Wolf Creek Ski Area crews join CDOT's race to reconnect Southwest Colorado after historic floods

What should have been the start of another ski season at Colorado's Wolf Creek Ski Area instead became an all-hands emergency response.

The ski area in southwest Colorado opened for the season on Oct. 31. The next day, historic flooding tore through parts of the region — washing out highways, triggering rock and mudslides and cutting off communities that have spent more than a week navigating lengthy detours.

Now, as winter approaches, the Colorado Department of Transportation is working around the clock to restore mobility and access. Officials said Tuesday the hope is to reopen parts of U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass to limited traffic as early as this weekend.

"In some places we have 6 to 8 feet of rocks, mud, debris on the highway that crews have been working on getting rid of," Julie Constan, CDOT's southwest regional transportation director, said. "Some of those locations are a couple hundred feet long." 

For drivers, those numbers help explain why restoring travel through the mountain corridor has been such a massive challenge. For local businesses, the closure has also brought major economic consequences.

Davey Pitcher, CEO of Wolf Creek Ski Area, told CBS Colorado the closure has effectively halted operations. He said many employees have spent the past several days helping CDOT with recovery work.

"Our focus has been working with CDOT on getting the water off the road. The culvert systems were overwhelmed," Pitcher said. 

As an equipment operator himself, Pitcher said seeing the devastation firsthand was shocking.

"I went down and took a look and was mortified," he said.

The resort's heavy equipment and skilled workforce quickly became part of the recovery effort.

"Using our heavy haul equipment to remove somewhere around 20,000 tons of mud that was blocking both lanes, all three lanes of the road," Pitcher said.

The work hasn't gone unnoticed by transportation officials.

Constan praised the ski area's response, noting that Pitcher "mobilized some of his crews out there to start removing material and debris. It's been a huge effort, but the ski area has definitely been a part of that."

The cleanup continues to be extensive. Pitcher said crews are still hauling large boulders and rockfall more than a week later.

"We've come up with a ton of rock that's cascaded off the mountain, big giant boulders, and we're constantly loading them on these trucks that are going to priorities that CDOT have," he said. 

Despite the challenges, CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said progress is being made. She explained the Federal Highway Administration's emergency funding, known as "quick release" dollars, has already been committed to the project, along with state transportation funding. That's why, she added, resources are not a barrier to completing the projects.

"Our highest priority right now is to get the temporary repairs in place so that folks across southwest Colorado have full mobility in the winter," Lew said.

CDOT's goal is to open Wolf Creek Pass to limited traffic with alternating one-lane operations in damaged areas. Officials also expect Colorado Highway 151 to reopen before Thanksgiving, restoring another route between Pagosa Springs and Durango. Meanwhile, work is underway to replace the washed-out bridge over the Piedra River on U.S. 160, where officials currently estimate a temporary bridge could be installed sometime in January.

For Pitcher, the recovery effort is about more than reopening a ski resort and getting his staff of 400 people back on the job; it's about helping the entire region get back on its feet.

"We're hoping to get open and get rolling and build everybody's confidence not only in the ski area, but in the highway systems," he said. 

For information on the latest projects and road closures, visit: https://www.codot.gov/projects.