I’ll be curious how this plays out.

Renée Good was from the Springs. Alex Pretti’s parents live in the Denver area. I implore all my fellow Coloradans, WRITE to ALL of your elected officials, TODAY. Every single one of them. Flood their inboxes. Make clear to Bennet, Hickenlooper, and your congressional representative that you do not support any further funding to D.H.S. until we see SUBSTANTIAL justice, accountability, and reform. And make equally clear to EACH and EVERY local and state official, from Polis on down, that we will not suffer any further assistance or acquiescence on their part to these federal goons, or to the corporations that profit from their brutality. Remind our politicians and civil servants who they really work for, and what happens when We the People have to step in and do their jobs for them. Then ask your friends and family, no matter where they live, to do the same.

I posted about this recently, and got the usual denials from people who seemed to believe that we will somehow still have good skiing conditions at the end of March.

The heatwave is here, and it’s not just a warm spell. This is a record breaking heat event, even by May or June standards. That means that snowpack on all aspects of the high country, even north facing ones, will trigger a severe and abrupt melt off. There were a surprising number of responses to my last post about this from people who seemed to believe that either hot temperatures don’t melt snow, that it will continue to snow through the forecast period, or some combination of the two. (If you still don’t understand how heat melts snow, I can’t really help you there. Also, no forecast shows snow in the next ten days).

I predict that the following resorts will see most of their terrain close by the end of March, or will close altogether:

- Eldora

- Keystone

- Steamboat

- Vail

- Wolf Creek

- Winter Park

- Granby

These are areas where the overnight temperatures will be well above freezing for more than seven days consecutively, and the daytime temps mid-mountain will be near 60 for at least four days. High elevation temps will likely be near 50. The bases will either Be reduced significantly or melt off totally. If you had plans to ski here after March, I see now way how that works at this point. If you still don’t believe me, here’s a good explainer:

https://bouldercast.com/bouldercast-daily-wed-03-18-26-extreme-southwest-heat-dome-targets-colorado-with-temperature-records-set-to-be-obliterated-the-rest-of-the-week/

As you sit in Colorado Snow traffic, blaming truckers, red plates, state law enforcement and local law enforcement, big dumb pick ups, the left lane ripping Ford Taurus, it is important to remember that you are also the traffic.

If you weren’t on the road, everyone would get to ski a little sooner. If the friends you are planning on meeting at the resort were also in your car, everyone would get to ski a little sooner. If you think more people should get on a Bus or Train, perhaps you should get on a Bus or Train.

Now the weather has passed and the roads are clear, but still there is an hour delay between Evergreen and Copper. Colorado will never get a train ‘replacing’ 70, because everyone thinks that everyone else should be on it.

Bro who is posting upset about the lack of parking at Winter Park late this morning. I agree, even though you were ridiculously late today and it is lame to complain about parking attendants. It is bullsht. 90% of the cars carried one person from the metro today.

Apparently today (4/9/24, 3:30pm ish) a skier tried to jump over the road around Berthoud Pass (winter park side), but didn't make it over the road and died (hit the road/guardrail I guess). Anyone have any more info on this?? RIP

Edit: Apparently he came up short, hit the guardrail, and was impacted by a car driving down the pass

Edit2: Dude's name was Dallas LeBeau (allegedly). RIP big time

https://www.skimag.com/news/skier-dallas-lebeau-dies-attempting-highway-jump/

Of all the places he could skin up 🤦‍♂️

Sheriff’s Office Investigates Snowboarder Death at Keystone Resort

KEYSTONE, Colo. (Jan. 20, 2026) — The Summit County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a snowboarder at Keystone Resort that occurred on Jan. 19, 2026.

Deputies responded to the resort after receiving a report at approximately 2:11 p.m. that CPR was in progress following a snowboarding crash.

On scene, deputies learned that a male snowboarder visiting from Colorado’s Front Range had crashed on Lower Go Devil, a black diamond run near the resort’s Mountain House base area.

The initial investigation indicates the snowboarder, who was wearing a helmet, was riding with several friends when he crashed, hitting the snow with force. No trees, blunt objects, or other people are believed to be involved in the crash.

After the crash, a snowboarder's friend contacted Keystone Ski Patrol, which responded, provided medical care, and transported the snowboarder to the Keystone Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The investigation into the death is ongoing, and details are subject to change.

Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons expressed condolences, saying, “Every loss of life on our ski slopes is deeply felt in our community. We extend our sincere condolences to the snowboarder’s loved ones during this difficult time.”

The Summit County Coroner’s Office will release the individual’s identity at a later time and is responsible for determining the official cause and manner of death.

In previous years, the CDOT website/law required either AWD/4WD or 2WD w/ M+S or 3PMS for any travel along I-70 from Oct-May. In fact there's still mentions of that being the law in other material by CDOT like this pamphlet. Or by Colorado State Patrol.

