HUGE accident on Vail Pass

**montanaskier** · 03-31-2008, 03:33 PM

As mentioned by Fish, a HUGE accident on VP. Vibes to all those involved. The weather currently is NASTY. Dumping and VERY windy.

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/200...NEWS/992921921

VAIL PASS, Colorado — One person was killed Monday afternoon in a 50-car pileup on the west side of Vail Pass, the Colorado State Patrol says.

Other drivers have been seriously injured and Interstate 70 is closed in both directions, authorities say.

Some patients have been 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.

Traffic began backing up when the accident occurred around 1:20 p.m. The state patrol is asking drivers to avoid the area.

Around 2:30 p.m., westbound traffic was backed up on the interstate to the main Vail exit, said Kris Friel, spokeswoman for the town of Vail. Cars are being diverted from the interstate at that exit, but the roundabout on South Frontage Road is clogged, Friel said.

Parking is now free in both Vail Village and Lionshead parking structures for stranded travelers, Friel said.

Eastbound traffic on the South Frontage Road is being stopped at Ford Park, and people are being told to return to the parking structures, Friel said. East Vail residents may continue on the road, but will be stopped at Ford Park first, she said.

Officials gave no indication of when the freeway would re-open.

The Summit Daily News contributed to this report.

This story will be updated as more details become available

**GoEhuge** · 03-31-2008, 03:47 PM

Damn. I hope all the mags that made it to Vail today get home safe.... you lucky bastards.

**Steven S. Dallas** · 03-31-2008, 03:59 PM

70 sounds like the worst road in the lower 48. Or is it just the people who drive on it?

**trainnvain** · 03-31-2008, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Steven S. Dallas

70 sounds like the worst road in the lower 48. Or is it just the people who drive on it?

I'd say it's a 50/50 blend (esp on Fri. and Sun. Yikes!)

**pappag** · 03-31-2008, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Steven S. Dallas

70 sounds like the worst road in the lower 48. Or is it just the people who drive on it?

People who drive it.

There's really only one bad bend going westbound after you pass the summit. Other than that, it boggles my mind how much trouble the road causes. It's also amazing how many people brake going right into a turn instead of altering their speed from a distance away or downshifting to slow down.

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 03-31-2008, 04:07 PM

The people who drive it, who don't know how to drive it, mess it up for everyone. In particular, the truck drivers do the worst for it. I've seen too many truckers try to get away w/o chains, when chainlaws are in effect. This is such a poor choice on their part. I've come so close to being in accidents with semis because they are sliding around all over the place b/c they didn't put their chains on. I've seen them slide into one another and crush smaller cars. I've seen them become the cause of pile-ups. It really angers me when they don't use their chains.

Still, pos vibes for all involved. It would suck to get hurt (or worse!) on the way home from a fantastic day of pow.

**lionelhutz** · 03-31-2008, 04:08 PM

Nick -
you are from the dirty jerz and you say the driving on this road is bad...that scares me.

**pappag** · 03-31-2008, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by lionelhutz

Nick -
you are from the dirty jerz and you say the driving on this road is bad...that scares me.

West to east is totally cake. Just the one steepish tight bend going towards Vail after passing the summit is troublesome.

**JeffreyJim** · 03-31-2008, 04:12 PM

Currently sitting in Lionshead parking structure. This is AWESOME!

**.rockbottomfreerider.** · 03-31-2008, 04:14 PM

PM me if you are stuck in Vail and want a place to hang for awhile in West Vail. I will be done with work about 4:45-5ish

**montanaskier** · 03-31-2008, 04:19 PM

Yeah you can PM me as well, we are skinning up the hill behind our house in a bit, but will be around tonight if you need a place to hang/crash.

**SILENCER** · 03-31-2008, 04:30 PM

I read a funny answer in the "Ask Dr. Snow" section of Skiing a couple years back to a question about how SUV's do on snow, etc. He responded, mentioning I-70 as an example, referring to it as:

"The Vacuum of Intelligence Memorial Slow-way".

