Re: Glacier Point Road Closure

The Glacier Point Road will be closed to public access at the end of Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area's last day of the season - Sunday, April 2nd. The gate at Chinquapin will be closed and locked at 7pm that evening. The road will be open to Administrative Traffic Only to Badger. Roads crews will begin snow clearing operations on the road starting at Badger the following day, April 3rd. No traffic will be allowed beyond Badger Pass. Bicycles will not be permitted on the Glacier Point Road during snow removal.

I realize this question may border on the annoying...

Once they start plowing, is there a reasonable/usual amount of time before GP road opens? I see in 2011 it didn't open until may 27, but I think they are plowing earlier this year.

I'll be there with my dad/brothers the April 27-May1, and as the designated planner trying to think through options if the road is/isn't open.

Thanks!

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm

The norm is mid-May. There's been less snow/storms in recent years, thus the earlier road opening dates. Wouldn't anticipate that for this year, but who knows. You should probably have some contingency plans, though.

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jchapell
I'll be there with my dad/brothers the April 27-May1, and as the designated planner trying to think through options if the road is/isn't open.

The road is very unlikely to be open by May 1st. There's a lot of snow.

How many miles of 10 plus feet of snow are they having to plow through?
How many downed trees are buried in that snow?
How many rock/mud slides?
How much repair work to the road and culverts?
How long will it take to >SAFELY< clear the avalanche zones? ( they're EXTREMELY careful with this since they've had fatalities in years past when plows get carried over the edge by avalanches )

Once the plowing starts there will be regular reports of the progress and problems they're running into.

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qumqats
How many miles of 10 plus feet of snow are they having to plow through?
How many downed trees are buried in that snow?
How many rock/mud slides?
How much repair work to the road and culverts?
How long will it take to >SAFELY< clear the avalanche zones? ( they're EXTREMELY careful with this since they've had fatalities in years past when plows get carried over the edge by avalanches )

Once the plowing starts there will be regular reports of the progress and problems they're running into.

A good list of what must be done. Plowing the snow would be the easy part if they didn't what to worry about downed trees, road damage, mud and rock slides, etc..

Besides a lot of snow, I expect they'll have to deal with a lot more downed trees and and unstable trees (that's they'll need to remove) before they open Glacier Point Road to the public.

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Leave No Trace

Thanks for the info all - time for backup plans!!