Current North Cascades Highway Conditions

[Dan_Miller]

From WADOT 11:00a 12/02/08:

 

Hi all,

 

Dustin and I have been getting calls and e mails asking about the status of the North Cascades - It's still open.

 

Before Thanksgiving, the tall (6 to 8,000 foot starting zone) avalanche chutes were about halfway to where they'd need to be to cause a threat and we haven't gotten much more snow (6 to 10,000 feet) over the last week. The forecast doesn't call for much more for the rest of the week, so until we get some "winter" it's going to continue as it has - crews plowing, etc. as needed. Our forecaster says Washington Pass ought to get another 2-3 inches between now and Thursday, which isn't real "threatening". Here's the most recent forecast from mid morning:

 

"Weather as of 1030 Tue was not looking too bad, with Washington pass area flurries and light snow showers. However, some concerns exist. New info suggesting a broken up array of scattered light and short term shower threats sweeping N to S through the area later today into early evening followed by N to S area clearing. A breezy N wind picks up overnight, but a light freeze will occur too. Basically, anything still damp by 9 p.m. is a black ice threat. Basically, if we get the evening showers, then the freeze will follow by midnight. Wed through Fri is dry, with cooler overnight temps and increasing frost."

 

Remember that the traditional closure dates are between Thanksgiving week and the 2nd week of December. One substantial storm is really all that is needed to fill those chutes and cause the avalanches that will close it for the season - and it's very likely to happen over the next two or three weeks, but who knows? We have around 14" to 16" of snow on the ground at the summit. A General rule for avalanche danger that closes the highway is 24" to 36" of snow coupled with some additional trigger, i.e. rain or more snow or a big temperature change.

 

When the season closure comes, it usually happens fast, so if you're planning a trip, check the pass report and the web page (www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/northcascades/) before you leave or call 5-1-1. Washington and Rainy are a thousand feet higher than Stevens and two thousand higher than Snoqualmie, so they often get snow when the others are getting rain.

 

I'll send out one of these e mails when the closure comes or if there's something going on up there that prompts one sooner than that.

 

Jeff

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

From Jeff Adamson at WSDOT, 12/10/08:

 

Hi all,

Here's the text of the news release I just sent posted: WENATCHEE - A weekend forecast for 1-1/2 to 3-feet of snow, high winds and much colder temperatures beginning Friday has prompted the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to temporarily close the North Cascades Highway at 7 p.m. Thursday night, December 11th. Twisp Maintenance Supervisor Don Becker says, "Avalanche chutes can fill and release in as few as 20 minutes under the right conditions which is faster than we can react to keep motorists or our crews safe. We don't want to risk back country recreationists getting caught in a potentially dangerous storm event either. We'll go back in on Monday and evaluate conditions for reopening."

 

Becker says crews will check all the parking areas between the two closure gates to "make sure everyone is out." While the storm front isn't expected to bring the heavy snow until Friday afternoon, "Having the gates closed Thursday night will keep anyone who didn't get the word from getting up there and caught in the weather event that's coming."

 

Four inches of new snow fell overnight. "Rainy and Washington passes are 1,000 feet higher than Stevens and 2,000 higher than Snoqualmie so typically, they get more snow, sooner and it's colder," according to NCRegion Avalanche technician Mike Stanford. The key to reopening is stability of the snow in the chutes and that will depend on how much snow comes down and the temperature. Stanford says, "By Monday, we could be looking at avalanche chutes with firm and stable snow or dangerous layers of unstable snow." If it can be reopened, it will likely take crews a day or more to clear the roadway for traffic.

 

SR 20 is gated closed between milepost 134, seven miles east of Diablo Dam on the west side of 4,855' Rainy Pass and milepost 171, nine miles west of Mazama on the east side of 5,477' Washington Pass.

 

The North Cascades Highway usually closes between Thanksgiving week and mid December, re-opening in late April or early May. The highway closed last winter on December 4th and reopened last spring, on May 1st.

 

Visit the North Cascades Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/northcascades that includes the opening and closing dates since the highway first opened in 1972.

