Looking at a surprise trip for the bride in tahoe for the big 40. Going to stay in south lake tahoe and probably ski Sierra as she has never been skiing before. I'd like to do heavenly, but I'm worried there wouldn't be many runs for her and we'll only be there for a couple days before we go down to lodi

18 inches at Snowmass Friday-Saturday.

My wife and I are heading to Creede over New Years and were planning to fly into Durango, Alamosa, or Gunnison. We'd rent a car from there and drive to Creede. I see the drive is the shortest from Alamosa but was curious about how dangerous those roads were during the winter? I haven't driven in snow often and it's been a few years. We'd like to maybe spend a day or two in CB if we fly into Gunnison but the roads have us worried.

Do you have a preference between Timberline and Meadows?

rak1693 said:

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My wife and I are heading to Creede over New Years and were planning to fly into Durango, Alamosa, or Gunnison. We'd rent a car from there and drive to Creede. I see the drive is the shortest from Alamosa but was curious about how dangerous those roads were during the winter? I haven't driven in snow often and it's been a few years. We'd like to maybe spend a day or two in CB if we fly into Gunnison but the roads have us worried.

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Why Creede for New Years? The short answer on snow is "it depends". I would definitely want an AWD or 4x4 rental for that time of year and locations

The house we rented is on some land and we'll make a trip or two to Wolf Creek. Not my preference but the in-laws are paying for the house so it'll serve as a getaway if nothing else. I didn't know if any of the roads were very windey or driving along a cliff though? I know the snow amount is anyone's guess

rak1693 said:

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The house we rented is on some land and we'll make a trip or two to Wolf Creek. Not my preference but the in-laws are paying for the house so it'll serve as a getaway if nothing else. I didn't know if any of the roads were very windey or driving along a cliff though? I know the snow amount is anyone's guess

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Gotcha- definitely get a capable vehicle for this trip! The road from Creede to South Fork is definitely windy and parallels the Rio Grande. From there, you will head west on Hwy 160 through a narrow canyon following another river. The canyon doesn't get much sun and eventually climbs up to Wolf Creek. I'm would expect snow and ice this time of year…. (FYI- I live in Durango and know these roads well).

We stayed in Southfork Christmas 2021 and skiied 3 days at Wolf Creek. The road to Southfork to Wolf Creek is excellent. I had no problems. It snowed 14" the night before our last day of skiing (and 9" while we were skiing) and our Honda Pilot AWD did great both ways (maybe 1 wiggle). Cars without 4WD/AWD/Chains were struggling. The road was maintained as good as possible. No big dropoffs on the Southfork side of the pass (I don't think). If I remember correctly from Pagosa trips, there are big cliffs on the other side.

I don't remember the road to Creede as a difficult drive (could be wrong there).

Also - a snowmobile tour is INCREDIBLE up there!

Have fun!

Wes '87

Really appreciate the input! How is the road from Creede to Gunnison?

Hou-Ag said:

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Going to Red River, NM mid December. First time skiing for all of my family except me. Have heard RR is not overly expensive or very crowded.

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We have a house in Red River and I grew up skiing RR, it is a great place for beginners. Mid-December is a great time to go, it shouldnt be too crowded.

Short answer: it depends.

Going from Crede to anywhere in the high country will be a total crap shoot. You may have no issues or you may be snowed in with no ability to leave. Thats unfortunately the way it works during snow season when driving anywhere up into the mountains.

You will want a 4WD car to avoid getting a traction law citation if they go into effect while you're there.

Edited to add: the worst day to drive isn't usually the day of the storm. It's the night and morning after once the snow melts and the pancake refreeze happens. That's when you can really really harsh your mellow dramatically. Once you get about 2 inches of snow, it actually helps the traction. Less than 2 or refreeze the next day and it can be bumper cars.

You should also know that district of CDOT currently has one plow worker. They're trying to get more, but they don't pay enough to make it feasible.

Last year steamboat had 1 plow driver through Feb and it was a mess.

The counties all do it differently, but usually interstates come first and then state highways and then local and county roads. That's why you can be on a great road for 10 miles and then have it turn to complete ***** Some counties are great and others are not so great.

Ok this sounds weird but make sure you can get to the road from your place if it snows. I've been stuck in Alma before because the roads were cleared but the driveway to the road had 12-20 inches of fresh and wasn't driveable. Sounds weird but it happens a lot if you can't plow the driveway or you're staying at an Airbnb etc. They don't usually plow any driveways etc so make sure you have a way to get out if it does dump.

And the road from Crede to Gunnison SH149 has several spots that will catch you because they NEVER catch sun. They stay icy almost the entire duration of the winter because they don't catch sun. They "melt" during the day and then It's just metcholride mixed with refreeze that pancakes once the sun sets.

Thank you for your input! It's all great things to consider. I'll be on the lookout for some 4x4 vehicles to rent.

Going to Crested Butte the week before President's Day (Feb 11-15).

We typically fly into GUC but are thinking about driving this year.

Can anybody share any insight on the drive from Dallas to CB? Is it relatively tame or does it tend to get dicey at that time of year? We would be in a 2018 Expedition 4x4.

If you can fly I would but we drive all over the high country without issues. No telling if you'll be able to get there if it's snowing though. That's usually the snowiest time of the season (mid January to mid March). Flying in would be the safe bet but that's your call.

