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Wind-generated whiteout closes I-70

Scott N. MillerVail correspondent

EAGLE COUNTY – The westbound lanes of Interstate 70 over Vail Pass were closed for nearly three hours Friday, the result of a pair of accidents.The most serious involved more than a dozen vehicles about five miles west of the top of Vail Pass. There, near the first runaway truck ramp, high winds kicked up fresh snow, creating a whiteout. Some cars slowed down, others didn’t, and a multi-car pileup was the result. Three people were taken by ambulance to Vail Valley Medical Center.The second accident was a single-car rollover on westbound I-70. Only the car was damaged in that accident.Even after the accidents were cleared, traffic moved slowly for some time due to the number of people traveling on the holiday weekend.While the westbound interstate was a mess, the rest of the valley remained relatively quiet.The emergency dispatch center in Vail reported that the number of accidents was about normal for a Friday.