 

PS: I'm trying to get a picture of the new snow from our avalanche or maintenance folks, and if successful, I'll get it posted on the the WSDOT FlickR site (the post Thanksgiving picture we posted got better than a thousand hits!) I know this is a disappointment for those of you who were planning on cross country skiing this weekend, but we can't risk having drivers stuck up there between a pair of snowslides this weekend. If the cold temps on Monday stabilize things - it's still going to take a day or so to plow it all and reopen - so don't plan on using the highway again until sometime Tuesday, if it can be reopened.

 

I still don't quite know how I managed it - but the news release version I sent to you said 7 p.m. tomorrow was the closure time. It's not - the closure time was extended to midnight and the news release was changed before it was posted. Somehow, I managed to paste an early "draft" version of the news release in my e mail to you. Sorry to clutter your in box with a revision - but those 5 hours could be important to some of you. Again, my apologies - I'll proofread my messages more closely next time.Jeff

 

 

Jeff

 

[eldiente]

Thanks for the update! It is very kind of you to post this info on CC. Keep up the good work!

 

-Nate

[Dan_Miller]

From WSDOT's Jeff Adamson 12:43p, 12/15/08:

 

Hi all,

We got 14" of new snow (bringing the roadside total between Rainy and Washington passes to 30"), but we didn't get any major slides. Avalanche Control tells me that's due to the -5 degree temperatures which is keeping it stable at the moment. At the same time, Avalanche says the only prudent thing to do is leave it closed. In a nutshell, it would take well into Tuesday to clean up the 37 miles of highway between the east and west closure gates. Unfortunately, the next front is forecast to begin dropping what could be between 12 and 16 inches of new snow starting between midnight and 4 a.m. Wednesday morning. That snow, coupled with the forecast wind, will form an unstable layer putting the avalanche danger "way too high". The forecast then calls for a break on Friday, followed by another front on Friday night that will bring a lot more snow (described in the forecast as "mammoth"!). On the bright side - the highway stayed open a week and a half later than last year. On the not so bright side - the avalanche danger is probably going to inhibit a lot of back country recreation between now and Christmas until all the chutes fill and dump and then we get a break in the weather. Check with the Forest Service or Park Service before you go. WSDOT won't have anyone working beyond the gates and we'll no longer being doing pass reports for a closed pass. The links on the North Cascades Highway web page to the cameras at Newhalem and Winthrop and the back country weather station near Washington pass, as well as the weather service forecasts will still be useful as you plan your outings. Unless something unusual happens - don't expect more of these e mails until sometime in late February or early March when the Avalanche crew does their spring opening assessment trip. Be safe, Jeff

 

 

 

 

[danhelmstadter]

Dan - thanks for posting those updates.

 

So about how far is it from eastside closure to the top of WA pass? I've never driven that section, and i'm haveing a tough time finding that info...

 

Also, is there a bunch of decent BC ski accsess over towards Mazama and Winthrop? Lookimg at a map - it looks like the relief is there, but road access, private land etc... seems to more often than not - complicate optimistic armchair terrain scouting. My vehicle is on it's last legs, otherwise i'd just drive over and have a look for myself.

 

thanks

[Dan_Miller]

As usual, I pass this email on to those who may have an interest in such matters.

 

Hi all,

Our Avalanche Crew has set Monday, February 23rd as their target to do the reopening assessment trip to Washington and Rainy passes. They'll measure the avalanche chutes, and snow depths, and do their snow analysis and look at the long range forecasts and then determine when it might be safe and reasonable to start the spring reopening effort. Expect to get the next update Tuesday or Wednesday, the 24th or 25th, provided the trip takes place as they're planning. (I know a lot of you are avid winter recreationists, but after December's snow and January's floods - I'm looking forward to spring!)

Jeff Adamson

WSDOT NC Region Communications Manager

Wenatchee

 

What's the deal? Do they know something about winter coming to a close early or something.

[Stefan]

thanks for the updates!

[ivan]

even better than pitchers n' catchers reporting day!

