Avalanche Buries Teton Pass Under 30-Foot-Tall, 500-Foot-Long Wall Of Snow

UPDATE 6:30 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that Teton Pass was reopened at 5 p.m. Monday.

Teton Pass was closed all day Monday as the Wyoming Department of Transportation was forced to use bulldozers to clear more than 30 feet of wet, heavy snow from the highway.

The pass was closed at 3 a.m. so that WYDOT crews could deliberately trigger an avalanche. By 3:45 a.m., more than 500 feet of Wyoming Highway 22 was covered with a massive amount of snow.

“It was a good thing we did it when we did,” John Eddins, engineer for WYDOT District 3, told Cowboy State Daily. “If we hadn't done it, that avalanche could very well have come down on the morning commute traffic.”

WYDOT reopened Teton Pass at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Their crews were assisted by a bulldozer from Yellow Iron, a local excavation company, and the Idaho Transportation Department, which used a dozer to take down the snow wall from the west side.

“We are very lucky to have such exceptional neighbors to the west in the Idaho Transportation Department,” said WYDOT District 3 Maintenance foreman Troy Jerup. “We have an excellent working relationship with their crews, which is a benefit to drivers on both sides of the pass.

"Without them, we would have not been able to open this road as quickly as we did.”

Unstable Snow

Eddins said WYDOT decided to trigger an avalanche because of the volume of heavy snow in Glory Bowl, a large slide path on the southeast side of Mount Glory.

“We got hit with a lot of snow up there, and the wind, rain, and warmer temperatures caused it to become very unstable,” he said. “When we see that the risk of an avalanche is high, we will close the road and cause the avalanche to come down.”

WYDOT used Gazex exploders to trigger the early-morning avalanche. These sophisticated units use propane and oxygen, rather than traditional explosives, to trigger an avalanche rather than risk waiting for one to happen naturally.

The reason for the daylong closure was the quantity and quality of the snow. Eddins said the snow was so wet and heavy, WYDOT’s snowblowers wouldn’t have done any good.

“We can't use our LaRue snowblowers, which we have usually used to open Teton Pass, on wet, heavy snow,” he said. “We needed dozers and loaders to move it.”

WYDOT avalanche technician Don Lawless said Monday morning’s avalanche was “the biggest slide” he’d ever seen in that area.

“I was expecting snow to come out of Twin slides, but nothing really hit the road,” he said. “We were not expecting the amount of snow we saw come down Glory Bowl, it was the largest avalanche I’ve seen here.”

The mountainside had been scraped down to bare soil, leaving a massive amount of snow on the highway.

Once everything settled, WYDOT crews immediately attacked the 30-foot wall of snow. As of Monday evening, they were still working to get it done.

“Pretty much all the snow that was in Glory Bowl came down to the road this morning,” Eddins said.

Standard And No Damage

Eddins said forcing avalanches in Teton Pass is not unusual at this time of year. 

WYDOT usually triggers several avalanches in Teton Pass and Hoback Canyon every winter to keep commuters safe and Wyoming Highway 22 open as consistently as possible.

“This situation was a little unique because of the volume of snow that came down, but this is a pretty standard operating procedure,” he said.

One thing that WYDOT isn’t worried about is any road damage caused by the avalanche. 

People might be antsy after the massive landslide in June 2024, but Eddins assured Teton Pass commuters that the road infrastructure wasn’t impacted.

“It’s a totally different situation,” he said. “These avalanches don't damage the road surface itself, except in extreme conditions. This one might have damaged some guardrail, but the road will be passable once the snow is removed.”

It took roughly 14 hours to reopen Wyoming Highway 22. Contract crews will continue to work under traffic as roadside operations continue on Tuesday, so WYDOT asks that drivers drive cautiously and stay alert during their morning commutes.

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.