Well the day after Christmas my bother, his wife and my dad and I loaded up the 210 and flew to Front range airport in Denver Co. From there we rented a car and headed for Vail for a four day ski trip. It had been five years since I had been to Vail so i was very excited. We had four great days of skiing. . . tons of snow, and I didn't break anything even after skiing off of a 35 foot cliff Leaving however became quite the undertaking. Sunday night after skiing and almost getting lost on the top of the mountain due to a white out. . . we packed upa nd left east bound on I 70 for denver. We got about 30 miles, just over vail pass when they Closed I 70 because of the high winds and snow. We never made it to the eissenhower tunnel. We were stuck in Summit county with about 4000 other people trying to get home. With all hotels booked up we ended up sleeping on the cafiteria floor of an elementary school with about 1200 other people. All I can say is I really wanted to get on here and see if any of my FTE buddies lived in that area! That and I really wanted my truck with the snowmobile track conversion there so i could make it through the highway! Anyway, I don't know when they opened I 70 again. . . but if it was opened by night time the next day i would have been surprised. We ended up taking an alternative route and made it back to denver. It took four hours to make it back from denver to home. . . where after a missed approach me landed at our strip on about 2 inches of snow Now its back to work I guess. Anybody else take any trips for the season? Talk to you all soon.
Tim

 

That sucks that you got stuck in that closure. I-70 did open up early yesterday morning, so it was only closed for a day. Surprisingly, the highway was completely clear and the drive was fast and easy yesterday.

Glad you made it home safe though.

 

I moved to Colorado when I got out of the military in '91. I lived in a very small mountain town on 265 named Grant. Grant sits at the base of Kenosha Pass (265) and Guanella Pass (Park Co Rd 62). Shortly after I got there I noticed what looked like a giant gate on 265 by the Roberts tunnel and asked someone about it; I was told it was so they could close the highway during bad weather. I thought I was just getting played with, but even having grown up in northern Michigan I had no concept of real snow and when the first real big one hit and that gate swung closed I realized I was not in the flat lands anymore Sorry to go off topic, but those mountains can offer a whole set of challenges that most people don't understand. Glad you had a great time and got home safely.

 

Grant...Just past Bailey about 7 miles? Isn't that Hwy 285?

 

285... YES! I left there in '97, guess when I was typing it was too much for the grey cells at the time Thanks. It was a beautiful area and had some wonder characters inhabiting it. I miss the old PRI, Al and Nancy kept me feed and in beer. Al was never adverse to trading his beer for your sweat if he needed something done, and since I often had more sweat available than money, I didn't mind it either

 

I have been 4 wheelin MANY times up there over Grant...Red Cone and Webster Pass. I used to love to go up the Webster Pass side and watch people trying to make it down from Red Cone without losing it and going over the side. Although it was usually the ATV riders getting cocky that would loose their rides and watch em roll side over side down into the valley.