No injuries in Sunday bus accident on Gothic Road

Fish Bus takes the hit

A Mountain Express bus slid off Gothic Road Sunday afternoon and landed on the Mt. Crested Butte Recreation Path just south of the sewer plant. No one was injured, but the “Fish Bus” ended up with some broken windows, a few dents and a trip to the shop. The last time a Mountain Express drove off the road was in 1981.

Mountain Express director Chris Larsen said the 2:45 p.m. bus was heading up to Mountaineer Square from Crested Butte on December 13, when it encountered whiteout conditions during Sunday’s storm.
“Thank goodness it was late in the day and there weren’t a lot of people on the bus heading to the mountain,” said Larsen.
No official passenger count had been conducted but no more than eight passengers were on the bus along with the driver, 25-year Mountain Express veteran Vinnie Rossignol.
“He was heading down on the hill after the Washington Gulch turn-off when the bus went into a white-out,” said Larsen. “He said he couldn’t see a thing and he drifted off to the right, got caught in the shoulder and the bus slowly moved down the embankment and turned on its side. It happened so slowly that everyone had a chance to grab onto something. The bus fell on its side and stopped on the Rec Path.”
Rossignol was suspended by his seatbelt in his seat. He asked if all the passengers were okay and everyone responded that they were fine. The passengers opened an emergency window exit and got out of the bus, along with the driver.
Larsen said there was a backup bus running behind the Fish Bus and it stopped at the scene of the accident. The passengers got on that vehicle and were driven to Mountaineer Square.
Colorado State Trooper Amy Engleman said the bus went 90 feet from the shoulder of the road to where it stopped on its side. “I estimated the bus was traveling at about 25 miles per hour, which was well under the speed limit,” Engleman explained. “I’m just glad everyone was okay.”
Engleman cited Rossignol for “Improper Mountain Driving.”
Gothic Road was closed for about an hour around 5 p.m., when two tow trucks extracted the vehicle from the Rec Path. The bus was then hauled to the repair shop in Crested Butte.
“It has been a long time since the Mountain Express had an accident like this,” said Larsen. “We have a great safety record because of our great drivers and as everyone knows, it’s not always easy driving every day in these road conditions.”