[Dan_Miller]

Here's the North Cascades Highway Reopening Assessment Trip results from Jeff Adamson with WSDOT. Looks like it's time to start thinking about the North Face of Graybeard Peak, etc!

 

Hi all,

The preliminary best guess is that we'll be able to start reopening the North Cascades Highway the last week in March or the first week in April. Our Avalanche Control and Maintenance technicians traveled from the east closure point at Early Winters, west of Mazama 20 miles to Rainy Pass on snowmobiles and a snow cat this morning, assessing the conditions. They encountered overcast skies, 27 degree temperatures and no new snow. (Only 4/100ths of an inch of precipitation was recorde in the last 24 hours, and most of that was rain. We expect to be able to free up the personnel and equipment we need for the reopening from Stevens Pass and some of our other facilities by late March or early April, depending on weather, equipment and manpower. They found only moderate snow depths this year. For example the snow at Washington summit is only 5-1/2 feet deep when it's usually 7 to 9 feet deep. At the same time they found more slides and they're a different consistency - they look like lava. The slides at Liberty Bell Mtn., just east of Washington Pass are an example: The highway passes under them, and loops back to the east around Spiral Gulch. The snow is 40-feet deep and 1200-feet wide below LB 2 and 3, but it came down with such force that the same slide covered the highway on the opposite side of the gulch with snow that's 25-feet deep and 1200 feet wide. Further east in the avalanche chutes in the Cutthroat Ridge zone,some slides were as much as 20 feet deep and 12 to 1500 feet wide. Another anomaly for this season is a 40-foot deep slide near Bridge Creek, between Rainy and Washington Passes. The avalanche crew had never seen a slide there, before.

The highway was closed for the season on December 11th. Last spring, the highway reopened on May 1st. Visit the WSDOT FlickR photo page to view pictures from the assessment: www.flickr.com/search/?q=WSDOT&s=rec For more information, visit the North Cascades Highway web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades/

The official news release with the official scheduled dates and some of the photos should be approved and posted sometime tomorrow. Lets hope that the lava-look avalanches are only a crust and won't take any longer to cut through than normal - a nice, uneventful 4 week clearing effort would be nice - we've had enough "disasters" this winter...!

 

[Dan_Miller]

Fresh from WSDOT:

 

Hi all,

 

This is the news we've all been waiting for. The reopening officially starts Monday morning. Here's the news release:

 

WENATCHEE - Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) maintenance crewmembers on both the east and west sides of the North Cascades Highway will begin the annual clearing process to reopen 37 miles of the highway including Rainy and Washington Passes, on Monday, March 30.

 

Clearing the North Cascades Highway is a significant effort each year. WSDOT crews will be working 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday through April.

 

"The west side crews have already gotten started on the first 14 miles from the Diablo gate to the Granite Creek Bridge," said Okanogan Maintenance Superintendent Dean Hills. "They'll start with two snow blowers, clearing the new snow that's come down."

 

On the eastside, the eight-person Twisp maintenance crew will start clearing from the east closure gate near Silver Star Mountain with a V-plow, a loader and a snow blower. A snow cat with a blade will move ahead and start work to cut down the snow piles below the chutes in the Cutthroat Ridge zone, which will speed the snow blower progress when the clearing progresses that far in the following week.

 

"Week two we'll bring in another snow blower from Stevens Pass, an excavator and two contracted D-6 and D-8 caterpillars and operators to start work on the huge snow deposits below the Liberty Bell chutes," said Hills.

 

While up to seven feet of snow has fallen since the assessment trip a month ago, Hills says he's confident the crew can get started and move quickly.

 

"Even with another half-foot of new snow from Tuesday to Wednesday which ramped up the immediate avalanche danger, the warm temperatures by Monday will empty the chutes - they've got a well established sheer layer, so any new snow should slide quickly," said Hills. "While it's impossible to predict exactly when we'll have it open - due to weather, avalanche danger, equipment breakdowns and crew health - we're hoping we can match last year."

 

The highway reopened May 1st, last spring and was closed for the season on Dec. 11. The cost to reopen the highway each spring typically runs from $200,000 to $250,000.

