CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Multiple agencies and crews continued to work Tuesday to clean up several feet of snow after an avalanche Sunday and multiple slides in the following days.
“I’m losing track of my days now, ’cause we’re so busy,” said Charlie Stubblefield, owner of the tow company Mountain Recovery.
Mountain Recovery is based in the Colorado high country. Stubblefield said they work alongside the Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol.
In the past several days, Stubblefield said all the new snow brought several extra hours of working on the roadways.
“It’s crazy with traffic,” Stubblefield said. “All the towns are gridlocked. You can’t get anywhere or anything. It’s just insanity.”
On Sunday, when 10 cars were trapped on Berthoud Pass after an avalanche, traffic everywhere else saw an increase during the typically busy Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
“It was particularly bad timing on a holiday weekend and people getting to and from Winter Park,” Stubblefield said.
Tractor plows continue to cleanup Berthoud Pass after an avalanche buried 10 cars (KDVR)
Crews work to clear Berthoud Pass after avalanche
Stubblefield took FOX31 up the still-closed pass to see the aftermath of the avalanche and multiple slides. The news crew also was able to see how hard CDOT and additional plow crews were working to get the mess cleaned up.
“That’s the weird thing about the mountains — you just chase whatever when it happens,” Stubblefield said.
FOX31 also saw Colorado Avalanche Information Center workers on the pass alongside plow tractors. The news crew also saw one controlled slide that plow drivers triggered to help move more snow out.
Stubblefield said right now, the biggest risk for more slides is in Mother Nature’s hands.
“CAIC and CDOT are watching it,” Stubblefield said. “It’s loading on mountainsides, and it’s unpredictable. We are just helpless as humans down here.”
FOX31 reached out to CDOT about when the pass is expected to reopen. As of Tuesday evening, there was still no estimated time.
