Dec 31, 2007 5:35 pm US/Mountain
Thousands Of Stranded Drivers Stay In Shelters
CDOT Crews Do Avalanche Blasting
SILVERTHORNE, Colo. (AP) ―
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An image of Interstate 70 Sunday night
CBS
More than 2,000 travelers were stranded at Red Cross shelters in the Colorado high country Monday as a threat of avalanches closed a stretch of Interstate 70 west of Denver.
Deep snow drifted into more than two dozen narrow ravines in the mountainsides --- known as avalanche chutes -- raising the danger of potentially deadly snow slides cascading onto I-70.
High winds and blowing snow forced the state to close the highway overnight. Colorado Department of Transportation officials said they hoped the busy thoroughfare through the mountains would reopen in the afternoon.
Crews used low-power explosives Monday morning trying to bring the snow down while the highway was closed, Mead said.
In addition to the avalanche threat, snow blown by wind gusting to 65 mph reduced visibility to nearly zero.
P.J. Bailey left Breckenridge to head home on I-70 to Denver around 1 p.m. Sunday, but by nearly four hours later she was no farther than Georgetown, about 35 miles from Breckenridge.
"I was told it would get better, but a mile east of Georgetown, there were whiteout conditions. You couldn't even see the front of your car," said Bailey, 24.
She made her way back to Georgetown for the night.
"You should see this town. There's people stopped everywhere," she said.
Hunter Miller left his home in Grand Junction around 10:15 a.m. with tickets for a Denver Nuggets game Sunday night, but got caught in stop-and-go ski traffic and snow around Vail Pass. It took about five hours to go the 52 miles between Vail and Georgetown, he said.
He and his wife decided to spend the night in Georgetown.
"The weather was so bad, and I'd been in the car so long," said Miller, 25. "I didn't want to drive any more. I didn't want to risk it."
Red Cross spokeswoman Melinda Epp said the agency opened more than seven shelters in schools and recreation centers and most of the 2,000-plus travelers who used them during the night were still there Monday morning.
The shelters included West Grand High School in Kremmling, the Silverthorne Recreation Center, LaQuinta Silverthorne, Breckenridge Rec Center, a church in Dillon and Summit Middle School.
Westbound I-70, the main route between Denver and many of the state's major ski resorts, was closed all Sunday night into Monday afternoon from 10 miles west of Denver to Vail, a distance of about 75 miles. Eastbound lanes were closed from Vail to Georgetown, about 60 miles.
CDOT reported both directions of I-70 are now open between Vail and Georgetown Monday evening. Both directions of U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass are also open.
The highway department also closed several other highways around the state Sunday as snow blown by wind gusting to 65 mph reduced visibility to near zero. U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass and U.S. 550 over Red Mountain Pass all remained closed Monday.
Steamboat Ski Resort reported 17 inches of fresh snow Sunday.
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(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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