Slide damage to Sun Road not as bad as first thought

Damage from a huge avalanche that swept across the Sun Road isn't as bad as first expected and shouldn't hinder opening the highway, Park officials said last week.

Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said Monday that a "rough" estimate of the damage was about $500,000. The early January slide, which happened in a section of highway that normally doesn't see avalanches, ran some 4,000 vertical feet and went across the Sun Road twice and the Packer's Roost Road.

"At this point, we see no reason why the entire Sun Road won't open to vehicle traffic when plowing is completed … and when road and weather conditions permit the entire 50-mile long historic landmark roadway to open across Logan Pass," said Superintendent Chas Cartwright in a release.

The avalanche sheared off about 95 feet of new wall that was reconstructed last year. It also took off about 450 feet of historic wall that dates back to the 1920s.

There was also about 200 feet of damage to the asphalt.

When the Park repairs the damage, it probably will not replace the wall with a stone wall. In avalanche-prone areas, the Park has gone to removable guardwalls that crews take down every fall before the snow flies.

The January slide happened on or about Jan. 8, when Glacier saw heavy rains on top of the snowpack. Two slide paths came together and crossed the road at Alder Creek and then again near Packer's Roost, taking trees and debris with it.