 

Visit the WSDOT Flickr photo page to view pictures from last month's assessment: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157614387037548/.

 

Here are the Flickr pics that Don Becker, our Twisp Maintenance Supervisor (the guy who directs the reopening) took while the crew was staging the equipment on Thursday that they'll be using Monday. (Of course, they had to do a little testing...) http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/collections/72157615622442224/

 

Here's the URL for the SR 20 North Cascades Highway web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades/

 

Finally,

 

Here's my contact info:

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

or 509.667.2815

 

PS: I should have the next update by late Monday or early Tuesday - Becker said he'd try to remember to take some more pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________

[Dan_Miller]

Today's update from WSDOT (Tues., 03/31/09). They're making progress.

 

Hi all,

 

Our eastside maintenance crew cleared four miles from the Silver Star Gate up to Lone Fir Campground. That's only a mile below the Cutthroat Ridge avalanche zone. The weather for day one was great and there are a few more pictures posted on our flickr site:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157615892803779/. So far as today is concerned - I don't think the weather has been nearly so cooperative...

 

Stay tuned!

 

Jeff Adamson adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov 509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

Here's another update 04/02/09 from WSDOT:

 

Hi all,

 

This is a Westside update.

 

On Monday, Ted Dempsey's crews started clearing the 4-foot deep snow from MP 148, which is about 14 miles above the Diablo gate and got two more miles cleared fog line to fog line. They are using two snow blowers. Tuesday got started a little slower - there was new snow starting at Marblemount, so the crew had to use 4x4's to get up to the blowers. (There were 10 inches of new snow at the Diablo gate! Things sort of continued in that vein. Crews found a couple of downed trees under the snow. The hard way - they had to replace the shear pins on both blowers and ended the day with a cut as far as Easy Pass - another mile and half to MP 151.5.

 

April fools day proved too attractive for my west side counterpart - Dustin Terpening - to skip a chance to tag along with the crew. As a result, you have great new photos and since he's a lot more tech-savvy than I, there's several video clips, too. His favorites are of the two snowblowers shooting snow at the same time and some great pictures of the 5-foot blue ice walls lining the highway. He says it snowed the entire day and never got above 25 degrees (chilly!)

 

Here's the flickr link for the photos/videos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157615892803779/.

 

Here's the map page link so you can track where we are: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades/map.htm.

 

On the east side, progress may be slowed a bit from what we had planned. The gnarly conditions in the central Cascades is keeping our avalanche crew, their snow cat and the second Kodiak snow blower that we had expected to begin using in the clearing effort down on Stevens Pass. We'll see what the weather and forecast is like on Monday.

 

That's all for now - enjoy the pictures and pray everyone working up there stays safe.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/05/09 update from WSDOT:

 

Hi all,

 

No new photos today, but I should be getting some tomorrow of today's work on the east side. Our crews only got started today working below Cutthroat Ridge #1. They didn't work at all on Thursday since the avalanche control technicians who must monitor their work when they're in an avalanche zone, all got called away to do avalanche control work on Stevens through Friday. That also meant none of the equipment from Stevens was available. Today, there's a tech monitoring, so they're working. Tomorrow, another blower and excavator, in addition to the avalanche crew's snow cat will be coming from Stevens. Later this week, the big D-6 and D-8 caterpillars we're renting from Lloyd Logging (Twisp) will begin work up in the Liberty Bell zone. The weather is nice today, so if nothing breaks down, everyone was optimistic that they can make up for that lost day.

 

Jeff

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[PLC]

Thanks for the updates.

 

Does anyone know if we're "allowed" to acess the highway beyond the gate while the work is ongoing (via bike or hike, etc.)?

[Dan_Miller]

You know I can't say for certain, but an educated guess is most likely one would be allowed to. The snowmobilers certainly travel the whole length of the road frequently while it's officially closed.

 

My suspicion is, that if you did not in anyway interfere with the reopening work it would be permissible especially on foot, ski or bike; ie., 'non-motorized' modes of travel.