Your biggest obstacle will be Monarch pass outside of Maysville. Otherwise it's SH 50 to 135.

Do you happen to get any discounts on travel ski bags? Looking for a good double bag with wheels. I like the DB bags but that's a bit high dollar.

Let me check - any brand you're looking for?

I have a cabin just south of Creede and the road is rarely impassable for more than a few hours in winter. If you're curious/desperate to leave there is a CDOT website you can find that will show you the actual position of the working snow plows. Alamosa is a pretty reliable airport and definitely first choice if going to Creede. I'm not sure about the availability of rental cars. Second choice would be Durango airport but that's a long boring drive. The road from Creede to Gunnison is long and lonely in winter and goes over Slumgullion pass but is plowed regularly. Can't imagine driving there from Creede just for fun but it shouldn't be a problem. Agree with Panda on the driveway clearing. That's what gets us snowed in. Wolf Creek is about a 40 minute drive along the Rio Grande and the scenery is hard to beat.

Can't you pay the guys that plow the roads to plow your driveway too?

CDOT only plows the interstate and the SHs. The individual municipalities do everything else. Some will let you pay to plow but most no longer offer that service due to the liability and lack of plow drivers statewide.

Sooo, you're more likely to get plowed in than plowed out. The city will plow up to the property line but that may include covering your driveway exit w a 6ft snow bank. That's why so many rural areas have either a heated driveway ;whole thing or where the driveway connect to the road to mitigate a massive ice damn building up from the city plows) or snow blowers or ATV/Rangers or a Jeep/Truck w a hydraulic plow or combo.

Most private snow removal companies are contracted by the HOA or homeowner before the season and charge a ton. For that reason, I'd bet money that the place the above poster is renting doesn't have a contracted snow removal company. The cost of the snow removal would dwarf the earnings they would make on the rental unless it's a big boy rental that costs a ton a night in which case it'd probs have a heated driveway. Our contracted snow removal bills run in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands depending on the winter.

Edited to add: CDOT pays their plow drivers about $22/hr. Most municipalities pay less. My friends that contract out our snow removal charge anywhere from $150-$250 hr plus travel plus extra for more than more laborer. That makes it hard for CDOT and the municipalities to find anyone to work for them unless they need employee or assisted housing. That's really the only draw to working for CDOT: employee discounted housing

AND most of the CDOT drivers second jobs are private snow removal contracting since they already have the tools. That means they usually clean the hand that feeds them most first. That may mean the local municipality snow plowed doesn't start working for the municipality until they have cleared all of their private work. That can push municipality roads into some harry territory if you catch a couple of rollers back to back.

Oh yeah - and for most municipalities, no plowing occurs between either 10/11pm to 6/7am. If it's CDOT, they will clear one lane intermittently, but that doesn't mean it's cleared, it's just less crappy. Normally you need to wait until about 8am for the metchloride trucks to rumble through before you see any tangible difference in road conditions. A plow running over an area that hasn't had metchloride dropped yet makes the road SUPER slick.

Yeah I wasn't talking about the CDOT - but the local guys that plow more residential areas. One of the reasons I'm asking is we just bought some land in Ridgway and trying to figure out how this is going to work. Our HOA plows the road - and my understanding is will plow the driveways too if you pay em. We're going to have a pretty long road to our build site so definitely aren't heating the whole thing, if we heat any of it.

We just sold our place in Ridgway. If the HOA is paying, I'd check with them, but they usually include driveways. We were in the city of Ridgway off Marion Overlook and backed up to the middle school. So, we never had an issue.

If you want any vendor recommendations please lmk

We're up on Log Hill Mesa. Any familiarity with any of the builders/contractors there? Dickerson in particular? Any others?

Thanks for the info JP.

Great to hear!. We are looking forward to our visit there.

Somewhat on topic I was looking at snow chains on amazon (used the below last year to get back to the town of Taos from the ski resort one day after it absolutely dumped on us while skiing).

Anyone have experience with snow socks like second link below? Never heard of these before I was amazon shopping yesterday and they popped up.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B73ZLG77/?coliid=I18D0XTX1VKI2V&colid=GGN764OV768Q&psc=0&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_lstpd_3SBADBWGFFCP4SQ8AV95

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BH7KFYBG/?coliid=I3QSJE4IMF8748&colid=GGN764OV768Q&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_lstpd_3P2SY1D8C0H8QQFDCYZ4

Snow socks work very well. Much easier to get on than chains and a lot better for your vehicle.

Glad to hear that. I was hoping that was the case! Those chains were a real ***** to put on and at least one broke and was left on the side of the highway.

Good reminder I need to find a new set of chains...

Situationally, the socks are maybe not the best option for driving on gravel/rock but if you're just needing them for getting over highway passes, probably not a concern.

What kind of snowfalls require chains up there? As a Minnesota resident just curious.

From CDOT:

A chain law restriction for vehicles weighing less than 16,001 poundsincluding passenger vehicles, crossovers, SUVs and small truckscan be put into effect in Colorado at any time when weather conditions are severe, primarily on roadways with significant ascending and descending grades.

CREAg87 said:

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Do you have a preference between Timberline and Meadows?

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We season pass at Meadows. Larger, better side-country, and there's a hero route to avoid traffic; 84 to Hood River and south on 35 to Hood River Meadows parking lot - door to lift in an hour any day of the week. I'd rather die than fight Govy/T-line/main Meadows traffic on a weekend.