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BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — As spring arrives in northern Utah and temperatures rise, road crews are still tackling tough winter chores in the mountains.
Near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, a Utah Department of Transportation blower and snowcat are working in tandem to cut through deep snow to get Guardsman Pass open later this month; this is the pass connecting Big Cottonwood Canyon with Park City.
Right now, they're cutting through snow that is 7 to 10 feet deep, but up around the bend, it’s nearly twice that.
"We got a lot more snow this year. ... the drifts are bigger, and it's just become a bigger problem to deal with this year,” said UDOT roadway operations manager Jake Brown.
Brown said he's plowing 20 to 25 feet of snow in areas where he normally sees 10 to 15 feet of the white stuff. While it’s tough work above 9,000 feet, he said it’s not a bad job.
“This is a fun job," Brown said. "Driving a snowcat is like driving an ATV on snow."
The snowcat and blower work together on 3 miles of snowpacked road.
“That’s what my job is right now, is to push all of the snow down so the blower can get in there and chew it up and spit it out on the side of the mountain,” Brown said.
UDOT Executive Director Carlos Braceras spent time with the plow crew Tuesday as part of Public Employee Appreciation Week.
"They let me drive the snowblower and hang out in the snowcat a little bit and try not to get in their way too much," he said.
It was an eye-opener for the boss to see just how tough road work is on their equipment; one snowblower broke down, a snowcat broke down, and they've sheared off a couple of pins.
"I'm definitely leaving with a renewed sense of how important it is to make sure these men and women have the best pieces of equipment possible to do their jobs,” Braceras said.
Crews are also working on Monte Cristo pass, and Big Mountain Pass opens Thursday.
“They have a lot of work in front of them,” Braceras said.
Tuesday's crew was trying to get the job done quickly, but “it’s not going very fast right now,” Brown said.
Another crew will use the same equipment to clear the Mirror Lake Highway when they are done.
“They have a lot more road to clear than we do,” Brown said.
UDOT’s aim is to have all the passes open before Memorial Day.
