PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. — Castle Creek Road in Pitkin County is back open after an avalanche there shut down the road Saturday morning.
According to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, Castle Creek Road was shut down at South Hayden Road early this morning at mile marker 4 in both directions because of a slide.
Officials asked that the public make no attempts to cross the slide path as crews diligently worked to open the road for motorists into Saturday evening.
As of 11:30 a.m., one lane of Castle Creek Road was opened but only for fire, law enforcement and emergency services. The road was fully reopened by 8 p.m.
According to a release from the Pitkin County Incident Management Team, a helicopter crew dropped ten 15-pound charges to provide controlled releases Saturday afternoon. No additional avalanches were triggered, however.
Crews were also working on a power outage caused by downed power lines on Conundrum Road Saturday afternoon, but they were unable to fix it. Repair work will resume Sunday.
At 6:30 a.m., CAIC issued an Avalanche Warning for the Front Range, Vail and Summit County, Sawatch, Aspen, Gunnison, Grand Mesa and North San Juan zones. CAIC blamed the heavy Friday snowfall on and harsh Saturday winds for creating such dangerous avalanche conditions.
There have been two more avalanches reported Saturday morning that are affecting traffic. An avalanche near Twin Lakes in Lake County has shut down U.S. 82 through there at mile marker 77 until further notice. No people were hurt and no property was damaged, according to emergency officials there. Only local traffic is being allowed through. That slide would have buried anything not six feet tall.
Another avalanche - this time in Hinsdale County - was also reported Saturday. Though this slide happened sometime Friday night, the slide happened along Colorado Highway 149 near Lake City. No people or property was damaged. This avalanche was 20 feet deep, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
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