The SNOW giveth and the SNOW taketh Away.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Just heard an interview with Ballingal on a local radio station.
He was complaining or perhaps whinging about the condition of the Coq highway and the closures that limit travel into the Interior.
Well maybe you are not aware, but the Coq and Rogers passes get 50 feet of snow ir more each winter. Yeah the same stuff that makes a Ski Hill fun, causes endless challenges for drivers.
He made a point of unchained semis snarling up traffic often on the Coq. Now that is true, but the road also is very challenging, the grade and hill coming out of Great Bear snowshed is a hard thing to fix.
To be fair Highway 33 has more than its fair share of accidents caused by skier traffic.
I talked to a visitor from Calgary trying to get back about 10 days ago. They said that they figured it will be clear the day after they do some avalanche control.
I mentioned that most of February the Rogers Pass can be closed at any time and often. I worked around Revelstoke, I know this is how it works . It's hard to change the weather and it's consequences.

So folks let's just be cognizant of the fact that the snow that gives us recreational opportunities also comes with its challenges.

[LTD]

the amount of snow and elevation of the highways hasn't changed what has changed over the years is the amount of money and effort put into maintaining them in the winter its been very noticeable on the connector over the last 20 years, cutback cutback cutback

[Symbonite]

Thats what I noticed with it when they took the tolls out...thought it was a dumb idea that they did....

but this time of year just drive hwy 3...

[stevemic]

its not lack of maintenance its lack of driving skills

[LTD]

no its maintenance i agree that people seem to drive faster than the conditions allow but the state the roads are being left in these days and called maintained is atrocious this is our tax dollars at work and we should be getting better results

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

I bet if people had their antilock and traction control taken away, they would drive a lot slower.

[Glacier]

Meanwhile, I keep taking the Canyon to get to Vancouver in bad weather. It takes an extra hour and some from Vernon (and that's compared to the Coquihalla in good conditions), but it sure beats waiting 5 hours for the Coq to open up.

[Anonymous123]

Thats what I noticed with it when they took the tolls out...thought it was a dumb idea that they did....

but this time of year just drive hwy 3...

I thought it was dumb too. What they should have done, and this goes for toll bridges as well, is keep the tolls on but allow BC residents to deduct the yearly toll bill from their income tax. It wouldn't be a lot for most people, but I would have felt better paying the toll knowing it was a deduction on my BC income.

[Glacier]

How much snow is there along the highways?

Well, the Coquihalla summit (1250m elevation) has 181cm on the ground. Only the Kootenay pass has more snow.
Allison Pass (1340m) has 136 cm.
Jackass Mountain (350m) up the Fraser Canyon has 0.6 cm of snow on the ground.
Cayoosh Summit (1350m) at the summit of highway 99 has 165cm.

Moving north up the coast mountains to the central coast, Heckman Pass (975m) to Bella Coola has 77cm on the ground. The actual summit is actually 1525m, so clearly the weather station is a few km downhill of the summit.

Moving to the north coast now, Onion Lake (220m) between Kitimat and Terrace has 159 cm.
Hungry Hill (820m), the divide between the Skeena River and the Fraser along highway 16 (near Houston, BC) has 87 cm.

Far northwest now...
Meziadin Junction area (370m) has 160cm of snow.
Jade City (940m) has 71 cm
Telegraph Creek (290m) has 40 cm

Northeast....
Pine Pass (730m) has 123 cm.
73 mile north of Fort St. John (850m) has 62 cm.

Highway 16/5 east of Prince George...
Mount Robson area (944m) has 71 cm.
Blue River area (786m) has 132 cm.

Cariboo...
Dragon Lake near Quesnel (659m) has 82 cm.
Top of Lee's Hill on highway 20 (1090m) has 55 cm.
Bigbie Summit (1127m) has 62 cm.

Southwestern interior...
Larson Hill (1060m) has 34 cm.
Helmer Lake between Merritt and Kamloops (1385m) has 68 cm.
Pennask Summit (1700m) has 146 cm.
Kalamalka Lookout between Vernon and Kelowna (570m) has 24 cm.
McCulloch (1200m) has 87 cm.
Anarchist Summit (1097m) has 37 cm.
Malakwa (335m) has 100 cm.

West Kootenays...
Mica Dam (565m) has 165 cm.
Monashee Pass (1223m) has 118 cm.
Strawberry Pass near Rossland (1575m) has 138 cm.
Kootenay Pass (1780m) has 284cm.
Fish Lake between New Denver and Kaslo (1080m) has 178 cm.
Highway 1 east of Glacier National Park (1040m) has 131 cm.

East Kootenays...
Top of 2 mile hill east of Golden (1140m) has 61 cm.
Radium Hot Springs (870m) has 29 cm.
Moyie (975m) has 6 cm.
Fernie (960m) has 66 cm.