Hahahah!!!

**encore** · 03-31-2008, 04:36 PM

I drove by around 2:00 pm. It didn't look good.

**Imz** · 03-31-2008, 04:37 PM

+2 for spelling "Huge" correctly.

**pappag** · 03-31-2008, 04:53 PM

24 is closed now. Good luck to all those stuck. I hope the pow was worth it.

**hartzejr** · 03-31-2008, 04:58 PM

Very busy, a lot of different drivers (people traveling through CO, locals, trucks, etc), hills, many turns, quick changing variable conditions all contribute. Not 100% on the drivers but they're probably a good portion of the problem.

vibes to all who got stuck out there and people involved in accident+++

**jon turner** · 03-31-2008, 05:08 PM

I don't know why they advise people to go up 24 as an alternate. If Vail Pass is bad, Battle Mountain is bound to suck too. And the locals like to drive like crap on that road , often passing on the double yellow even in adverse conditions - all that adds up to a potentially bad scene. There's people in Leadville that drive to Copper and over Vail Pass rather than take 24 because they don't like driving over Battle Mountain. The snow was blowing pretty good over Fremont today too, with near whiteout conditions at times on the north side of the pass. When VP is closed it's generally just best to camp out in Vail and wait.

**Rideski** · 03-31-2008, 05:28 PM

**leftfield** · 03-31-2008, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by Nick Pappagiorgio

I hope the pow was worth it.

It sure was!

**sftc** · 03-31-2008, 06:15 PM

What a shit show- On 9 News a CDOT spokesperson just said the highway will be closed for at least several more hours and possibly all night, so if you're stuck in Vail you might as well hunker down. It didn't sound like they had any realistic idea of when it would re-open.
They showed a video of the accident, and right up front there was what looked like a jackknifed tandem tractor trailer on the west bound side. What a shock.
I couldn't find the video on their site or I would have linked it.
IMO, the problem is all the different types of people you get on I-70: truckers without chains, locals hauling ass, and stupid tourists going 40 mph in their 2-wheel drive rental cars. It's a bad mix.
At least in New Jersey you know that everyone is going to drive like an asshole so you know what to expect.

**encore** · 03-31-2008, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by sftc

They showed a video of the accident, and right up front there was what looked like a jackknifed tandem tractor trailer on the west bound side. What a shock.

That's correct. Then there was another semi to the left of the jack-knifed tandem with an SUV lodged underneath the back bumper of the semi. It was a mess.

Vibes to all those involved in the accident.

I'm thinking the problem was the heavy wet snow. The temps were "warm" in the morning then around 1:00 in was noticably colder (at least in Vail) which made the roads pretty slick. Of course, that's just an opinion.

**killclimbz** · 03-31-2008, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by encore

That's correct. Then there was another semi to the left of the jack-knifed tandem with an SUV lodged underneath the back bumper of the semi. It was a mess.

Vibes to all those involved in the accident.

I'm thinking the problem was the heavy wet snow. The temps were "warm" in the morning then around 1:00 in was noticably colder (at least in Vail) which made the roads pretty slick. Of course, that's just an opinion.

I think you're dead on. That pass is a pretty easy drive, but it seems like every spring, the heavier wet snow ices up big time on the west side. That doesn't happen like this in January. More like driving in a Sierra snowstorm than in the Rockies.

**solstice** · 03-31-2008, 06:40 PM

Sometimes it's not the semi that caused the accident....they may have had to react to what some stupid asshole did in front of them......sometimes the person who caused the who thing my not even be there or even know it.

**Cono Este** · 03-31-2008, 06:43 PM

As a total jong to road, ive driven it about 5-6 times on snow, people drive way to fucking fast.

Anyone new to it is greatly pushed to their limit by F-250's with brushguards up peoples ass.