Posted on 03/31/2008 2:20:17 PM PDT by GSWarrior
A 50-vehicle pileup has closed I-70 in both directions at mile marker 195 on Vail Pass.
The initial accident occurred on the westbound side of I-70 at mile marker 189 in Eagle County. The eastbound lane has also been closed at this time to allow emergency vehicles to access the scene.
According to dispatch, there are numerous injuries and several possible amputations. There has been a mutual aid request for backup and many patients are being transported to St. Anthony's Summit Medical Center for treatment.
"So far we have one patient in critical condition and two more patients just arrived at our emergency room," said Bev Lilly, the public information officer at Summit Medical Center. "Our staff at Peak One Surgery Center is also on standby."
At this time Colorado State Patrol has confirmed one fatality.
That is a brutal stretch of highway. Not for the squeamish in the winter time
How awful. Prayers for the deceased and his/her family and prayers for everyone else that they may be treated and healed. What a sad story.
Agreed....prayers up.
It’s a beautiful stretch of highway and safe, if you slow down and drive the conditions, which many people don’t do.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I agree a beautiful drive. I love it in the summer time, but not so sure in the early spring or winter.
this particular road can look like this 10 mos out of the year - I have seen heavy snow in the mountains well into June and can start again in August (although it won’t stick around for long then)
It can snow on the high mountain passes any time of year
Staying away from this road in the winter will cause you to miss out on world class skiing. You can see pileups on this on interstates in the flat lands when it is snowing/icy as well
Hope you enjoy the state when you move here!
Prayers for everyone involved, their families, and friends, those helping with rescue efforts, and the doctors and nurses at the hospitals.
I’ll bet a thousand bucks that the Colorado Elected Taxraisers Association (Read: The senate, congress and governor) are going to use this as another example for why, “We need to make I-70 a TOLL ROAD!”
I drive it all the time. Yes, it can be bad in the winter. It can be just as bad in a down pour in the summer.
The very first snowfall I ever saw in Colorado after we had moved there started just before we hit vail coming Westbound. It was sure beautiful, but we pulled over and stayed overnight because we didn’t want to risk the roads.
It’s so dangerous up in the mountains when the weather is bad, especially with all the big semis and such. Steep grades, slippery surfaces, too high of speeds by some drivers (some think 4x4 means invincible sadly), and big heavy vehicles are not a good combination...
Fog? Snow? Black Ice?
Ditto. Drive careful. Enjoy the beauty Colorado has to offer and there’s TONS of it.
What in the world good would that do? Stopping traffic to make them pay tolls and thus reduce speed? It doesn’t work - look at Chicago. You install toll booths and people are just speeding up in between them because it takes so long to get through them with all the cars stopped at rush hours and such. The traffic coming into Denver from the mountains (like from Loveland) is already bad enough. I can’t even imagine them adding toll booths to that headache...
snow, ice, winds 18 mph
the link says 20 car pileup
Thanks. I’m sure my skiing relatives there will having some driving tips for me. I don’t ski, don’t really plan to, but I really enjoy other activities in the mountains. I’m looking forward to it!
Now all I need to do is find a job...working on it...
Global warming, no doubt. Kills more people here.
I was just on that last month
ta DUM pum tishhhhhhhh - good one!
E/B traffic held at mm 116 Glenwood Springs
Put a toll booth on the street outside of Romer’s house .
The two lanes roads are worse.
Make sure your windshield wiper fluid is the kind with anti-freeze in it.
I had a friend from California who drove to Colorado for a winter ski trip. A truck splashed some mud on his windshield, he turned on the wiper fluid, it iced up, and pretty soon visibility was down to 0 feet.
If they're gonna screw things up, why not go all the way?
I thought Romer lives in California now. He’s on some educational board or something.
His son in the state senator who is pushing for toll booths on I-70.
Oh, I didn’t know that.
That’s all we need. Another Romer.
One of my scariest driving experiences was westbound through Vail pass two summers ago during a storm.
Even in famously insane NY, we slow down when the roads are wet, steep and have no visibility. Not in CO.
Some people just won’t slow down and drive the conditions. I can’t tell you how many times someone whizzes past me, and a mile down the road, they’re in the ditch.
fog?
My list of the worst passes in Colorado (major roads). I don’t go north of I-70 very often so there may be worse ones up there:
1. Red Mountain Pass. Nothing else compares so put this one by itself.
2. Wolf Creek Pass.
3. Monarch Pass
4. Independence Pass
5. Vail Pass
I have had the worst driving experience ever on Vail Pass. You can be in control, doing everything right, and still lose control.
Blizzards can appear out of nowhere, anywhere in the high country. I have seen snow every month of the year in high country. Regardless, if you are careful and respect Mother Nature, Colorado is incredible. Explore it and just savor the experience.
I'm guessing that's the long downhill grade going into Vail Valley - plenty of curves, speeding vehicles and black ice make this a treacherous stretch of road.
I used to have to commute for work from Carson City NV to S. Lake Tahoe up from about I think is 4800ft. at Carson to over Spooner Summit on Hiway 50 to connect at Lake Tahoe which is 6230ft. I did it with a two wheel drive chevy 3/4 ton pickup without studs and most of the time without chains, if there was over 4” of snow I put chains on, now I live in Alaska, I drive a new truck thats is 4x4, ABS, limited slip differential and expensive winter studded snow/ice tires. My guess is most drivers did not have any studded tires and possibly was not chained up, I also have driven Donner Pass in the winter and when they say to chain up you have to. Perhaps there should be a similar provision like they have there where chain installers are right there on the highway, if you have 2WD you must chain up, if 4WD you must have studded tires. Here in Alaska the smart people have two sets of mounted tires for summer and winter, hardly anyone uses chains except the big rigs when they have to go over the pases.And I am speculating there was a lot of rental cars heading to the ski areas and people did not want or know how to put chains on, I favor using studs but they do wreck up the roads up here, you get the big shallow grooves that when they get wet makes for serious hydroplaning.
I will definitely have to get acclimated to dealing with snow and ice. Have never experienced driving in it before, and it kind of scares me.
But I’m really looking forward to it, though. And I’ll have the wisdom of a lot of “Colorado native” relatives to help me get accustomed to the new lifestyle.
The passes are treacherous during these spring storms. Prayers for the victims of this accident.
I would add Rabbit Ear Pass, N. of I-70 on the way to Steam Boat.
Any updates?
I highly recommend chains. There is no comparison in performance, especially for a larger, heavier vehicle. They’re not that hard to put on once you learn the trick. Get good gloves, though, and always have extra clothing in the car.
A 4WD with chains on all wheels is the next best thing to a tank.
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