Your questions about snow storage

This spring, we’ve seen questions about the parcel of land by the Whitehorse Weigh Station and the snow stored there this winter. This is a Government of Yukon project and is situated 1.5 km from the slope above Robert Service Way.

You’ve also asked about snow at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport. The airport is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Yukon. The Department of Yukon Highways and Public Works hauls snow to three different spots far away from the escarpment:

• the area across from the Whitehorse Scales,
• behind the Yukon Transportation Museum, and
• in the northwest corner of the infield, near the highway.

During the runway reconstruction, aging drainage systems were replaced with climate-resilient infrastructure, including 11,000 metres of storm drainage pipe to protect the runway surface from groundwater and precipitation impacts.

Drainage basins installed between runways at the airport carry rain and snowmelt towards Baxter’s Gulch, at the north end of the airport. This gulch is 2 km from Robert Service Way.

We’ve included an example of a scan from 2024 to show what is being captured by our Slope Scanner. Regular geotechnical engineering inspections are taking place along the escarpment well past Baxter St, where Two Mile Hill Road meets 2nd Avenue.

You can find more FAQs here.