 The pass is closed during the winter months, isolating Aspen from the east and making Highway 82 the only way to reach the popular ski resort town by road.A private foundation has worked with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which maintains the road, to undo environmental damage to the alpine tundra created when a disused stagecoach route built across the pass during the Colorado Silver Boom of the 1880s became Highway 82 in the early 20th century.West of Aspen the highway follows the route of an early Colorado Midland Railroad route from the city to Glenwood Springs.