Katharhynn Heidelberg
MONTROSE - A treacherous mountain pass, ice, snow and a sharp curve whipped up a recipe for disaster - or for a miracle, depending on how it's viewed.
The Joe Sullivan family of Montrose, along with family friend Terry Holman and his daughter, were making a seemingly routine trip from a Durango basketball game Saturday afternoon, when, just past the snowshed, their minivan took an unexpected detour off the side of Red Mountain Pass.
Though it's been more years than I want to think about, I've travelled over Red Mountain Pass, the Million Dollar Highway, many times. It's a road that takes all a driver's concentration in good weather in the summertime. You had to be on the lookout for rocks on the road. Avalanches are a winter worry on top of snow-packed and icy surfaces. Fortunately for me, I wasn't old enough to drive, so I got to look at the awesome scenery.
"It's truly a miracle that we're all here," Linda Sullivan said Monday. "We rounded a curve and hit a patch of ice. The brakes locked up, we couldn't correct it and we went off the side of the mountain."
The van "plowed" snow, turning over "we don't know how many times," Sullivan said, before coming to rest in the river several hundred feet below.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, the Sullivan vehicle left the road at milepost 88.2 on Highway 550, approximately 6 miles outside of Ouray, according to the Colorado State Patrol. The vehicle had reportedly been traveling at approximately 10 mph in the 25 mph zone at the time.
"The roads were icy and snow packed. (Joe Sullivan) stated they lost control. There's no guardrail and they went 340 feet down the embankment, rolling multiple times," CSP Sgt. Lawrence Oletski said Monday.
This family was lucky, lucky, lucky. One of the games I used to play was to try to spot a new wreck. In those days, cars were often simply left where they came to rest after an unexpected departure from the road down the side of the mountain. I'm sure that's not the case now. It sounds like road itself has not changed much. The only places I remember seeing guardrails were lookout points where one could pull off the road to enjoy the view. Or let the engine or brakes cool off.
My scariest trip over Red Mountain was in a school bus in 1968 from Montrose to Durango for a football game. Near the summit - mile 82 - the northbound lane of the highway had simply slid down the mountain, temporarily turning it into the half a million dollar highway. All I could think about was.. um, we've got to come back this way again tomorrow!
No matter how bad Red Mountain Pass can be, at least it's paved.
Thanks to Slowplay for bringing back the memories.
