There are no silver bullets. No car-sized teleporters, either — at least not yet. Sometimes, Interstate 70 through the Colorado mountains in the winter is just a painful, unending, unavoidable slog. But several tricks can minimize the pain. Strategizing is key, a point that’s been driven home this season as heavier-than-average snowfall has drawn hordes up the hill earlier than usual. “There have been weekends already in December that have had delays where there were no delays in past years,” said Margaret Bowes, who, in her work as director of the I-70 Coalition, analyzes traffic data to prepare weekend travel forecasts. The first thing to know: traffic patterns Once ski and snowboarding season is in full swing — usually from mid-December through April — the patterns get pretty set: Expect some congestion heading out of Denver on Friday night, and then a round of heavier westbound traffic starting around dawn Saturday morning, with less on Sunday mornings. The worst eastbound backups, meanwhile, tend to happen on Sundays, building from late morning through early evening, as both day-trippers and weekend travelers crowd I-70 on their way back to Denver.