After assessing snow levels in dozens of avalanche chutes, some stretching more than 2,000 feet above the highway, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) crews will start clearing the North Cascades Highway on Monday, March 23, WSDOT announced on March 11. On March 10, WSDOT’s avalanche control team analyzed the snowpack and studied the extended forecast to determine a safe […]
Washington Pass
Improvements coming for Liberty Bell Mountain climbing trails
The Liberty Bell spires at Washington Pass offer some of the most popular and iconic alpine climbing in Washington, attracting more than 2,500 climbers each year. A destination for climbers since the 1940s, the granite spires…
North Cascades Highway is closed for the 2016 winter
The North Cascades Highway is officially closed for the winter, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced on Monday (Nov. 21). The highway had been closed from mileposts 134 to 171 (the Silver Star gate west of Mazama) at 9 a.m. on Friday (Nov. 18) because of concerns about impending storms and potential avalanche […]
Bashing through the snow
By Ann McCreary
Down on the valley floor the hills are green, balsamroot sunflowers are blooming, birds are singing. It’s spring. But a few miles away in the North Cascades Mountains, it’s still a world of snow. Lots of snow.
For the past 18 years …
WSDOT makes progress on clearing Highway 20
Avalanche supervisor Mike Stanford said the snow is soft and the clearing is going quickly, according to the press release. At the Washington Pass summit, the snowpack had melted from 10 feet down to a little over 7 feet, WSDOT said. Clearing on Monday progressed to milepost 168 near Lone Fir Campground, WSDOT said.
