Glacier Cyclery News & Events

sneek peek *** new glacier cyclery going to the sun jersey

gcshop — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:59:56 +0000

Not a table cloth but a XXXL jersey layed out for cutting.

May 4th Plowing update

gcshop — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:17:31 +0000

For those of you heading to Glacier this week end, bundle up, pack dry clothes, wear winter gear, the weather doesn’t look wonderful at the moment! Here is Carl’s latest update on plowing the Going To The Sun road.

This past week we cleared snow from Bird Woman Falls turn out to
Upper Big Bend watchman position where we parked our track equipment for
the weekend. The two photos of our lead D7 CAT dozer is in the upper chute of Big Bend. In
the first of the dozer photos you need to look for the dark spot (the
dozer) just left of the center of the photo. We parked the equipment in
the right of the photo just below the trees.

We are several weeks ahead of last year’s pace but close to average in our clearing of the road.

May 2 Plowing update

gcshop — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:05:38 +0000

This past week the road crew encountered snow, fog, wind and sunny
working conditions. We cleared snow from Bird Woman Falls turn out to
Upper Big Bend watchman position where we parked our track equipment for
the weekend.

The photo of the rotary plow is in the Bird Woman Falls turn out area.
The photo of the D7 CAT dozer is above Hay Stack Creek arch.

Thanks Carl for the photos and commentary!

Avalanche Danger Ahead!

gcshop — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:58:06 +0000

April 29th Going To the Sun.

Cold, overcast, storm moving in.

Few people riding.

Saw three harlequin ducks.

plowing the Sun

gcshop — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:18:54 +0000

Special commentary from Carl on plowing the Going To The Sun Road:

These photos are from Thursday April 19th which was our last day of snow
removal last week. April 19th the crew worked from The Grizzly area to Swede Point.
I was operating the Rotary Plow (snow blower) thru this section of the
road. The rotary plow can remove 4,000 tons of snow per hour which makes
it a real productive machine as long as it does not stop because of
debris. The loader is then moved up to dig out the material before the
rotary plow can continue. The crew finished the day at Swede Point with
six to seven feet of snow on the level. We will be digging through
Granite Avalanche Chute on Monday.
Photo no. 2 is of our two Avalanche Techs coming onto the snow bench in
front of the rotary plow.
Photo no. 5 is Rick in the Loaders removing the snow after the rotary
plow had cleared a lane.
Photo no.10 is from the rotary plow operator’s side window looking down
at Upper McDonald Creek.

Thank you, Carl!

Celebrating 30!

gcshop — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:51:13 +0000

April 19th 1982, Ron opened Glacier Cyclery. April 19th 2012 we celbrate 30 years! And look, we still look 20. Amazing. Ron, Jan, Mike the ace Glacier Cyclery mechanic since 1998 and Don Rees a customer since 1986.

plowing the going to the sun road

gcshop — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:39:19 +0000

We continue the insider’s coverage of the plowing project on the Going To The Sun road with descriptions, pictures and progress reposts from on-the-ground Carl:

This photo shows the starting zone of the Red Rock Slide that I had to
watch as the crew worked on clearing the road. The chute is roughly 4000
feet from the starting zone to the road surface. Those large formations
of snow cause great concern for us.

the rite of spring begins in glacier

gcshop — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:44:40 +0000

Once again Glacier Cyclery is fortunate to have access to photos of plowing the Going To The Sun road from one of the vetern crew members. The effort to clear the road began on April 2. The completion of the project is determined by weather and avalanches. The very earliest the Going To The Sun road could open this year is June 15th due to repair and reconstruction schedules.
Anyway, thanks Carl for the insiders look at this amazing process! Carl writes:

We are roughly seven miles up the Going to the Sun Road (one mile above
Avalanche Creek area) from Lake McDonald Lodge. I have attached several
photos of Red Rock Point Slide clearing. We started on Thursday morning
snowing lightly and about 25 degrees. I was the watcher for the men who
were operating the equipment. I had to cross to the far side of the
slide to have a good view of the starting zone of possible avalanche
activity.
Photo 1 shows the slide from the down stream side of McDonald Creek.
Broken pieces of trees litter the outer edge of the slide. The left side
of the photo you can see part of the slide that is left which across the
creek.

MEN HAVE WORK TO DO

gcshop — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:44:32 +0000

CHECK OUT THAT MESS ON MIKE'S BENCH

Jessie Opel wins 1st at the Birke

gcshop — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:17:12 +0000

On Saturday, Feb. 24 Glacier Cyclery’s Nordic Shop employee and Level lll PSIA certified cross-county ski instructor, Jessie Opel, participated in the American Birkebeiner race in Hayward-Cable WI. She skied in the 54 kilometer Classic race, finishing with a time of 3:35:38.1. This earned her a first place finish in her age group. She also placed 28th among all women and 249th overall, out of 1635 participants. Excellent race, Jessie!

Jessie Opel, classic wonder-woman!

The way things are going it looks like we will ski at the golf course until mid-March. If anyone wants to get out there in the mornings before work for a quick aerobic workout, we would be happy to line you out with gear and/or give you “helpful” tips and instruction