For the first time in many years, the local Rocky Mountain Auto Press organization held its Rocky Mountain Driving Experience as a two-day long-distance drive.

This week’s event offered local and regional auto writers and bloggers a chance to test out almost two dozen new cars, trucks, SUVs and electric vehicles in an exhaustive but rewarding route that included the Peak to Peak Highway, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, nearby roads in Winter Park and Guanella Pass.

We also barely missed Wednesday’s major rockslide which completely closed Colorado Highway 7, southwest of Lyons, requiring some last-minute rerouting. It also demonstrated the limitations of many new vehicles’ (and our phones’) increasing reliance on 5G cell signals to tell us where the hell we were, and where we should be going in case of a sudden road closure. To top it all off, we successfully introduced a number of low-elevation folks to the realities of altitude sickness.

Nonetheless, myself and nearly 50 writers and manufacturer reps spent two days playing musical chairs in a huge range of vehicles, some of which have already been featured in this column, and others which you’ll likely see in greater detail later this year.

That will hopefully include a full profile of the exciting, 320-horsepower 2024 Acura Integra Type S, a flashy enthusiast vehicle with gold wheels and more daily driver utility than a Honda Civic Type R, as well as a full test of the rally-bred 2023 Toyota GR Corolla, a 300-horsepower hatchback — both of which our members managed to put out of commission during the drives, in typical auto-journalist style. (Expect to see more about the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime, the plug-in hybrid version of the revamped Prius, which will have a bit more than 40 miles of all-electric range.)

Things were a little more laid back in a short drive of the all-new 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale, a smaller, plug-in hybrid-electric crossover that the Italian brand is hoping will bring an entirely new following to the company.

I’m also looking forward to extended time in the intriguing and comfortably family-sized 2023 Nissan Ariya EV, a new, larger, design-heavy alternative to the Leaf that offers up to 304 miles of range, which felt comfortable both on twisty pavement and light gravel roads.

We enjoyed the very old-school V8 experience of the 2023 Lexus IS 500 F Sport, likely one of the last hurrahs for a non-turbocharged, gasoline-engined, 472-horsepower drivetrain, but lots of noisy fun in the meantime.

It’s already very busy in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, and we got a rain/snow mix traversing the 12,183-foot Trail Ridge Road and the massive stretches of leftover, high-Alpine snow in the 2023 Genesis G90, whose doors still close automatically and seats still caress its passengers.

I was also impressed during a Grand Lake-to-Granby stint in the 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Sport-L, which makes the most of its 204 horsepower in a setup that deletes a traditional transmission and uses electric motors to provide more direct power.

Thursday saw some short outings in both the incredibly roomy, three-row 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L — which offers a 5.7-liter V8 option not available in regular-sized Grand Cherokees — as well as a bit of time in the 2023 GMC Canyon AT4X, a mid-sized pickup that has loads of off-road versatility and 310 horsepower.

I had a pleasant but longer-than-expected stint in the 2023 Kia Telluride X-Pro, a new version of the hard-to-get SUV that adds 18-inch, off-road-oriented tires and 500 pounds of additional towing capacity. Those chunkier tires helped cope with the terrible potholes on the north side of Berthoud Pass but still kept the vehicle grounded on Interstate 70 through Georgetown and all the way to the summit on Guanella Pass. We rounded things out with drives of the 603-horsepower Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 63S — a full model-range review of both gasoline and electric Mercedes SUV is coming — and then a trip home in the 2023 Toyota Crown Platinum, a 264-horsepower gasoline hybrid that will also yield an extended review this summer.