

 

[Mike King]

Took my kid skiing today...I70 may have broke me. I’m so depressed skiing in CO on the weekend has become like this. It took 3:30 to get on the hill, and lines at the Mtn were horrendous. I am just blown away how crowded it’s become. How do people do this every weekend?! How is this worth it? It is soul sucking.

Might have something to do with why I'm in Aspen now.

Mike

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Might have something to do with why I'm in Aspen now.

Mike

Do you live there, Mike? Or do you get there from some highway other than I70?

 

[Mike King]

Do you live there, Mike? Or do you get there from some highway other than I70?

I have a condo, and stay in Aspen for a couple of weeks before returning back to the front range (on a weekday) to visit my non-skiing spouse.

Mike

 

[Vcize]

Are the shuttles expensive compared to renting an AWD? Guessing it depends on the number of people.

I'm planning a trip to the area right now and was just pricing this out so I guess I can comment on this.

Shuttle service is $70 each way from the airport to Copper Mountain (they'll drop you off anywhere in town). Looks like pricing is basically the same to any of the other resorts in the area.

That is for one person. Price goes down with more people.

Not many car options cheaper than that for a reasonably reliable vehicle. But I guess if you're pricing that x4 it becomes less appealing vs getting one car that everyone can ride in. Are the shuttles pretty safe and equipped with snow tires?

Personally whenever I rent a car on a ski vacation I use Turo because you can actually get winter vehicles (AWD and equipped with actual snow tires) for reasonable rates there. A bit of an extra hassle because you usually have to drop the owner off at home but I really don't understand the whole "we're a ski destination but none of the rental car companies offer snow tires" business. It's just so, so dumb.

 

[tball]

Are the shuttles pretty safe and equipped with snow tires?

Yes. I haven't ridden in one but drive next to them all the time on I-70. They are always the best drivers around and necessarily have good tires for the conditions. I've never ever seen a shuttle not have sufficient traction even in the worst storms.

Still, avoid peak drive times so you are not stuck in the shuttle for hours. Don't travel I-70 on Friday PM, Saturday AM/PM, and Sunday AM/PM and you'll be fine.

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[tball]

Took my kid skiing today...I70 may have broke me. I’m so depressed skiing in CO on the weekend has become like this. It took 3:30 to get on the hill, and lines at the Mtn were horrendous. I am just blown away how crowded it’s become. How do people do this every weekend?! How is this worth it? It is soul sucking.

It sucks, unfortunately. See the thread title.

There are various workarounds that make it tolerable. I always remind myself that at least I didn't have to get on an airplane to ski our amazing mountains.

That said, I don't think I've done a weekend day trip in maybe 20 years, at least during the prime months. Early and late season are easy, so take advantage of our super long ski season.

Our strategy is to get the kids skiing every other weekend, usually both days. Every weekend is just too much for us. We head up Friday afternoon and back down late Sunday. It's usually not too bad unless there's a storm, like last week when we held off until Sat after morning traffic subsided.

Coming home on Sunday night really isn't too bad if you wait it out. Everybody leaves early on Sunday to avoid traffic, so Sunday's usually have minimal lift lines and the areas are empty in the afternoon. Heading down the hill at 6 or 7 pm after dinner usually makes for an easy drive.

Other families have different strategies. Getting up super early, skiing Eldora, Loveland or Echo Mountain, and even taking kids out of school weekdays and doing lessons at home on the weekend are a few. Hopefully, others will chime in.

 

[jmeb]

Took my kid skiing today...I70 may have broke me. I’m so depressed skiing in CO on the weekend has become like this. It took 3:30 to get on the hill, and lines at the Mtn were horrendous. I am just blown away how crowded it’s become. How do people do this every weekend?! How is this worth it? It is soul sucking.

Jan and Feb are the worst. Especially on weekend like this where it lines up with fresh snow.

The reasons you mentioned are the reasons I ski Loveland. Easiest drive, easy parking, more lift capacity than parking capacity.

 

[Vcize]

Still, avoid peak drive times so you are not stuck in the shuttle for hours. Don't travel I-70 on Friday PM, Saturday AM/PM, and Sunday AM/PM and you'll be fine.

Unfortunately I don't really have a choice this time around. I get into Denver airport at 7:15pm on Friday and leave Denver airport at 10pm on Sunday night.

Maybe heading back towards the airport right as the Super Bowl is about to kickoff will help with traffic.

 

[jmeb]

Unfortunately I don't really have a choice this time around. I get into Denver airport at 7:15pm on Friday and leave Denver airport at 10pm on Sunday night.

Maybe heading back towards the airport right as the Super Bowl is about to kickoff will help with traffic.

Honestly, that late on Friday and you're probably going to be OK. Same with Super bowl traffic.

 

[palikona]

Jan and Feb are the worst. Especially on weekend like this where it lines up with fresh snow.

The reasons you mentioned are the reasons I ski Loveland. Easiest drive, easy parking, more lift capacity than parking capacity.

I don’t know why, but I always thought March was worse than Jan/Feb (except for Presidents Weekend) because of the spring breakers?
Yeah, I love Loveland but wish they’d have bars on the chairs. I don’t love not having them with a squirmy 7 year old. However, I think that’s smart.

 

[palikona]

It sucks, unfortunately. See the thread title.

There are various workarounds that make it tolerable. I always remind myself that at least I didn't have to get on an airplane to ski our amazing mountains.

That said, I don't think I've done a weekend day trip in maybe 20 years, at least during the prime months. Early and late season are easy, so take advantage of our super long ski season.

Our strategy is to get the kids skiing every other weekend, usually both days. Every weekend is just too much for us. We head up Friday afternoon and back down late Sunday. It's usually not too bad unless there's a storm, like last week when we held off until Sat after morning traffic subsided.

Coming home on Sunday night really isn't too bad if you wait it out. Everybody leaves early on Sunday to avoid traffic, so Sunday's usually have minimal lift lines and the areas are empty in the afternoon. Heading down the hill at 6 or 7 pm after dinner usually makes for an easy drive.

Other families have different strategies. Getting up super early, skiing Eldora, Loveland or Echo Mountain, and even taking kids out of school weekdays and doing lessons at home on the weekend are a few. Hopefully, others will chime in.

Good suggestions.

 

[SBrown]

I don’t know why, but I always thought March was worse than Jan/Feb (except for Presidents Weekend) because of the spring breakers?

Spring breakers aren’t typically driving up from Denver for the day. Jan and Feb are the months when Front Range skiers are the busiest, kids are in seasonal ski programs, etc. Spring kid sports start in March, and warmer weather starts teasing people to not ski.

 

[Ken_R]

Look like your typical mid-winter Sunday to me:

 

[Noodler]

I just skied Saturday and Sunday at Taos. Almost no traffic whatsoever heading to/from the mountain. I'm a Front Ranger.. and me and my thousands of "friends" make I-70 suck.

 

[SBrown]

I just skied Saturday and Sunday at Taos. Almost no traffic whatsoever heading to/from the mountain. I'm a Front Ranger.. and me and my thousands of "friends" make I-70 suck.

We aren’t IN traffic; we ARE traffic.