A look back at the cut carved on SR 123, about a mile from the summit of Cayuse. Crews start by cutting a single path through a section and then go back and keep widening it until it's a two lane highway.
Maintenance technician Don Pratt is dwarfed by the giant snowblower he uses to cut a path across Cayuse Pass.
A look down SR 123 with the snowblower and a loader in the distance. The two work closely together. The loader pushes snow off and to the snowblower which blasts it off to the side of the road.
The clearing crew encounters plenty of avalanches during the clearing. Here the loader and a snowblower are ready to tackle cleanup. Clearing avalanches can take a long time. There is lots of debris like trees and rocks to be pushed aside.
This avalanche across SR 410 just above the Sunrise cut off was quite deep and filled with lots of debris including large and mangled trees. Clearing avalanches is part of clearing the pass, but it takes a lot of effort.
The snowblower shoots snow over the edge about a quarter-mile from the summit of Cayuse. The bulldozer works with the snowblower. It will either push snow off the edge or push snow toward the blower in areas where it's just too deep for the blower.