 

Obviously; if there are signs put up on the West and East sides during reopening operations prohibiting entry, than likely there is some sort of WAC administrative regulation providing a basis for non entry during the clearing process.

 

I guess I'd be curious if anyone knows more definitively.

 

You could certainly put a call or email into Jeff Adamson at WSDOT: adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov 509.667.2815.

 

 

 

[John Frieh]

I've walked and/or biked the road a few times before it was officially opened but it was always when they weren't working (weekends or alpine start) so hard to say. Emailing Jeff like Dan suggested would be best

[Dan_Miller]

Today's (04/08/09) update:

 

Hi all,

There are more new photos from Monday's work on the flickr site and there's a special treat - SNOW DOUGHNUTS! By Tuesay, on the west side, they got to MP 154 (Swamp Creek) which is about 3-1/2 miles below Rainy Pass. The east side crew is busy cutting through the slides from the 11 avalanche chutes in the Cutthroat Ridge zone (MP 168-166, near Silver Star Mountain).

Last week, we made good progress with favorable weather and no equipment problems...until Thursday. When the snow started sliding and avalanche control became necessary on Stevens Pass, work had to stop on the east side. By law, our avalanche techs must monitor snow stability while the crews are working below active chutes. By Wednesday evening, they crew had gotten to CR1, but with the avalanche crew down on Stevens, no clearing work could be done Thursday. (So the Twisp crew spent the day doing regular maintenance from Winthrop to Loup Loup Pass.)

On Monday, Avalanche forecaster Mike Stanford showed up with the Avalanche crew's snow cat. While he kept an eye on the snow conditions, crews used it and an excavator to cut down the snow piled up below CR1. The Kodiak snow blower can take about an 8 foot "bite" and some of the snow slides through the Cutthroat Ridge zone are twice that deep. A second Kodiak snow blower from Stevens joined the effort on Tuesday.

By the end of Tuesday, they had cleared CR1 and CR2.

Today, the giant rental D-6 and D-8 caterpillars are traveling ahead up to the Liberty Bell Avalanche zone and to start cutting those huge snow piles down to size. We want that section ready for the snow blowers when they get that far, sometime next week.

Last week's snow that hit the central Cascades hard didn't dump as much in the northern Cascades and the weather today actually started out sunny, while it's gone from two days of sunshine to overcast and foggy down on Stevens and Snoqualmie.

Obviously putting the snow shoe rabbit in charge and spotting some lucky snow doughnuts are good signs! Here's the link to the flickr pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157615892803779/.

 

Stay tuned!

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/09/09 update:

 

Hi all,

There are nine more pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday's work on the east side that have posted on the flickr site. The weather has been beautiful, but it warmed things up so much that we had work delayed both days due to natural slides that came in. As a result, we ended up keeping the rental D-8 caterpillar down in the Cutthroat zone, helping to clean up the new snow where we'd already cleared earlier in the week. On Tuesday, the slide that came down was BIG. The one that came down on Wednesday was smaller, but both caused the avalanche monitors to suspend work while they tested stability of the rest of the snow on the slopes. The net-net? We were at MP 165 when crews started working this morning. That means, they're through the Cutthroat zone's dozen chutes and should be clearing into Spiral Gulch, below Liberty Bell, today, uh, depending upon snow stability...

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/11/09--Getting Closer

 

Hi all,

 

Dustin Terpening, my west side counterpart ventured forth with the crew on Thursday and I asked him to send a report for you, which he did, below. It's full of links (the underlined blue text) to new batches of photos and a special treat - a you tube snow cat video when he interviewed our Avalanche Forecaster, Mike Stanford:

 

What a difference a week makes. Conditions have definitely improved, at least on the west side. I took a field trip up to visit our crews clearing the highway on Thursday and found the temperature to be 48 degrees (20 degrees warmer), sun breaks, and several more miles of roadway cleared. Crews were now shooting snow off the highway near mile marker 157, which is really close to Washington Pass.

