Chinook Pass

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Snow blower operator works to get the pass open for the holiday weekend


Kodiak snow blower clears avalanche debris May 13



An early May storm dropped 21 inches of snow in 7 days



It takes a large dozer to clear large avalanches



Dozer breaks up underlying snow, feeds it to the blower


Kodiak snow blower clears Chinook Pass

              
View 2008 photos on flickr


For historic pass closure dates visit:
wsdot.wa.gov/winter/passdates

Chinook Pass opens May 22 at noon.

Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, Chinook Pass opens Friday, May 22 at noon.

Week of May 18
It continued to snow at Chinook Pass earlier this week. About six inches fell on Monday night and 6 to 8 more inches fell Tuesday. On Wednesday, the avalanche forecasters blasted two locations and were successful in bringing down the threatening snow. The forecast is for warmer and dryer weather, perfect conditions to open the highway for the holiday weekend.

Week of May 11
Instead of a slow and steady melt down of the snow pack, storms keep adding to the snow pack and increasing avalanche danger. Avalanche crews have a lot of work to do to bring down all of the new snow to make it safe to open Chinook Pass.

On Wednesday May 6, the maintenance crews had reached the summit parking area, and the lead dozer scratched a trail to the summit log arch bridge. Progress is good, but we should expect some set backs due to avalanche control. This has been an active weather week.

On Apr. 20, crews brought in a bull dozer, a snow blower and supplies to the usual staging areas and snow removal was started. Snow removal was halted on Apr. 21 due to rising avalanche danger.  Large avalanches were triggered by WSDOT avalanche forecasters to make the area safe for further snow removal. Cooler temperatures on Apr. 22 allowed snow removal to continue while avalanche crews brought down more snow up the road, ahead of the dozer and blower. A second dozer was brought in to help remove avalanche debris.

WSDOT closes Chinook and Cayuse Passes for the winter due to high avalanche risk and hazardous driving conditions. Both passes have numerous slide areas that pose significant danger to travelers, WSDOT maintenance crews and park staff.

The combination of avalanche danger, mountainous terrain, lack of cell phone service, inclement weather, and the low number of vehicles, make driving these passes in the winter a potentially hazardous endeavor. If someone had a problem, such as going off the road, it could be many hours, or days, before anyone could find them, which could be fatal in winter conditions.

For information on these and other mountain passes call 511 or visit:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/.

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