Sunday's snowstorm resulted in the first major closure of the Vail Pass this season, with Interstate 70 closed for about 10 hours from about 3 p.m. into the early morning hours.

Several accidents and slips were reported, but Sgt. Patrick Rice of the Colorado State Patrol said no major injuries were reported. Rice said there were 19 calls for assistance between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, with five calls reporting property damage. Rice did not yet have data on how many tickets or heavy trucks were involved in these incidents.

A similar number of incidents were reported between 5:00 p.m. Sunday and 5:00 a.m. Monday, largely due to lower traffic volumes.

While the Colorado Department of Transportation's Vail Pass Improvement Project includes automatic closing gates at the top of the pass, these gates have not yet been installed.

In a statement, Jason Smith, Colorado Department of Transportation regional director for the Northwest, reported that crews “saw many commercial vehicles pulled out of service, vehicles struggling to climb Vail Pass and several vehicle accidents that caused traffic backups in Eastbound” in “The Narrows” segment at mile marker 186.

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As a result of these incidents, traffic authorities imposed safety closures in both directions on the pass to eliminate the incidents and allow snow plows to clear the road.

Smith's statement added that plows were on Vail Pass before and during the storm.

Although it is still early in the season, Smith added in his statement that the department had reduced its vacancy rate for plow drivers to about 10% to 12% in early October. In comparison, the vacancy rate in winter 2023/24 was 22%.

Although it was an extended highway closure, Kris Widlak, Vail's communications director, said lodging for travelers in the city would not be open Sunday evening due to a lack of demand.

The city also provided information Monday about new procedures for closing Vail Pass.

Starting this winter, the city will use Exit 180 as a traffic turnaround point for eastbound traffic. In previous years, exit 176 was the turning point. All eastbound traffic, including commercial vehicles, will be diverted to the westbound lanes.

Local traffic, including residents of the East Vail and Bald Mountain neighborhoods, will be permitted via the detour. Residents can obtain a free access sign at the Vail Police Department front desk. Commercial vehicles are encouraged to travel west to find parking. Non-commercial vehicles can use alternate routes or use city parking facilities. The Vail Village and Lionshead and Lionshead parking structures are free during the pass closure.