OFFICIAL I70 BITCH THREAD....

[Kevo]

Trying to get from Boulder to Edwards tonight. Driving up 285 @ 10 mph. Left at 5. Haven't even made it to Conifer yet.

[Soups]

Half way up Floyd Hill eastbound at about 330. 18 wheeler spun out taking up the left two lanes while he puts his chains on.

Rolled by. Rolled down the window. Screamed CHAINS!!

God damn shit show today but god damn Berthoud was all time.

[Micol]

Was leaving most easterly frisco exit around 4:30 wb i-70 towards Copper , no cars, interstate completely empty wb except a Ryder leased semi merging in from 2nd frisco exit....I looked , no chains on this mother headed for vp....dick

[DasBlunt]

Left the tunnel at about 545, home at 645 going east. they removed the one lane section between 40 and Idaho springs...

All time powder day today....not sure i have had so much fun and so deep this early in Nov,

[Kevo]

4.5 hours on the road so far from Boulder to Edwards and not even to Fairplay. Hoping to make it to Edwards by midnight.

[smmokan]

4.5 hours on the road so far from Boulder to Edwards and not even to Fairplay. Hoping to make it to Edwards by midnight.

You should have driven up to I-80, across to Utah, down I-15, and then east on I-70 to take the "back way" to Edwards. You'd probably get there at the same time.

[DasBlunt]

You should have driven up to I-80, across to Utah, down I-15, and then east on I-70 to take the "back way" to Edwards. You'd probably get there at the same time.

That is so brutal to hear.....

[Kevo]

6.75 hours Boulder to Edwards tonight. Getting tired of your shit, Colorado.

[Foggy_Goggles]

6.75 hours Boulder to Edwards tonight. Getting tired of your shit, Colorado.

I'm with you, it's 'tarded. But why subject yourself to that? Why not get up at 4am and be there by now? Why to leave 10pm? Why not take a half day at work and get a just start?

You traveled peak time on shitty roads on the first "powder weekend" of the year. Any solution is gonna come from changes in human behavior. It sucks to admit it and I'm sure your outfit and driving skills are top notch, but you are part of the problem.

[summit]

Half way up Floyd Hill eastbound at about 330. 18 wheeler spun out taking up the left two lanes while he puts his chains on.

Rolled by. Rolled down the window. Screamed CHAINS!!

Oooh you sure showed him.
Next time dial *csp and report him.

[mdblows]

Just drove past a flipped car on I-70 a few miles short of Floyd hill, headed west. Slow the fuck down people.

[Danno]

Was driving home from Pueblo yesterday, instead of driving to the mountains. Roads got sketch around Castle Rock. Saw some complete idiots. They're not confined to the mountains.

[Name Redacted]

6.75 hours Boulder to Edwards tonight. Getting tired of your shit, Colorado.

Whoa dude, you could have hunkered down at a movie theatre, bar, friend's house, gone to the gym, anything. Then gotten on the road a little later and coasted to Edwards in a few hours on 70.
Don't blame CO, blame people who try to drive across the state in a snowstorm when there are clearly posted warnings all over the place.

I love how 285 is always this secret shortcut, until someone actually tries it and realizes it sucks.

[mdblows]

Oooh you sure showed him.
Next time dial *csp and report him.

Thanks for the info. Just reported some 18 wheeler in the left lane without chains.

[ASmileyFace]

Did Durango to Boulder yesterday in like 7 and a half hours. 285 was a fucking shit show. Snow started around Fairplay and it got pretty god damn sketchy. Watched the car in front of me take out a light post near Bailey. There were like 25 cars off the road between fairplay and Boulder.

People need to learn to drive but it seems like cdot was caught completely off guard. The roads were awful.

[Danno]

Whoa dude, you could have hunkered down at a movie theatre, bar, friend's house, gone to the gym, anything. Then gotten on the road a little later and coasted to Edwards in a few hours on 70.
Don't blame CO, blame people who try to drive across the state in a snowstorm when there are clearly posted warnings all over the place.

I love how 285 is always this secret shortcut, until someone actually tries it and realizes it sucks.

Sure ain't a secret shortcut when 70 is closed!

I'm curious, it seems like it's getting worse, the roads and drivers and closures, but is it? I mean, I get that more people are moving here, but how many have moved here in the last 3 years? How many of them are driving to the mountains on a Friday night? Can we really blame what seems like a worsening problem on them? Or is it not even a worsening problem and we're just more acutely aware of it (because of the internet, this thread, whatever)?