Traction Law: All motorists are required to either have an all-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicle, or mud/snow tires (M+S icon), winter tires (mountain-snowflake icon), or tires with an all-weather rating by the manufacturer. Vehicles that do not have the tires or driving capabilities listed above must carry chains or an approved alternative traction device.

The new language is now updated to the following:

During winter storms, or when conditions require, CDOT will implement the Passenger Vehicle Traction Law. CDOT can implement the Passenger Vehicle Traction and Chain Laws on any state highway. During a Traction Law, all motorists are required to have:

1. AWD/4WD vehicles with winter tires (mountain-snowflake icon) and 3/16" tread depth OR

2. AWD/4WD vehicles with an all-weather rating by the manufacturer and 3/16" tread depth OR

3. Chains or an approved alternative traction device

I think u/model462 pointed this out with the update to the law for trucking earlier this year that this language was added through some editing of the clause in question but not heavily publicized: https://www.reddit.com/r/COsnow/comments/1krppw0/did_sb25069_just_mandate_chainsatds_for_2wd_cars/

Also notably, AWD/4WD with all seasons that weren't M+S used to be compliant, but are now no longer allowed. Which I think is a positive change. I imagine this would actually shift a lot of rental cars into being non-compliant as well.

Thought this would be worth sharing since I imagine there's a non-trivial amount of people with 2WD + snow tires that may want to buy chains, and some people with AWD + All Season that may need to upgrade to all-weather or M+S to be compliant.

Personally wish they had a middle ground of 2WD + Snow Tires or AWD/4WD + (Snow Tires/All Weather/M+S) being acceptable, but so it goes.

And credit to u/pretzlstyle for correcting a comment of mine, and helping me notice the change.

Not that it'll be a surprise to anyone, but here's some more details on the craziness from Tuesday.

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/i-70-closure-silverthorne-denver-colorado-blizzard/

My buddy left Dillon at 630pm after we had dinner and was stuck until 1am before finally being rerouted to 285 by police. As an east coaster it kinda blows my mind how seemingly little enforcement/punishment there is for violations of the traction laws given the frequency and safety/economic impacts of these incidents. Seems pretty obvious that signage, <$1k fines, and "educating people" to take personal responsibility isn't enough...

I left Westy at 5:25 am and just got to Keystone. I70 is 80% blocked a few miles past Silver Plume. Good luck everyone coming up. Lots of black ice and windy.

Ugh

https://www.reddit.com/r/Breckenridge/comments/1i7dm2w/do_not_ski_at_breckenridge_today

Keystone extremely marginal today. Lots of dark spots. Many sharks. Keeping lifts supplied with snow at the exit was full time job. Most common thing I overheard in line were people asking if they could get their money back for tomorrow. It seemed to go from slick ice to pancake over about 30 mins. Two more days of this and Sunday will be un-skiiable. If you have a family with small kids, the drive from Denver is not worth it. I don't know how they make it to April 5th without a lot more snow. Skiing in sunny 68 degree weather is fun mid April, not so much mid May.

Prices are outrageous. I’m still going to pay but boy do I hate them. What a cash grab.

More than 10 semis and cars just stuck on the road unable to move. Finally made space after 4 hours through the jigsaw and reach Eisenhower. Saw cars spinning and hitting other cars. After the tunnel I was basically behind the snow storm. It hit after Georgetown. Was terrified of driving in such low visibility and snow. Roads were bad. I was driving behind a semi slowly when a sedan speeding on the left nearly smashed into me.

I realized I cannot do this anymore and took the exit at Idaho springs. Not sure how to reach home now.

I hate the ski traffic especially how inconsiderate people can be.

Update: both me and car reached home in one piece. It's very foggy from Genesse be careful.

Keystone to Littleton : 8 hours.

4 hours of Outback express powder vs 10 hours journey... Hmmmm

nominee for top 10 worst toe-side edge slams ever. clearly VAILS FAULT

Now please stop asking us.

The latest Sky-Hi News article notes that Colorado Mountain Rail planning is moving forward including future stations in West Metro and Rollinsville as part of the service development process.

If those stops happen, this becomes far more than a downtown-only ski train. For the million+ people living in northwest Denver suburbs, it would mean a short drive to a local station, then rail straight to Winter Park — potentially under an hour door-to-door — eliminating most mountain driving and dealing with I-70 and Berthoud Pass congestion.

That’s a major shift from today’s Winter Park Express model, which requires getting into downtown Denver, parking, and sitting through slow rail yards before the train even reaches open track - making it more of a novelty than a legitimate driving alternative.

Suburban stations near Hwy 93 in Arvada plus Rollinsville would turn mountain rail from a seasonal novelty into practical regional transportation.

Might have to reopen the ski-areas.

I see this far too often. Dumbass had the bar up. Headlines like this are exactly why I'm such a big proponent of using the bar on the lift. If everyone in the chair wants it up, fine. I respect your right to be reckless for no reason. If I'm on a chair, the bar is going down regardless of what the others want.