How early to miss the I70 skiers (Loveland, Montrose: cost, golf)

[golfgod]

I'm (probably) going to drive from Loveland to Telluride in a couple of weeks. How early do I need to be on I70 to be ahead of the early Saturday morning skiers?

Thanks

golfgod

[tfox]

The lifts start running at 8am, but the serious skiiers like to be at the resorts there early (7:30am). So, you really need to be past Vail by 7:00am or 7:30am at the latest to completely avoid it. Being on I-70 in the foothills at 5am is probably earlier than you'd need to do, but 6am is definitely in the thick of things, and by 7am, forget it (if you run that late, might as well wait until around 11am). I'd leave as early as you absolutely can. If you run behind schedule it could cost you hours of lost time.

[suzco]

You can also avoid most of I-70, if you want. You take 285 and 50 to Montrose; from there it's the same.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by suzco

You can also avoid most of I-70, if you want. You take 285 and 50 to Montrose; from there it's the same.

I second that one. Leave I-70 to the fools.