 

When we met up with the crews, there was a surprise waiting for us. Twisp Maintenance Supervisor Don Becker and AV tech Mike Stanford had trekked over the passes in the Pisten Bully to check on the progress of west side crew. I got to take a quick ride in the snow cat and interviewed Mike about what they saw as they crossed through the mountains. Mike said that the snow was pretty level most of the way over and the depths weren't too bad. He did say that the it's pretty deep around the avalanche zones on the east side and that those are going to take a couple weeks to bust through.

 

The snow was a little more than 5 feet deep near mile marker 157. It's gradually getting deeper the further east crews progress. Louie Crookshank, one of the snowblower operators, told me that the snow pack has been pretty soft and easy to cut through this year. They haven't found any ice layers like most years. Though it is really saturated and heavy. He said that Seattle City Light tested the snow and it was about 40 percent water which means it's really dense and heavy. Back at the west side closure gate, near mile marker 134, there isn't much snow left. The pavement was bare and dry with only about a foot of snow along the shoulders. A big change from last week. And much of the blue ice that had covered the rock walls along the highway last week are melting quickly and almost gone.

 

Clearing and opening the highway isn't just about clearing snow. There are many other things to clean and clear that don't make for "sexy" photographs. For example, there were a number of locations where rock slides or fallen trees had damaged a section of guardrail or left hillsides unstable. Crews have to make numerous safety repairs to the highway before we can open it.

 

If any of you are on Twitter, you can follow @terpening and/or @wsdot as another way to receive updates about the North Cascades Highway.

 

And of course, to get to me: Jeff Adamson, adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov or 509.667.2815

 

PS: A note for next week - depending on snow at Stevens Pass forecast Sunday night to Monday, the avalanche monitors might not be able to go back up to the North Cascades until Tuesday...

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/13/09

 

Hi all,

 

I was able to reach Twisp Maintenance Supervisor Don Becker by cell phone a few minutes ago - he'll have some new eastside pictures for us tomorrow. The reason I was trying to reach him was to confirm the crews were working. On Friday, there was a question about whether the avalanche crew was going to be able to monitor the reopening crew or if they'd have to stick around Stevens Pass, should the weekend weather produce avalanche dangers on US 2. While it wasn't real pretty (wet and sloppy) on Stevens, avalanche danger never materialized and Mike and Katie are on the scene at Cutthroat Ridge with the crew. Don says they got a foot of new snow over the weekend, so the first duty was clearing the 5 miles they'd already cleared up to CR-10. That's Cutthroat Ridge Avalanche Chute #10 (of 13). CR-10 usually produces the largest piles of snow in the zone and this year was no exception. By about 11 a.m., the crew had cleared through about half of the 1,200-foot-wide slide. Becker expects they'll be through CR-10 and into CR-11 by the end of the day. The avalanche control crew's snow cat has already cut the slides there down to the 6 to 8-feet that the snow blowers can "bite". The big D-8 cat is doing the same thing to CR-12, so Don is pretty confident they'll get through those two and maybe 13 by the end of the day tomorrow. Getting from the end of the Cutthroat Ridge zone up to Liberty Bell (4 huge chutes) is a bigger challenge than normal. The lower part of "Spiral Gulch" is officially called "The Annex" - in part because when the Liberty Bell chutes come in "big" - they not only cover the highway below the chutes, but fill the gully below and cover the road on the other side - hence -the annex designation. If everything works well, Don expects the D-8 to start cutting that down to size tomorrow. As of today - the Annex is buried with a slide averaging 25-feet-deep by more than 1,500-feet-wide. At about 7 a.m. it was 29-degrees and snowing, but by noon, it was 39 and the sun was coming out. The forecast later in the week calls for certifiably warm temps on Thursday - great to work in, but that could boost the avalanche danger again...

 

More later.

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/15/09

 

Hi all,

Don Becker (Twisp Supv) checked in with me to say he has some pictures from Tuesday's work, and so did Mike Stanford (Av Tech) - so we'll get those up on flickr shortly.

