YAKIMA — Crews will begin clearing Chinook Pass and Cayuse Pass on April 4, the state Department of Transportation said Monday.
If crews keep to schedule, the passes on the eastern border of Mount Rainier National Park should be cleared by Memorial Day weekend – the traditional reopening time, said Transportation Department spokeswoman Summer Derrey.
With last year’s small snowfall, Chinook Pass reopened on April 2. It was the earliest reopening in its history, with one exception – 1977, when it never closed.
This year’s start date is a result of a much snowier winter, which has caused more headaches on all state mountain passes than years past.
Chinook Pass’ snowpack is about 15 percent above average with about 17 feet of snow at the summit, Derrey said.
South of Chinook, White Pass has accumulated 286 inches of snow this winter – more than three times the 93 inches that fell the winter before. The increase is even greater on Snoqualmie Pass, where about 385 inches fell this winter compared with 104 inches reported the year before.
Maintenance crews on average clear more than 30 miles of snow from Chinook and Cayuse passes. Avalanche specialists will use up to 1,600 pounds of explosives over a typical six-week clearing period. It takes about 3,000 crew hours to clear the passes on a normal year.
