Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post.
Register to become a member today!
Driving accessibility of summit county
Posts: 4027
-
Karma: 42
I have the breck, abay, and key pass, and I just got my car out here. Its a honda accord, so its pretty shitty in the snow, and clear roads are almost a must. I've also never driven to these places before (new around here)
Anyway, coming from Boulder/Denver area, what areas are a safer bet if conditions are bad, and how long does it usually take to clear the roads of each place after a storm?
Posts: 13839
-
Karma: 7,704
If you learn to drive in the snow and then also drive conservatively, you should be fine. Good tires helps a ton as well. I-70 is basically your only choice though and C-DOT is overly protective of that. Sucks you live in Denver/Boulder, having I-70 as your only option is awful.
Posts: 4100
-
Karma: 1,625
yeah I 70 is your only way, unless you want to take 285, and that is an hour longer, and worse taken care of, and not an option really for boulder.
Posts: 1162
-
Karma: 127
get some good snow tires and don't drive like an idiot and you'll be fine
Posts: 5680
-
Karma: 269
get legit snow tires, and dont be a puss, you will be perfectly fine, this idea that you "need" awd to even touch snow only started like 10 years ago, people were getting around fine for almost 100 years before that, with much worse tire technology.
Posts: 4027
-
Karma: 42
I can drive in the snow fine, and I enjoy it as long as I'm not getting stuck. I'm more concerned about any steep snowy/icy hill climbs that i wouldn't be able to get up
Posts: 13839
-
Karma: 7,704
You'll be fine, I-70 is a priority for CDOT.
Posts: 1948
-
Karma: 3
really the only time youll have to worry is if youre rushing to beat a closure, cause that's when the roads are at their worst and everyone is in a hurry to get where theyre going before 70 gets closed at the tunnel or at Vail pass. once it's cleared and reopened it's usually pretty good for a while unless the storm is a particularly nasty one.
most of the climbs are pretty gradual so no problems there, what has always scared me is the descents. the two spots im thinking of are when youre descending down from the tunnel to silverthorne and when you're descending the west side of vail pass...those two can be reaaaally really scary if it's dark and there's a bad storm going on. i always worry when there's a couple inches of hardpack built up on the road, even with ABS and 4x4 your wheels can lock for a split second and get you going sideways into a wall or something. it doesnt take much to fuck you up when youre going down a steady grade like that at 40+ mph. fortunately you probably wont be going to vail much, as i consider that one to be the worst of the two by a pretty wide margin, the descent after the tunnel is sketchy but not AS sketchy.
Posts: 13839
-
Karma: 7,704
Posts: 5153
-
Karma: 156
i wouldn't advise taking loveland pass....steep, curvy, and no guardrails pretty much guarantee death if you slip over the edge LOLZ
Posts: 7201
-
Karma: 1,126
cowards! rallying up loveland pass is a blast, I'd recommend it. especially cresting the peak, then passing four cars before the first slight left turn and another two before the first switchback, on the descent towards a-basin to get first tracks. memories.
All times are Eastern (-4)
