Chinook Pass opening latest in 12 years

Chinook Pass between Enumclaw and Naches is scheduled to open Thursday at 10 a.m., the latest opening in 12 years. 

“It’s one of our latest openings,” said Summer Derrey of the state Department of Transportation. “We had so much snow this year – 20 feet at the summit. Crews had to work a lot harder and longer. We had avalanche blasting and clearing. But they have pulled out now and determined things are stable. So crews are just doing final clearing of the road.”

“We’re excited. Our businesses are ready,” Tracey McCallum, Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce executive director, said Wednesday. “We have visitors from out of the country and out of the state, and one of their main goals is to see Mount Rainier.”

And while businesses in the two towns and in-between are happy about traffic opening up for the first weekend after summer officially arrived, there still is concern that Sunrise, a jewel of Mount Rainier National Park, still isn’t scheduled to open until after the 4th of July weekend.

“We had visitors from Paris and Germany this week who were unable to go to the Sunrise area,” McCallum said.

So, local businesses have been pounding Park superintendent Dave Uberuaga all week with phone calls and emails. Wednesday they started hounding U.S. lawmakers with the same in an attempt to pressure the Park to open Sunrise, even if all of its facilities are not yet operational.

One such email from McCallum says, in part: “Many of our businesses here in Enumclaw and especially the businesses up the 410 corridor rely heavily on tourists to sustain their businesses.  The Fourth of July weekend is essential for resorts such as Alta Crystal , Crystal Mountain and businesses such as Wapato Woolies , Green Water Outfitters and many others that depend on the Sunrise Park being open to sustain their livelihood.”

She goes on to say that Sunrise often has been open without full services, including many falls and at the start of last summer, and she urges at least the gate to be open for visitors.

In an email response, Uberuaga says park crews have been working seven days a week and others are working overtime each day to get things operational parkwide.  He expects full operations to begin July 8, but, “we are exploring the possibility of road access to Sunrise with no services,” he says.

Meanwhile, WSDOT reports that the total accumulation of snow so far this season is about 700 inches. The 5,430-foot-high Chinook Pass is about five miles east of the Cayuse Pass summit and provides the east entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

Although businesses and recreationalists depend on Chinook Pass, WSDOT can only keep the highway open as long as it is free of avalanche risk and other weather-related hazards, a release says. In an average year, Chinook Pass closes in November and reopens in May. In 1999 it didn't open until July 1.

Crews are doing final clean up, widening the snow banks and installing signs. The opening date this season was difficult to predict due to large quantities of late season snow, unseasonably cold temperatures, and high avalanche danger, the update says.

Sunrise may not be open yet, but there still is plenty to do on Highway 410. All the snow up there is good news for at least one local business. Crystal Mountain Ski Resort still is offering skiing on weekends.

Also, Thursday night from 4 to 7 there will be an open house at the Nile Valley Community Church to discuss rebuilding State Route 410. WSDOT plans to seek bids this fall, with construction in 2012. Cost is estimated at $21.2 million.

On Oct. 11, 2009 a massive landslide occurred west of Yakima in the Nile Valley. The landslide brought down millions of cubic yards of rock and debris onto State Route 410, demolishing a half mile of the highway and blocking the Naches River channel.