Looking for input from Coloradans re: Route options Denver ->Wolf Creek in a snwostorm...

So News:  The wife and I are taking a vacation to ski for a couple weeks at Wolf Creek. 

The Good News:  It's currently under blizzard warning until Wednesday so the skiing should be top notch. 

The Not-so-Good news:  We have to drive there Wednesday from Denver.  

I'm thinking of just taking I-25 south through Peublo and cutting West on 160, which adds about 40mins to the trip, but is only 1 high mtn pass as opposed to 4 going through South Park and Buena Vista.  

Is this the safe bet?  I've never been out that way, I assume there are at least some highway hotels around the 25/160 junction we could emergency crash in if the pass closes, right? 

Any local input would be appreciated.  We've done the 4 pass route before and I remember it being a little hairy in some unexpected snow.  Just trying to reduce as much stress as possible considering we are taking a 4 hour flight in that morning and then have to drive 5hrs to the cabin, with a 2 year old... 

Good thing is Colorado has a pretty decent highway camera system that you can access at Cotrips.org With that you can get an idea what the real road conditions are. There are a decent amount of cameras on both routes. 

Typically 160 is a little better than the high rockies (285 or I70) just because it's usually a bit warmer there. It's been a little bit since I've been down 160 but I don't remember too many hotels outside the cities like Alamosa 

Do you have snow tires?  If you don't please don't drive in a snow storm to Wolf Creek.  The main highways will be taken well care of, so I-70 or I-25, but they do still close I-70 over the passes regularly during storms.  So check out Cotrips.org and watch the conditions carefully, potentially delaying your journey...

Straight down the gun barrel is usually OK. At least, safer than most.

We are renting an Expedition off of Turo that has DuraTracs on it, so we should be okay on that front.  I'm a New Englander, so I'm used to driving in snow, I just am more concerned for road shutdowns and the like.  Our house is before Wolf Creek Pass, so we won't have to actually ever go up/over- just get to the ski area, which is on our side... It's just the one pass on 160 that I'm more leery of, La Veta Pass.  And yes, if conditions are just a straight up bleep show, we will find a Hampton inn somewhere and just wait it out.  I'm definitely not reckless. 

The Cotrip suggestion is great, I assume they update that with closures in near real-time...?  

COtrip is actually run by CDOT, so it's usually quite timely. Lag time is minutes. For those going to Utah, there's a good app for their roads as well - the UT one even has a road forecast.

Note that Colorado does have laws about tire requirements in the winter, the State Patrol is tired of people blocking the road. New England residency is not a waiver :) Sounds like you'll be okay, that's an FYI. Might want to confirm tread depth with your Turo renter.
https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/tractionlaw

Storm is rolling in now from the looks of things outside.

Keith Tanner said:

COtrip is actually run by CDOT, so it's usually quite timely. Lag time is minutes. For those going to Utah, there's a good app for their roads as well - the UT one even has a road forecast.

Note that Colorado does have laws about tire requirements in the winter, the State Patrol is tired of people blocking the road. New England residency is not a waiver :) Sounds like you'll be okay, that's an FYI. Might want to confirm tread depth with your Turo renter.
https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/tractionlaw

Storm is rolling in now from the looks of things outside.

Thank you for your input!  Hoping we are on the back end of it, but we will soon find out I suppose, haha!

They have a winter storm warning and are saying that area could get a few feet of snow.  Check the cotrip several times on your trip, it's extremely possible for them to shut down multiple passes or the Interstate...

docwyte said:

They have a winter storm warning and are saying that area could get a few feet of snow.  Check the cotrip several times on your trip, it's extremely possible for them to shut down multiple passes or the Interstate...

Yeah I see that for sure.  We are going to try and get to Pueblo and make a determination from there.  I would Assume I-25 doesn't shut down- it's just more the passes, right? 

In reply to golfduke :

I-25 shuts down all the time. You just have to watch out and stay up to date on the conditions.

Although it doesn't look like much, the pass between Denver and CO. Springs gets really dicey and with the construction still going on there, there has been multiple car pileups pretty consistently. 

Yeah, Monument Hill is always a mess and the construction doesn't help any.  I'm heading up I-70 after dinner tonight with my son, my friend and his sons to go to Vail