Blizzard-like conditions descend on Western Washington mountain passes

Blizzard-like conditions have been causing issues across mountain passes in Western Washington, causing slowdowns and, in some cases, halting drivers altogether.

“My rule is, if it’s time to hang chains it’s time to park anyways,” CJ Brice, a truck driver, said.

He’s been stuck at Snoqualmie Pass for more than 30 hours.

“It’s been snowing since I got here, I’m just waiting on the pass so I can actually go since I’m restricted right now since I’m oversized,” Brice said.

Brenda Lopez Castro and Jorge Sanchez had to drive from Yakima to Seattle when their flight got canceled because of the weather.

“There’s a lot of ice and snow on the road so definitely be cautious,” Lopez Castro said.

Like many skiers and snowboarders, Eric Wollbeck couldn’t wait to get out to local ski areas. However, he didn’t know that The Summit at Snoqualmie was closed on Tuesdays or that Alpental closed because of a widespread power outage.

“I guess we’re going to have to loop around that,” Wollbeck said. “We got everything that we need to be able to manage this storm but we’ve been waiting for f***ing months for this so hopefully this is going to make or break our season.”

Skip Lester came out to go touring with his dog Nimbus.

“Beacon, shovel, pole to poke through for if there is a problem, the main thing is layers and warm, dog food for him and water for me and him,” Lester said.

He rides a skateboard on a snowboard down.

“So instead of bindings I just wear shoes, Vans, boots in this case, on snowshoes, I’ll get to the top, I’ll take the snowshoes off, trade it for the snow skateboard and skateboard down,” Lester said.

©2024 Cox Media Group