Snow, weather still rule Sun Road clearing

The telltale signs of Logan Pass opening soon were everywhere along the lower stretches of Sun Road on Friday - budding leaves, running water, workers in T-shirts and a conspicuous absence of snow.

Even far above the Loop, the hairpin turn that directs Sun Road toward Logan Pass, only crusty remnants of avalanches remained in chutes that were active just weeks ago.

A person might guess the same conditions continue even higher and closer to the pass, and that maybe Glacier National Park road crews will have a shot at matching or besting the earliest date on record for opening Sun Road for the summer.

Think again, said Glacier Facilities Chief Lou Summerfield.

There is no chance Logan Pass will be open to vehicles by May 16, the record early opening date set in 1987, mainly because there is just as much snow on and above the 6,646-foot pass this year as there is most years, Summerfield said.

Despite the incredible lack of snow at lower elevations, Summerfield predicts snow depths above 6,000 feet will still present considerable avalanche dangers by mid-May.

And experience tells Summerfield how quickly progress can be reversed in the annual effort to clear Sun Road for the summer.

"One year it took us three weeks to clear the last mile, because storm after storm kept coming in," he said. "A 2-inch storm up there now is going to cost us three or four days of work."

That's because new snow, or even rain, usually triggers new avalanches that force the park's plow crews to retrace their work.

While overall snowpack in the Flathead River basin is 59 percent of the historic average, Glacier's high-country snowpack is similar to past years.

On Friday, the park's plow crew was grinding its way through a huge drift in the Rimrocks area at Oberlin Bend, just below Logan Pass.

Crew foreman Stuart Nuss pointed out blade marks left by a dozer a week before at the top of the drift. Those blade marks are now 40 feet above the pavement.

"It's actually deeper than normal here, but we are here earlier than we usually are," Nuss said.

Above the Loop, Nuss said, the crews have constantly encountered deep snow, but it's hard to tell because the snow has receded rapidly below the crew as it progressed toward Logan Pass.

"If you're up here on a warm day, it's just amazing how fast it recedes," he said.

The sheer volume of snow below the Rimrocks played a part in a bulldozer sliding about 40 feet off the road on Wednesday. The dozer had been pushing away from the road, forming a huge berm along the shoulder. Soon, the dozer was operating on what the road crew calls "borrowed snow" that is not supported by the road surface. The berm broke away with the dozer on top. No one was hurt in the accident, but it took most of the next morning to haul the equipment back to the road.

Eventually, the park's west side and east-side road crews will meet up just east of Logan Pass. But first, they must break through the Big Drift, a wind-formed drift that towers 40 feet above the road surface.

That job will be just as challenging as it always is, Nuss and Summerfield said.

Afternoons have been hazardous on the road. Climbing temperatures trigger small snow slides, along with rocks and huge chunks of ice that fall from the cliffs above the road. On Thursday, a chunk of ice put a dent in the hood of Nuss' pickup truck.

So far this year, just one vehicle windshield has been smashed by falling debris. Last year, three windshields were destroyed.

Plowing efforts will continue four days a week until the road is opened, while road cleanup, maintenance and preparations for the summer season will continue seven days a week.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com