Work proceeded well. Don says there wasn't any more new snow accumulation, but it would snow for a little while, then the sun would come out and in between, it was just overcast. The crew had cleared the highway the full width through the last of the Cutthroat Ridge chutes (12 and 13) on up to the slide at the Annex (MP 164). The D-8 caterpillar had worked most of the day cutting that 25'x 1,200' slide down to size, but it's still going to be a big job for snow blowers and excavators today. The D-8 will begin work this afternoon on the real biggies - the four Liberty Bell Avalanche chutes on the other side of the "Annex", "Hairpin Curve", or "Spiral Gulch" - depending on who you're talking to!

The west side crew advanced to MP 158 between Rainy Pass and Bridge Creek and might beat the east side crew to Washington Pass at the rate they're going.

Here's the flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157615892803779/

Apparently you've been checking out the new photos pretty often - the counter says it's gotten 11,000 hits since the reopening started on the 30th. You also might be interested to know that there are now 1,600 of you who have signed up to get these e mail updates. A couple of interesting tidbits associated with that are - 1-that's more than twice the average daily traffic count over Washington and Rainy when the highway is open and 2-the e mail list has a decidely international flavor - Japan, South Africa, Finland - not to mention some regular subscribers who are now getting their updates on their laptops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I ought to also include this, as well: As opposed to my counterparts who write the e mail updates for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, or the Evergreen Point Bridge or the Columbia River Crossing - the closest thing to a negative e mail Dustin or I get is an occasional grumble that the updates aren't daily! On the other hand - we get lots of thank-you or "wow" e mails that we pass along to the crews or post on WSDOT's internal intranet page. So, thank you for being "the nicest" among the WSDOT e mail subscriber groups. It makes it much easier for us to want to invest the time and effort to provide the updates and take and collect the pictures and videos. Please forgive us if an update is a day late or some pictures don't appear as soon as promised - We've got all our "regular" work to do, too!

Thanks,

Jeff Adamson

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/16/09

 

They're getting closer! I predict that they'll have it open by the first of May or possibly sooner, at the current rate of progress.

 

Hi all,

 

Got a quick note from up north - the crews made it to Liberty Bell #1 with the Caterpillar by the end of the day, last evening, and the rest of the equipment is coming up behind, clearing from fog line to fog line. They expect to make significant progress through LB1 today. This is a day or two ahead of where we thought we'd be by today.

 

I also need to correct the "hit count" on the flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/collections/72157615622442224/ I said, 11,000 hits since the work started on March 30th - Dustin pointed out that the 11,000 was a "daily" average since the 30th - WOW! Speaking of which - along with the one line update from Becker about yesterday's and today's work - he sent some pictures of LB1 that should show up on flickr in a little while.

 

One more note - I got an e-mail from Charles Beall at the National Park Service about National Park Week, next week and a bunch of things anyone who wants to, can participate in along their part of the North Cascades Highway - so if you're so inclined, there's a link to the NPS from our NCH home page (that's the "now available" link at the top of this page.)

 

til next week,

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/17/09

 

A potential delay eh?

 

Hi all,

My west side counterpart, Dustin Terpening, got to spend the day guiding reporters and photographers up to the work zone between Rainy Pass and Bridge Creek yesterday (did you see the front page of the Times?) and his email update is below. First, however, I need to tell you that our timetable is suffering a setback. It's unlikely our east side crews are going to be able to work Monday and Tuesday due to the forecast high temperatures and the resulting elevated avalanche danger throughout the Cascades, but particularly the Old Faithful zone on Stevens and Liberty Bell zone on the North Cascades, since they're so tall.

 

Crews are getting closer and closer as the weeks pass. As of Thursday, the west crew was beyond Rainy Pass and swooping down the highway to the Bridge Creek avalanche zone near mile marker 159. The crew on the east side was digging into to the first avalanche chute at Liberty Bell near mile marker 165. That means the crews are more or less 7 miles apart. In a normal year, crews typically meet near Bridge Creek. Not this year. The crew from the west will get to work a little farther east this year.

 

We've added lots of new pictures and several new videos from this week. Enjoy!