[Ernest_Hemingway]

We sat around the table, the five of us. We ate cold rabbit stew and drank white wine. There was no fire in the hearth because we didn't want to reveal our position to the Germans. The other four men talked of what they would do after the bridge was destroyed. How they would return to their farms and their sawmills down in the valleys, and to their families, and every day for the rest of their lives would be warmed with sunshine. They spoke of their futures even though deep down they knew they had no futures. Only the job at hand. But they knew better than to talk about that.

You all remind me of those men in that cabin that night. Except the exact opposite.

[Name Redacted]

More people is definitely part of it, but the people are not listening to the constant warnings from CDOT or the news. It's a "those rules don't apply to me" or just a case of "Get-there-itis". Believe me, I've been stuck in these jams a few times over the years.

It took me a long ass time to learn these lessons too. I was 17, driving back and forth to Vail, multiple times, every weekend from Denver in the 90's, mostly peak traffic hours, and saw I70 at it's worst in a Nissan Sentra with bald tires no less. I also spent a few night in my car in the parking garage to avoid traffic, paying for parking, saving gas.

Wasn't there a report that said 250k people moved to the FR last year? Something like that? I just wish you all had a better way to get up here and spend more money.

[summit]

We sat around the table, the five of us. We ate cold rabbit stew and drank white wine. There was no fire in the hearth because we didn't want to reveal our position to the Germans. The other four men talked of what they would do after the bridge was destroyed. How they would return to their farms and their sawmills down in the valleys, and to their families, and every day for the rest of their lives would be warmed with sunshine. They spoke of their futures even though deep down they knew they had no futures. Only the job at hand. But they knew better than to talk about that.

You all remind me of those men in that cabin that night. Except the exact opposite.

Wait, so ze Germans are responsible for this? I KNEW IT!

[smmokan]

Sure ain't a secret shortcut when 70 is closed!

I'm curious, it seems like it's getting worse, the roads and drivers and closures, but is it? I mean, I get that more people are moving here, but how many have moved here in the last 3 years? How many of them are driving to the mountains on a Friday night? Can we really blame what seems like a worsening problem on them? Or is it not even a worsening problem and we're just more acutely aware of it (because of the internet, this thread, whatever)?

No, it's definitely worse due to the population explosion in the Front Range. Everything is more crowded, not just skiing- there's no two ways around it.

The weekends and pow days are much worse because of the proliferation of skiing-based sites like Joel's OpenSnow and technology in general... No such thing as a sleeper pow day anymore. All that leads to more traffic, and in turn more accidents and closures.

[Name Redacted]

Ha! It is all Joel Gratz's fault!!! It is funny, I must hear 5-10 people a day tell me "Well Gratz said..." Hope that guy is doing well for himself.

But I really don't think that has as much to do with it as a few other factors. Mainly the booming economy and population on the FR. Back in the recession, and even before that, we definitely had crowds, but not like this, and not as often as this. Now we are saying Thursday is the new Friday. Doesn't anyone have a job anymore!?!?!?!

[smmokan]

Ha! It is all Joel Gratz's fault!!! It is funny, I must hear 5-10 people a day tell me "Well Gratz said..." Hope that guy is doing well for himself.

He's just taking advantage of the converging factors that all benefit what he loves to do, and he knows how to market himself and his services. I mean check out his Colorado page... there's enough demand for a Colorado forecast, a Copper forecast, a Steamboat forecast, an I-70 forecast, and a Vail forecast. Holy shit.

I'm just glad I'm not confined to the weekends, but still... week day traffic these days is as bad as weekend traffic 5 years ago.

[hatchgreenchile]

Flexiblity is key to avoid traffic issues getting to and from the hills, but I don't think there's any doubt it's getting harder and harder to do.
I always try to be past Floyd Hill by 630a on the weekends. Soon it will be 600a, then 530a, then...... The windows will continue to narrow.
That's quite a compliment of Gratz to put interstate traffic woes on his fucking weather forecast, albeit a good one.

[Name Redacted]

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Gratz, and I doubt he's that big of a part of the influx of people. The local news stations have been overhyping storms for years, many times being accused of being on the Vail resorts payroll. So I doubt it's him that is leading to the crowds. Our state is just so great that a lot of people want to live here and go skiing in the mountains. Not a bad problem to have. I love living a few minutes from skiing and being able to make a decent wage up here.

It has reached a point though where I don't go out somedays because of the crowds. Funny, for the last few years, we've been taking day trips and weekends to Monarch to avoid the crowds.

[Hott Butt Mud]

Bitch all you want about I-70, but the reality is that you don't have to be there.

The Front Range tunnel trash can sit in traffic all damn day right now. It's for the best. Let them get a bad taste in their mouth early so they won't come back this winter.