TWISP - A five-man maintenance crew and their collection of snow-clearing equipment headed west up State Route 20, past Mazama, on Monday for the first day of work to clear the North Cascades Highway.

Washington State Department of Transportation crews began clearing the four feet of snow at the east side barricades, which have closed the road to traffic since Nov. 21. WSDOT's annual reopening work started almost three weeks earlier than last year.

"Last year we opened in late May, and that means visitors coming to Winthrop's 49'er Days festival had to use Stevens Pass to get here," said Twisp Maintenance Supervisor Don Becker. "We know that was hard on drivers, so we're hoping that this year, we can get the highway open by the first weekend in May."

West-side crews near Diablo can't begin work yet due to heavy snowfall - nearly 10 and a-half feet at Rainy Pass as of March 23.

During a scouting trip up the highway on March 7, crews found snow up to 60 feet deep burying the road below the Liberty Bell Mountain avalanche zone.

Last year, late-season snow from the La Nina winter led to the second-latest reopening, on May 25, since the highway first opened in 1972.

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