I-70 Question

[chasinbills]

I am coming to CO b/t Christmas and New Years. We will be driving to Steamboat. We are thinking about driving and RV up there. How is the pass coming into Steamboat?

Can you get an RV into there in the winter?

[sunsprit]

If you're thinking about Rabbit Ears Pass, the conditions range from pretty decent snow-packed to absolutely treacherous in a typical winter.

I've been there when just about everybody on the road was spinning out on the ice, and 20 mph in a well-equipped AWD car with studded snow tires was the limit of traction on the hills. I wouldn't want to be out there in a heavy RWD vehicle in those conditions.

So, the key to making this a manageable and safe drive for you will be the local conditions at the time you plan to do the trip. Check the weather and road reports before you leave.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by chasinbills

I am coming to CO b/t Christmas and New Years. We will be driving to Steamboat. We are thinking about driving and RV up there. How is the pass coming into Steamboat?

Can you get an RV into there in the winter?

I have a very low opinion of RV's in the mountains. They are ponderous, slow, and constantly obstruct other traffic on two-lane mountain roads. In wintertime, they have the same problem that big trucks do negotiating snowy and icy roads. Towed trailers are especially obnoxious in that situation.

I used to have to drive large trucks and towed vehicles in Colorado's mountains as part of my work. Why anyone would choose to drive a vehicle that performs similarly to those purely for PLEASURE is a follly that I will never understand.

As for coming into Steamboat from the east, any route taken (I-70 to Silverthone, CO 9 to Kremmling, US 40 to Steamboat; I-70 to Wolcott, CO 131 north; I-70 to Empire, then US 40 over Berthoud and Rabbit Ears) have relatively steep grades that will bog down most RV's. All are subject to adverse winter weather that might require CDOT to invoke the chain law, which would include a chain-up requirement for vehicle gross vehicle weights that would include an RV.

[wankel7]

Originally Posted by Charles

There is some truth to saving gas by not putting it in neutral. If you are in neutral, you car has to keep the engine running by idling it. That's gas.

Yeah, and if it is an automatic it will burn up the transmission in short order if you coast in neutral

On most fuel injected cars when you let off the gas and decelerate it cuts the fuel injectors. It may turn them back on at a lower rpm though....say less than 2000rpm.

James

[dynimagelv]

a good general rule of thumb [from the olde days of stick shift]....same gear down as you use goin up.

[suzco]

Quite the mess in the High Country since yesterday afternoon. I-70 is closed eastbound from Vail to Georgetown; westbound from Floyd Hill to Vail. Many people stayed in emergency red cross shelters. US 40 is closed. Pretty much, no getting back to Denver, Front Range from any ski areas (or getting to ski areas if you were planning on that).