RIVERSIDE - The freeway between the Inland Empire and Las Vegas was closed to traffic northeast of Barstow today.

Beginning at 6 a.m., cars began crashing on Interstate 15 at Mountain Pass, about 35 miles west of the Nevada state line.

Gates were closed and CHP officers are standing guard on the Nevada- bound freeway east of Baker, officers reported.

There was no word on whether the Nevada Highway Patrol was stopping cars at the California line.

North of Los Angeles, the Golden State (5) Freeway had been closed Friday night, when cars began slipping. But Caltrans crews cleared the road and reopened it at 12:45 a.m.