 

If you remember from Jeff's e-mail update in February, crews were surprised to find an avalanche across the highway at the Bridge Creek slide zone during their reconnaissance trip. The last time anyone had seen a slide there was 21 years - 1988.

 

For those of you wondering what the snow depth was at Rainy Pass, it was 9.5 feet deep. The snow has been between 5 and 7 feet deep over the road east of Rainy Pass.

Dustin Terpening

terpenid@wsdot.wa.gov

360.757.5997

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/22/09

 

Hi all,

 

The west side crew got into the Whistler Mtn. avalanche zone (MP 161) yesterday. The east side crew got to do some work after all - but it was mostly clean up due to avalanches in places they'd already cleared. The warm temperatures brought down a slide back at Cutthroat Ridge #8 ( 6-feet deep/30-feet wide) and a big slide at Liberty Bell #1 that filled up the slot they'd created, just above the roadway, for exactly this purpose - so the D-8 Caterpillar is busy today...

 

They got one of the Kodiak snow blowers through LB 1 and LB 2 and LB 3 and 4 were shallow enough that the blower was able to get all the way up to the Washington Pass summit and back, so there's still a lot clearing and widening to do - but the crew was greatly encouraged that despite the hold ups over the last few days - they're still optimistic for a May 1st opening - and maybe sooner if everything goes perfectly from here on in. (NO PROMISES-But...!)

 

Another note - Several bicyclists have asked about riding up there before it's open. WSDOT can only close the road to licensed motor vehicles - bikes, just like snowmobiles, skis or snowshoes are legal all the time. The question remains, as always: is is wise? You wouldn't have wanted to be below CR 8 when it came in about ten o'clock yesterday morning, and riding up there Monday-Thursday while crews are working is probably not real appealing either - so, check the avalanche forecasts and plan your ride on Friday, Saturday or Sunday when you won't encounter a hungry Kodiak (snow blower!)

 

I'm expecting a few more new pictures to get posted by this afternoon on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/collections/72157615622442224/

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

 

[Dan_Miller]

04/23/09

 

The North Cascade Hwy. will OPEN on Friday, 8 PM, April 24TH.

They annually make a big push to get the Highway open each spring for the Lowland Lakes Fishing season opener which this year is Sat., 04/25/09. It is critical to business in Okanagon County and beyond in northeastern Washington.

They met their goal, partially aided by a little bit less than average northern Cascades snowfall.

 

Hi all,

 

You're not going to believe this! The North Cascades Highway is reopening tomorrow at 8 p.m. (depending on how the final clean and sweeping goes, it could even happen a couple hours earlier than that - so watch the pass report page and 5-1-1.) This is great news for all the fisher-folks who are heading one way or the other for the opening weekend. Two days ago, no one was predicting this could happen, but a combination of fortunate events are producing this faster-than-expected opening. First, the warm temperatures that held up work and caused more snowslides on Monday and Tuesday also melted so much snow that the snow blowers could handle the work without the assistance of the caterpillars and excavators. On top of that, the two snow blowers that the west side crew have been using were available all week. They were expected to be reassigned since the work to reopen Chinook, Cayuse, Mt. Baker and Mt. St. Helens are all starting.) Getting to keep them meant 4 blowers were working yesterday (and today) and the amount of snow that got moved in a single day on Wednesday, far exceeded what anyone imagined.

 

Oh, there's another neat thing happening tomorrow. Early tomorrow morning, while the final sweeping and clearing is going on, a Discovery Channel crew will be filming a re-creation of a truck accident that originally happened on the ALCAN Highway. It's for an upcoming episode of "Ice Road Truckers" - so when we get the air-date, I'll send an e mail so you don't miss seeing it.

 

I'll likely send out at least one more of these e mails to let you know when there are new pictures of the opening available on flickr and a movie of the clearing of Liberty Bell #1 on Youtube that Mike Stanford from the avalanche crew is putting together.

 

Jeff Adamson

 

adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

 

509.667.2815

 

PS: Sorry, but this means you bicyclists aren't going to have a weekend on the highway to yourselves - It's just opening too fast!