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TexasStout

Epic Pass + Loveland 4-pack for 2021-2022
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Nov 24, 2015
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698
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Texas and Colorado
Monday, skied Vail. Got a late start and arrived 10:30. Eighty miles from our place in Evergreen took 1.5 hours. Left around 2:45. Got home in 1.5 hrs. No complaints at all.
 
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TS
Blue Streak

Blue Streak

I like snow.
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Edwards, Colorado
That's why my rule is to never ski west of the Eisenhower tunnel on a Sunday. Too many excruciating drives home. If i ski on a Sunday, it's Loveland and leave before 2:00 PM.
Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh!
 
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TS
Blue Streak

Blue Streak

I like snow.
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Edwards, Colorado
^^^
Possibly a big shift from people staying at the resorts to people commuting to ski? So even lower capacity actually winds up with more traffic?
There is no "possibly" about it. Front Range skier visits are up. But so are regional visits. I see far more out of state license plates this year, and DIA traffic is down 50%.
As far as "lower capacity," I don't believe it.
At Vail the parking lots are full, as is the Frontage Road, and the lines for Gondola One have stretched all the way to the Covered Bridge.
And at Loveland, the lots are FULL every weekend and some weekdays!
It sure looks like ski areas are surviving this season just fine.
 

Mike King

AKA Habacomike
Instructor
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Nov 13, 2015
Posts
3,383
Location
Louisville CO/Aspen Snowmass
Yesterday was one of the worst Sunday drives home I've seen without weather.

I don't understand how traffic could be so bad with capacity limits at the ski areas due to COVID. Can anyone help me understand?

Yes, it was almost a powder day (2-5 inches). Yes, there is pent-up demand from the crummy start to the season. But shouldn't reducing the number of people at ski areas reduce the traffic?

We usually wait until traffic subsides to hit the road, and it never did (at least in time to get the kids to bed for school). That usually only happens when there are accidents due to weather, and even then, it's not that often. Yesterday was bad.

The line of cars over Loveland Pass was still there when we finally got to the other side of the tunnel at 8 pm!!!!!

View attachment 125409
Last weekend was the end of President's Day week, a week that many school districts have off. Hence visitation is one of the higher periods of the season. Possibly a lot of out of state visitors heading to the airport.
 

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Oct 4, 2017
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Denver, CO
There is no "possibly" about it. Front Range skier visits are up. But so are regional visits. I see far more out of state license plates this year, and DIA traffic is down 50%.
As far as "lower capacity," I don't believe it.
At Vail the parking lots are full, as is the Frontage Road, and the lines for Gondola One have stretched all the way to the Covered Bridge.
And at Loveland, the lots are FULL every weekend and some weekdays!
It sure looks like ski areas are surviving this season just fine.

Yep, lot at LL was packed yesterday (Monday) when I arrived at about 10:30 a.m. I was really surprised. The world has changed.
 

coskigirl

Skiing the powder
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Evergreen, CO
I was supposed to ski on Sunday but cancelled due to school responsibilities. Once I saw what traffic was doing I was sooooooo glad that I cancelled.
 
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TS
Blue Streak

Blue Streak

I like snow.
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Edwards, Colorado
Yep, lot at LL was packed yesterday (Monday) when I arrived at about 10:30 a.m. I was really surprised. The world has changed.
Agreed. :(
But will it change back? :popcorn:

Snow at LL yesterday was simply sublime, wasn't it? And the weather did not suck :golfclap:
 
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Thread Starter
TS
Blue Streak

Blue Streak

I like snow.
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Nov 12, 2015
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Location
Edwards, Colorado
Finally back in the white jacket after 30 lbs. dropped.
Enquiring minds want to know how you did it.
I too would like to get back to how I looked in my avatar (in the yellow sweater).
 

doc

Out on the slopes
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Nov 25, 2015
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744
Little puzzled by @tball's I-70 experience on Sunday. I was at Mary Jane and left around 2. By the time I got to 40, there was a steady line of traffic from WP skiers leaving slightly earlier. By the time I got down to the last hairpin at Berthoud Falls, the traffic was at a near standstill, with speeds ranging from zero to 20 all the way to Empire. Past Empire it cleared up completely, suggesting the Empire 35 mph zone is the choke point, but I-70 was a breeze all the way to the Evergreen exit. Given it was after 3 on a Sunday, I was amazed at how open I-70 was.
 

