Avalanche control crucial part of opening Chinook Pass

CHINOOK PASS, Wash. -- Rock, paper, scissors.

That's how John Stimberis and his crew decide who lays the charges and who attaches the detonator cord.

It's a light-hearted moment in the otherwise dangerous daily business of avalanche control at Chinook Pass.

The crew of avalanche forecasters spends four days a week on the high-elevation slopes above the pass, triggering avalanches to make snow removal safer for road crews working to open the 5,430-foot mountain pass.

They often ski a thousand feet or more up the steep slopes above the highway, which is buried in as much as 20 feet of snow.

All the while, safety remains uppermost in the minds of the four-person crew.

"It wouldn't be much of a career if you were reckless," said the 42-year-old Stimberis, a 13-year veteran of avalanche control work for the state Department of Transportation. "I think curiosity is a big component of it. You need to be curious about what's going on, how the weather and the snow are interacting to produce a given set of conditions.

"Every day is different. That's what keeps you going."

Clearing picturesque Chinook Pass will be a huge task this year. The traditional Memorial Day opening is out of the question, buried under what for parts of the Cascades was a record April snowfall.

Transportation officials estimate the snow is 18 to 20 feet deep near the summit of Chinook Pass. Avalanches have added to that, creating depths of as much as 25 to 30 feet.

"The snow is much deeper for sure this year," Stimberis said. "According to the maintenance lead technician who runs the maintenance crew, this is the deepest snow they have had since 1999."

An opening date has yet to be established for Chinook Pass, but it could be mid-June before it's open to traffic. If so, this year would be similar to 1997, when the pass remained closed until June 12.

The pass has opened as early as April 5 -- which happened in 1973 -- and as late as July 12, which occurred the following year.

Opening the pass clearly means a lot to businesses along State Route 410, which runs up and over Chinook Pass. That's true as well for Yakima, which feels the effects of pass traffic, said Doug Williams, whose family has owned Whistlin' Jack Lodge along SR 410 since 1957.

Williams estimates the approximately five months the pass is open each year accounts for as much as two-thirds of his annual business.

For businesses along the route, the traffic is akin to irrigation waters flowing into the Yakima Valley's farmland and causing crops to flourish.

"It's no different with Chinook Pass. It's like night and day," he said.

Staff and customers at Whistlin' Jack can get daily updates on the progress of snow removal, as Stimberis and his crew stay there during the week.

"They're always curious about when it may open," said Stimberis. "It's a good group of people up there."

Stimberis has been around high-elevation snow for his adult life. He took up skiing on Mount Hood when he was a teenager in Vancouver, Wash.

That love of skiing continued when he went to Central Washington University in Ellensburg. He worked at the Alpental ski area, where he became acquainted with the ski patrol, which invited him along when it did avalanche control.

"I needed to know about avalanche safety because of my interest in back-country skiing," he said. "That led to employment as a ski patroller. That is how many people get into this line of work."

When a position opened with the Transportation Department, Stimberis took the job.

Experience and a keen eye for safety are critical, he said: "We are in a remote environment; a broken ski can seriously complicate your day. You really focus on your safety, on having good travel techniques, proper clothing and equipment."

And, he quickly added, good partners.

"They have to watch out for you and you for them," Stimberis said.

Their workday starts at 6:30 a.m. with a review of weather conditions, a recap of how the snowpack behaved the prior day and what they can expect for the current day.

"The weather conditions determine where we go based on where we feel the avalanche conditions are going to be the most productive and where the (road) crew is," he explained. "We are there to make sure they are safe."

The tools of the trade are alpine touring skis, 26-pound charges of an ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, detonator cord and the ability to spot areas where avalanches are likely to take place.

"A lot of it comes from experience, knowing where avalanches occur. They happen in the same general places," he said. "You begin to develop some knowledge over the years of how the snow interacts and reacts in certain areas."

The crew member who ends up carrying the charge will make a hole and bury the device. Once the cord is attached, the crew prepares to blow the hillside to induce an avalanche.

In some cases, crewmembers can use their skis to trigger small avalanches. The technique is known as ski cutting, and can be more effective in the spring when daytime temperatures are warmer and some melting has occurred.

Ski cutting also can be more dangerous for the crew.

The avalanche control crew likely will be working for another three weeks as the maintenance crew removes snow from the road surface.

With so much more snow this year, the cost of clearing the pass will be much higher than the $323,600 spent last year to clear the west and east sides of the pass.

And pulling road maintenance crews off snow removal to deal with recent flooding problems has only served to extend the removal process.

"It's been a pretty wild spring," Stimberis said.

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.