That's a funny way to pile the snow (Steamboat Springs, Craig: live, fences)

[golfgod]

Driving up and back to Steamboat Springs I noticed several places where the ranches seem to have plowed and piled the snow in an unusual way.

It seems as though it was stacked into lines that formed a long series of rows, almost into a pattern like they were building a maze.

I racked my brain and couldn't come up with an esplanation.

Is it because they're getting the deep snow off their fileds where the grass will be coming in later?

Is this the easiest way to pile it up when your plow (I'm guessing a blade on the front of a tractor) can't pile it, or blow it into large mounds.

My buddies have given me the job of finding out and reporting back.

Thanks

goflgod

[jazzlover]

I'm not sure I understand your description completely, but it sounds like what I used to see when I lived in Gunnison. The ranchers would plow some long long paths through their pasture where they could dump hay for their cattle to feed. Plowing feeding paths in pastures was/is pretty common on mountain ranches. I would guess that is what you saw. Back then (in the early 1970's), many of the ranchers still used teams and wagons to feed--at 30 below zero or lower, it was considered easier than trying to start balky diesel engines on tractors. Also, by feeding with a well-trained team of horses, a driver was not necessary. The ranch hands could be unloading hay and the team knew where and how quickly to pull the hay wagon.

[esya]

I noticed that the last time I went up to Craig also. In some places (like along 285 past South Park), the state CDOT does make "wind rows" to put up snow/wind barriers to slow down drifting on the state highways, but in some places up toward Steamboat, the wind rows were on terrain that seemed either too sloped or narrow to have been one of the large snow machines CDOT uses, and only in one or two places did I see any evidence of feeding cattle--either cattle or hay/straw on the snow.

[SheridanL]

OOOHHHH!! CROP SNOW!!!!

Sorry, I'm just joking!!
I am sure it is a wind break of sorts,...just like they do with the small pine trees and fences.
It takes too much time and work to plow ALL of the snow sooooo,...make it work for you..that's what I say!!

[golfgod]

Well some of these were on areas that were at least 10' below the grade of the road and in somewhat protected areas so they didn't look like they were built to block blowing snow.

I guess my description wasn't very good, let's just say they looked to be at least 100-150 feet long, and then made a 180 degree turn and ran the same distance back the other way, and then turned again. I couldn't really say that they looked like all of the snow had been plowed out from the immediate area, looked to be more than that.

I didn't see any evidence of feed scattered about either.

Good guesses so far though.

golfgod

[SheridanL]

How very interesting! I wish I had a picture of it! Makes one wonder, doesn't it?

[Mike from back east]

Saw pix on the news of towns down in the San Juan Mountains (near Gunnison?) where there was so much snow they hauled it away in dump trucks and dumped it in fields, but even the fields were getting filled up with snow thusly dumped.

[bgrubb]

I noticed the exact same thing on my drove to/from Steamboat just a few weeks ago.
We drove out at night, so while I saw them lit by my headlights,I couldn't really tell what they were, but when we left a week later it was daytime so we got a better eye on them.

It appeared that they were just rows of snow piled up in fields along the road, almost like the rows you get when you plow a field normally (i.e. dirt), except much larger (the piles were probably atleast 10' tall, and probably had 10' of space between the rows), and there were probably about 5-6 rows that ran parallel to the road in each sighting.

The rows wouldn't be in all fields next to the roads, just a few, and sometimes they would be on both sides of the road, and other times just on one side.

I didn't notice the 180 degree turns in the rows like you did, however.

My only thought was that they were possibly the rows made by snow-blowing snow plows that had cleared the roads, and rather than make one large pile of snow along the road, they would shoot the snow out at different distances each time. However, this doesn't make sense since the rows weren't along the entire road, and also, some of the piles were pretty far from the side of the road, and it would take quite a machine to throw the snow that far (probably 100' in some places).

I also considered that they were some sort of drift control, but the rows seemed to be made of 'chunks' of snow, as if they had been plowed there, rather than a smooth covering as you would expect in snow drifts.


Anyway, I was very intrigued as you were, and upon Googling "colorado piles rows of snow" your post was the first and most relevant thing to pop up. I thought I'd post my experience and see if anyone could help clear up this mystery.

Thanks

[Bagz]

My guess is that they are storing the snow for water in the spring. Wind blown snow evaporates (sublimates) within 3 miles. Loose snow becomes windblown snow when wind is over 20 mph. This is water that is lost to the atmosphere. Could be that they are making snow fences to capture more snow AND they are compacting the snow so that it wont blow away. That is my guess, and here is an interesting article about snow storage. http://www.wyomingwater.org/_pdfs/2005Presentations/McCarthyPresentation.pdf (broken link)

Sorry, not an article... a powerpoint presentation with lots of pictures and data.