As of Aug. 24, there are now four deaths on U.S. Highway 550 Northbound from Silverton heading toward Ouray, and Colona.
On Saturday, a 65-year-old woman, a resident of Mountain Village and Phoenix, died from a motorcycle crash that happened near mile marker 90 (Bear Creek) on Red Mountain Pass just south of the town of Ouray.
Ouray County Coroner Glen Boyd identified the victim as Olga Kramar.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the family, friends, and loved ones of Mrs. Kramar during this profoundly difficult time,” he said.
The cause of death remains under investigation by the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office.
At 7:25 a.m. Aug. 5, there was a rollover accident off the cliffside of Red Mountain Pass near Ruby Walls and just south of Ouray. The vehicle rolled 320 feet down the mountain side and landed in the river on its roof near mile marker 88.
The driver of the Honda Civic, 42-year-old Louis Michael of Farmington and passenger 79-year-old Leoba Valdez of Aztec died in the accident, but a female juvenile passenger survived and was transported to the hospital because of serious injuries. The juvenile’s status is currently unknown.
That accident closed Red Mountain Pass to traffic for more than 18 hours and it did not reopen till 1:30 a.m. Wednesday because of the difficult terrain for retrieving the victims and vehicle out of the canyon bed.
The driver attempted to turn around on the cliffside shelf road in a tight space on the highway and the back tires went over the cliff, according to Colorado State Patrol. Members of the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team were able to rappel down the cliffside to recover the lone survivor before the two victims were retrieved. The rescue operation took more than four hours, which added to the long closure of the highway.
The next day, Aug. 6, there was a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 550 just south of Montrose near Colona, and the female driver of a Dodge Caravan was killed and the passenger was seriously injured near mile marker 114.
CSP reported that the collision between the Caravan and a white Ram 1500 happened around 9 a.m. and the driver of Caravan was dead on arrival, while the two passengers of the Ram truck were reported to be uninjured.
On Aug. 7, there was another report of a vehicle over the edge on Red Mountain Pass near Bear Creek, but only minor injuries were reported.
This number of fatal accidents in such a brief period of time is unusual for this section of Red Mountain Pass, and all seemed to be during the morning commute time. Drivers are reminded to be cautious whenever traveling over mountain passes.
