Anyone who attempts to ascend the Crest Road during or soon after a snow event should be aware of the dangers. My best advice to birders bent on seeing the Rosies is to defer visiting until the State Highway Department has had a chance to plow and sand the road, which may be 24 hours after the snow stops falling. The crews do their utmost to clear the first seven miles up to the ski area, but even their big trucks can find the going increasingly difficult as the 8000 foot mark is approached (at about Capulin Spring).
The Crest House Gift Shop and Restaurant cannot open its doors unless a sufficient number of employees are able to show up for work.
The Web cams on rosyfinch.com showed lots of snow. Here is what it looks like now at the golf course (7000 ft elevation), near the base of the road up to the Crest:
Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club Negative report from the Rio Grande Bird Research team:
11/15/09
Hi all,
We drove on some snow packed and icy roads to the Crest House but it was closed. However, on our trip down, we saw that the snowplows were operating. We will try again next week.
Nancy & Steve
Locked