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Denver, CO
Enquiring minds want to know how you did it.
I too would like to get back to how I looked in my avatar (in the yellow sweater).

Keto.

 

tball

Unzipped
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Denver, CO
Little puzzled by @tball's I-70 experience on Sunday. I was at Mary Jane and left around 2. By the time I got to 40, there was a steady line of traffic from WP skiers leaving slightly earlier. By the time I got down to the last hairpin at Berthoud Falls, the traffic was at a near standstill, with speeds ranging from zero to 20 all the way to Empire. Past Empire it cleared up completely, suggesting the Empire 35 mph zone is the choke point, but I-70 was a breeze all the way to the Evergreen exit. Given it was after 3 on a Sunday, I was amazed at how open I-70 was.
I checked traffic at 3, and I-70 was clear sailing from 40 to Denver. Berthoud was backed up from Empire over the pass. I-70 and Loveland Pass were a mess with cars backed up past A-basin and the tunnel approach past Silverthorne.

I-70 and Loveland Pass seemed MUCH worse than usual.

I left ABasin around 2:15pm. Drove past LL at 3:45pm (over the pass). Seeing the line of cars from the abasin lift snaking through the mountain at a standstill prior to 2pm left me dumbfounded.

I thought it was just the cold sending folks home early. We normally ski until 4 but quit at 3 due to the cold.

The really odd thing is the heavy traffic through the tunnel and over Loveland Pass continued until late in the evening despite heavy traffic starting early.

I hope this isn't an indicator of the weekends to come. Looking forward to April already!
 

tball

Unzipped
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The mystery may be solved as to why I-70 traffic was so bad Sunday. 285 was closed due to ground blizzards, so all those folks had to divert to I-70.


Here's hoping the next five weekends are more tolerable.

We just got some awesome news that our kiddos have an extra Monday off in March. Teachers are getting their second vaccine dose on Sunday, so they are using a snow day, expecting enough teachers to feel unwell that they won't have enough subs. That, plus our spring break is in April instead of March since we moved to a parochial school this year, gives me hope for some tolerable traffic and lift lines in our future. :ogbiggrin:
 
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doc

Out on the slopes
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I must have missed a memo somewhere, but what is the story with the westbound toll lane which does not appear to be in use (at least in the very early morning when I'm usually on I-70)?
I think there was a big rush last fall to get it finished, and that the work to get it done caused really big disruptions to I-70 traffic, but it seems as if the fruits of that work aren't being enjoyed by anyone.
 

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Denver, CO
I must have missed a memo somewhere, but what is the story with the westbound toll lane which does not appear to be in use (at least in the very early morning when I'm usually on I-70)?
I think there was a big rush last fall to get it finished, and that the work to get it done caused really big disruptions to I-70 traffic, but it seems as if the fruits of that work aren't being enjoyed by anyone.

It's not fully complete yet. They have a large paving project to complete in the Spring once the warmer temps arrive to get it done.
 

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Denver, CO
Reviving this thread for the total cluster f#ck that is I-70 this morning. Multiple road closures and total insanity today. WTH :nono::eek:
 

Fuller

Semi Local
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Feb 18, 2016
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1,522
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Whitefish or Florida
I'll be joining the fray this Sunday but we're driving west later that day to our Dillon hotel so hopefully the Sunday afternoon traffic will all be going the other way. There's some snow in the forecast but nothing unusual. First stop on Monday will be new boots at Racer's edge and then a few days at Loveland then on to Whitefish.

Look for a Subaru Outback with Florida plates and new Hakkapeliittas (not stuck in a snowbank, hopefully)
 

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