ARAPAHOE BASIN — The inaugural excursion of Snowstang service to Arapahoe Basin gave a bus full of skiers and snowboarders a far more eventful trip than they had anticipated Saturday morning due to heavy snowfall and hazardous driving conditions: The vehicle got stuck on U.S. 6 at the Loveland ski area.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center tweeted that morning that dangerous avalanche conditions were prevalent in the Front Range, “especially around Berthoud Pass & Loveland Pass.” Loveland Pass had been closed since Friday morning, but the Snowstang driver was surprised to find the gate at the foot of the pass closed when the bus got there. The closure gate is just past the parking lot of the Loveland ski area.
As the driver attempted to execute a three-point turnaround, it got stuck across U.S. 6, requiring a tow from a front-end loader belonging to Loveland. Then the driver put chains on the bus and set a course for A-Basin via Silverthorne. The bus arrived at A-Basin nearly 2½ hours past its scheduled arrival of 8:30 a.m.
The mishap at the Loveland Pass closure was only one reason for the delay in arrival. Traffic on Interstate 70 was stop-and-go much of the way from the Morrison exit to the west side of Floyd Hill, as is typical for a Saturday morning in ski season — especially on a powder day. An hour into the journey, Snowstang still wasn’t past Floyd Hill, and the bus didn’t reach Idaho Springs until 1½ hours after leaving RTD’s Federal Center Station in Lakewood. The route originates at Denver Union Station.
Arapahoe Basin reported 17 inches of snow in the previous 48 hours as a major winter storm fueled by the Pineapple Express moisture stream from the Pacific pounded Colorado’s central and northern mountains. Loveland, which also inaugurated Snowstang service on Saturday, received 21 inches in the previous 48 hours.
Snowstang is a service created by the Colorado Department of Transportation in conjunction with Ace Express Coaches, which provides the buses and drivers. CDOT issued a statement Sunday regarding the incident during the A-Basin Snowstang run.
“Our contracted operator disclosed that the bus driver who departed Union Station was a last-minute replacement for the originally scheduled driver and the new driver had not participated in CDOT-led preparations and was not fully aware of the required rerouting through Dillon when adverse conditions close Loveland Pass,” CDOT said. “That driver was replaced for the return trip to Denver. For future trips, additional training and retraining will be conducted with all drivers, including those who could be scheduled to operate Snowstang.”
Ace Express gave riders full refunds of their round-trip fare ($25), along with gift cards worth $25 at A-Basin. In addition, CDOT said it will issue riders $15 vouchers for future trips.
“CDOT will be meeting with the contractor early this week to further review the Saturday trip,” CDOT said, “and determine additional precautions that will be taken to ensure that their drivers are fully apprised of up-to-date information from CDOT’s maintenance and operations centers, and to reiterate expectations related to safety and reliability.”
The situation en route to A-Basin wasn’t the only delay riders experienced on that bus. Snow continued to fall throughout the day, making for exceptional skiing and riding, but it came with cold temperatures, flat light and near white-out conditions on the upper part of the mountain. Snowstang departed A-Basin just before 4:20 p.m., making its way slowly down U.S. 6 toward Silverthorne, but before it got there riders learned I-70 was closed at the Silverthorne exit because of an accident. The bus pulled into a shopping center parking lot in Dillon, where it remained for nearly two hours, finally resuming its journey at just past 7 p.m. It arrived at the Federal Center Station in Lakewood at 9:15 p.m., nearly 3½ hours past its scheduled arrival of 5:40 p.m.
