towns closest to wolf creek ski... (Durango, Salida: ski resort, real estate, apartment)

[njstinks0622]

If I were looking to move near wolf creek pass ski resort. Where could I look for housing? I know Pagosa Springs is near but it's a hike up the mountain right? Probably looking for some kind of cabin.

[jazzlover]

That would be either Pagosa Springs on the west or South Fork on the east, both an arduous drive up the pass when winter weather is bad--which is frequently the case on that road. Both towns have relatively expensive real estate, and very few jobs available at much more than minimum wage. Bring a lot of money with you.

[borborygmi]

Wolf Creek Pass is one of the most beautiful- and harrowing- stretches of road in the lower 48, from either direction. That road darn near twists itself into a pretzel approaching from the west. To echo Jazzlover's sentiments, when conditions are adverse, which is often during the winter months, commuting from either side isn't much fun. If you drive it, my recommendation: use 4 wheel drive if it's at all slick, 2 hands on the wheel at all times and don't get hypnotized by the scenery.

[njstinks0622]

thanks... well i found a little 1 bedroom cabin for 450 a month including utilities... i technically could pay that off in one shot if i saved a few months... then working at wolf creek ski would be another option because thats what i would do for work... i could only imagine the drive but 4x4 would probably do it... that would be quite an adventure!!!

[Coloradoan]

Many of the workers at Wolf Creek car pool together from Pagosa. 4x4 definitely recommended for the winter months. If the roads are extremely bad, or if there are avalanche warnings they will close the pass (usually on the Pagosa side). This happens at least a couple of times during the winter.

[SheridanL]

Jazz is correct as usual ( if he says it's a little scary (my word) you can bet he's not joking!!!!!!!!!
Borbor......you crack me up!! Don't get hypnotized...how funny is that statement?!! True, so true!HA!!

Drive slow and PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that soooooo many people get a little,..how should I say, "pi$$y about slow drivers but really..during the winter with slick and white conditions, better later than never!!! Pretzel roads as Borbor says can be very daunting......and don't even think about changing radio stations whilst driving!!!!! Focus on the road!!!!
If you're not prone to "cabin fever" or don't mind being a little isolated in the winter...then I would see if it would be your kind of lifestyle...you are renting that cabin, right?? Go for it, then write a book!!!

[DOUBLE H]

I am thankful that Nielson construction has done some improvements to it over the last several years. But it still is one dangerous road. You cannot take your eyes off that road for a second.

I worked seasonal construction for the Forest Service in the late 60's. I'll never forget the huge sign over one of the hairpin curves on the Pagosa side of the pass; "Motorists! Many lives have been lost on this curve. Please be careful driving." I asked one of the Forest Service mechanics at the Durango garage (across the tracks near Safeway on the 550 bypass), about that sign and what prompted the state highway deapartment to put it there. He told me many years ago a passenger bus filled with tourists went off that switchback. "It was just a real ugly scene", he said. This was in 1968.

[njstinks0622]

hahaha i love sheridian's "write a book"... i probably would... id definitely have the right idea with going out there and getting away for a year and taking a breather from this fast paced life of mine... what about pagosa springs.... weatherbase says they average just over 100 inches of snow a year where wolf creek pass gets over 300... and as of now they have over 300 inches and theres at least 2 solid months of winter... im guessing winters in pasoga get a little more snow than an average of 100 inches a year huh?

[Coloradoan]

Gee, thanks Double H for that tidbit of information about the bus.........

Our kids in Pagosa that play high school sports go over the pass many, many times during the school year and often during adverse weather conditions. The teams they play on the east side of the pass range from Del Norte to Salida and everything in between. They will often leave from Pagosa on a nice afternoon for a game on the other side of the pass and will come back into town around 11pm during a raging snow storm. It's a HUGE relief as a parent to finally see the school bus pull up to the school, especially knowing what that driver just had to go through to get over the pass with a bus load full of kids.

I have to give a lot of credit to CDOT also. They do a very good job of keeping the road as clear as they can. The tunnel they built a few years ago has helped a lot too.

[jazzlover]

On my first trip over Wolf Creek Pass back in the mid-1960's, I arrived on the scene just minutes after a runaway semi had plunged over the cliff on one of the hairpin curves. The driver was a very experienced trucker who had driven the road hundreds of times. So, when he lost his brakes at about 25 mph, he knew right then that he had a runaway. He unloaded out of the truck before it went over the side--getting a few broken bones and road rash on about half his body. It was still a wise choice. There literally was nothing recognizable about the semi after the accident. Had he stayed with the truck, he would have been killed for sure. Somewhere in my old pictures, I have some Brownie snapshots of the wreck. Years later, singer C. W. McCall wrote a song about trucking over Wolf Creek Pass--people thought the song was funny, but the subject was really dead serious.

A few years later, when I was attending college in Gunnison (September, 1971), the local football team was riding over Monarch Pass in a school bus that ran away--most of the team was killed in the wreck. I still remember the memorial service held in the college auditorium a few days after. A whole town was in mourning. I can still point out the exact spot the bus left the road on US 50 at the small settlement of Garfield.

I figure I've got close to three-quarters of a million miles of driving in my driving career, probably close to half of that in the mountains of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. I've been lucky and never had a major accident or other tragedy in that time, but I've seen plenty of stuff happen that I would just as soon forget. One thing I DON'T forget is that the mountains, as beautiful as they are, have very real and inherent dangers that can snuff the life right out of the foolhardy or very unlucky. Unfortunately, with all of the growth we have had--including the influx of people ignorant of those dangers--the mountain roads of Colorado are increasingly populated by drivers who lack the respect for mountain driving hazards that they should have. It's bad enough when their folly get them maimed or killed, but they usually manage to also take somebody innocent with them when they do it.