Unpacking the Snow

Crews work to clear Yosemite National Park's Tioga Road in time for tourists

by Mark Grossi
Fresno Bee - June 4, 2005

When his 33-ton bulldozer began sliding on the icy snowpack toward the granite cliff next to Tioga Road, Dean Mullis didn't panic. He just hoped his seat belt was cinched tight.

"You don't get excited," said the 21-year-old on Thursday. "You keep your mind on the work. The bottom track caught the shoulder of the road. It stopped."

But Mullis, a member of the team clearing Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park, later would admit it was a heart-pumping episode -- "better than coffee."

A rotary snow blower blasts the road clear at Olmsted Point -- elevation 8,400 feet -- a potentially dangerous slide area along Tioga Road, which links Yosemite Valley to Lee Vining and Mono Lake. With the heavy snowfall this year, it could be late June or even July before the road opens. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee

Though the Yosemite high country is peaceful and dotted with dazzling frozen lakes, everyone's pulse quickens when snow clearing continues into June along Tioga.

Snow that hangs around until June packs down into "Sierra cement." Filled with water, it becomes tons of slick ice bricks, capable of causing frightening mishaps or even killer avalanches.

The heavy snow is hard to plow, too. The 47-mile Tioga, the state's longest road crossing the Sierra, probably won't open until late June or even July. The road, which closes at the first snowfall in autumn, generally opens by Memorial Day.

Officials are taking no chances with the 26 avalanche-prone places along Tioga, the most infamous being Olmsted Point.

Ten years ago in June at Olmsted -- right about where Mullis had his scary slide this week -- an avalanche crushed a bulldozer and killed Barry Hance, an admired leader on the park's road crew.

Park officials since have added layers of safety procedures, including a standby ambulance on Tioga and avalanche spotters. But some danger always lingers, as Mullis would attest.

"There's probably still nine feet of snow in a little saddle right around the curve," said Ed Appling, who supervises the crew. "It looks like everything has melted a lot, but there are tons of snow still in there."

A stubborn June snowpack on Tioga also weighs heavily on the eastern Sierra. The road is an important California artery for thousands of tourists who daily cross to eastern Sierra destinations, such as Lee Vining at Mono Lake.

While the big snowpack has helped by extending the skiing season at Mammoth Lakes, the eastern Sierra economy may lose millions of dollars in warm-weather tourism if the road stays closed through June.

"You can never recoup what you lose in June," said Nancy Boman, Mono County tourism commissioner. "But you can hope for a long, warm fall. You have to understand 75% to 80% of our revenue comes from tourism."

From left, Joe Meno, Lowell Hendrickson, Mike Ford, Tim Ludington and Ed Appling watch with avalanche probes Friday as a bulldozer clears Tioga Road at Olmsted Point, a potential slide area in Yosemite

At Olmsted Point, the tourist season seems far away. Where cars and buses normally would pass every few seconds in June, there are snowplows, road crew members and curious marmots.

Some of the Yosemite workers are less apparent. Kim Orr looked like a tiny dot at the top of the smooth granite ridge above Olmsted.

She was one of several observers watching the snowpack for any changes while a bulldozer or a snowplow made passes. As part of the team checking for avalanches, she also skis, snowmobiles and hikes beyond the plowing.

To troubleshoot a potential avalanche area, Orr and others detonate small explosives placed on bits of charcoal. The charcoal erupts with a cloud of dark dust that settles onto the snow to promote more heating from the sun and faster melting.

What's the lure of this work? "It's just us and the wilderness," she said. "No one eats lunch where I eat lunch every day."

Orr, bulldozer driver Mullis and everyone else involved in Tioga road-clearing are required to wear a device that transmits a signal. If the workers are caught in an avalanche, the transmitter could allow searchers to find and rescue them from under the snow.

It, too, is part of the safety campaign that began in 1996, the year after Hance died. Officials pay particular attention to Olmsted, where the fatal avalanche occurred while Hance was cutting through the toe, or bottom edge, of the snowpack.

A bulldozer operator pushes snow from the roadway Friday so a rotary plow can clear the road at Olmsted Point along Yosemite National Park's Tioga Road. With the heavy snowfall this year, it could be late June or July before the road is open. Snow that remains until June can turn slick, capable of causing wrecks or even killer avalanches. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee

The new procedures require the crew to wait 24 hours after they initially punch through the snow at Olmsted, said Tim Ludington, general foreman for roads and trails.

"We leave the toe there and let it melt out," he said.

On Thursday, the crew still was 17 miles from the eastern gate at 9,945-foot Tioga Pass. Ludington said Yosemite officials had allowed a Mono County plowing crew to begin clearing the road from the east side this week.

The work is time-consuming for many reasons. For instance, veteran plower Paul Dettman had to stop briefly Thursday after only a couple of minutes of work.

The snow had concealed a small boulder, which caused the plow to temporarily break down. The fix this time was a simple replacement of a bolt.

Soon Dettman's plow again began sending a plume 40 or 50 yards into the crisp morning air. But there's no telling how many more boulders and other obstacles await.

Any predictions on when the Yosemite crew members meet the Mono County workers and get the road clear enough for tourists?

"It's hard to know," said Ludington. "We've had snowstorms in June up here. And the work must be done safely."