The gateway to Stevens Pass and the mountains along Highway 2 is gearing up for...well, traffic. Powder dumps of over two feet are expected at the Cascade resort, bringing a flood of snow chasers.
“If you’re heading up to the mountain, pick a different mountain,” said William Nueharth, “Every weekend it’s just traffic will back up for miles.”
Neuharth works at Dick’s Tire Haus, just off of Highway 2. He says most folks are already prepared for the season but says snow tires are helpful this time of year, more so than studded tires that don’t translate well to rainy and dry roads.
“They’re not very safe in dry or wet weather, they’ll bite in in the ice but so does a studless snow tire.” Neuharth said, “[Studless snow tires] have so many microsites in them that you get the traction from that, you don’t have to have studs.”
For Adam, Ryan, and Sean, their all-wheel drive truck got them up to the pass with ease, though not everyone was in that boat.
“There were a couple people getting a little aggressive this morning that ended up slowing down after they learn their lesson, I was expecting a lot more carnage then there was,” Adam said.
WSP will be watching for those ill-prepared this weekend—chain enforcement stops will check that everyone is carrying chains over the mountains this weekend.
“If you don’t have snow enforcement, you’re going to have a number of people that won’t adhere to those restrictions and that means we are triaging the hill in between [milepost] 47 and 52 trying to get vehicles that chose not to chain up.”
All cars must carry chains, including all-wheel and four-wheel drive cars, so they can be ready for chain restrictions on mountain passes. Autosocks also qualify for chain law restrictions.
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