Big Drift

The Big Drift is in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana and is an area along the Going-to-the-Sun Road where a large amount of winter snow can accumulate to depths of 80 feet (24 m).

[1] Located immediately east of Logan Pass, the westerly winds push snow over the crest of the Continental Divide onto the eastern flank of a long arête which extends south from Pollock Mountain.

As spring approaches, the region is surveyed by helicopter in preparation for snow removal that will be needed in order to reopen the Going-to-the-Sun Road for the summer season.

By early April, snow removal crews working from either end of the 53 miles (85 km) roadway have begun to ascend the steeper east and west slopes of the Lewis Range.

The area of the Big Drift is usually reached by late May, and it often can take a month to clear this one stretch of road that is slightly more than 1 mile (1.6 km) in length.

The Big Drift as seen on March 23, 2006. Buildings in center are at Logan Pass while the Going-to-the-Sun Road lies buried under the Big Drift on right side of image.
Snowblower/Rotary Snowplow
This truck is used to blow away the snow. The snow is usually fed into the snowplow's snowblower by a bulldozer.