A snowstorm that dumped almost 2 feet of snow in the mountains between Christmas day and New Year’s Eve led to slide outs, road closures and a multi-vehicle pile-up, according to Colorado state highway officials.

The storm that started up just after Christmas dropped several inches of snow daily along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor through the holiday weekend. Mountain Recovery owner Charlie Stubblefield said highway incidents really started to pick up with heavier winds late Sunday night, Dec. 29, into early Monday, Dec. 30.

“All of the incidents we were dealing with were fairly minor, small snow pulls, people spinning out and a couple minor accidents on the downhill,” Stubblefield said Monday. “Then last night the wind picked up, creating significant visibility issues.”

Around 4:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, I-70 eastbound closed briefly for a crash between a Toyota pickup and a GMC Yukon that resulted in property damage and a driving under the influence arrest, according to the Colorado State Patrol. 

On Sunday evening, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed U.S. Highway 6 at Loveland Pass for winter operations.

Visibility issues led about 10 cars to slide off the side of U.S. Highway 6 between Keystone and Dillon on Sunday night, Stubblefield said. “The wind was so heavy no one could see at all,” he said.

Then, around 1:45 a.m. Monday, I-70 westbound closed at Mile Post 228, east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, due to multiple spun-out vehicles, according to the transportation department.

About an hour later, the transportation department closed between mile posts 180 and 190, near Vail Pass, due to safety concerns and road conditions. A westbound closure went into place nearby just a half hour later, also due to safety concerns.

Finally, around 6:15 a.m. on Monday, the Colorado Department of Transportation says it closed I-70 in both directions at Vail Pass due to poor road conditions.

Also Monday morning, teams remotely triggered a controlled avalanche on U.S. Highway 40’s Berthoud Pass and another avalanche on the west side of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, I-70 mountain corridor communications manager Austyn Dineen said.

The mitigation efforts at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel resulted in a pile of snow debris about 6 feet deep and 120 feet wide on the tunnel’s access road, Dineen said. I-70 was not affected.

Colorado State Highway 91 between Copper and Leadville also closed for a period Monday morning after a 10-car pile up, according to Colorado State Patrol. The crash was reported around 8:30 a.m. Monday at Mile Post 13 and resulted in minor property damage to every vehicle, State Patrol Sergeant Patrick Rice said.

Highway closures and delays continued Monday afternoon as snowfall resumed. Stubblefield also noted that his crews helped recover a plow truck that rolled 60 feet down an embankment Monday and several slid-out semitrailers. 

Roadways in and around the Summit County and Vail areas have seemed especially busy this holiday season, Stubblefield said. After days of heavy traffic and waves of snowfall are starting to “wear out” highway workers, who are looking forward to a break in the snow on New Year’s Eve.

“You can only do this consecutively for so long before you start to feel some fatigue,” Stubblefield said. “We’re not going to be out there partying for New Year’s Eve. We’re going to be sleeping. We’re going to be recuperating for sure.”