Not that there's ever a good year for driving I-70 to and from the mountains, but this seems to be an exceptionally bad one. Either the traffic is stop-and-go, cars are sliding backward on the ice coating the uphill stretch from Silverthorne to the Eisenhower Tunnel, or the road is shut down completely due to blowing snow. But fear not — there is an escape! On a good I-70 day, this alternate route would be foolish, as it adds a good hour to your drive. But on a bad day, it can save you — if you have four-wheel drive, that is — from wasting hours sitting in traffic or, worse, getting stranded. You simply go the long way. From Breckenridge, stay south on Colorado 9 and go over Hoosier Pass. Twenty-two miles later, you're in Fairplay; from there, take U.S. 285 for seventy miles north to C-470 near Morrison and you're practically home. Meanwhile, the cars you left in your dust haven't even made it to Georgetown.