Donner Pass

U.S. Route 40 and still later Donner Pass Road), as well as indirectly by Interstate 80. The pass gets its name from the ill-fated Donner Party

Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party followed the Truckee River into the mountains. At the head of what is now called Donner Lake, they found a low notch in the mountains and became the first overland settlers to use the pass.^[3] The pass was named after a later group of California-bound settlers. In early November 1846 the Donner Party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the east side of the mountains. Of the 81 settlers, only 45 survived to reach California;^[4] some of them resorting to cannibalism to survive.^[5][6]

Southern Pacific Railroad's passenger train City of San Francisco was en route westbound through the gap when a blizzard dumped so much snow the train was unable to move forward or reverse. The passengers and crew were stranded for three days until the nearby highway could be plowed sufficiently for a caravan of automobiles to carry them the few miles to Nyack Lodge.^[7]

Sacramento–Ogden CPRR route.^[9]

snow sheds over the summit.^[11]

Port of Oakland in order to better accommodate the rapidly growing North American trade with Asia and the Pacific, the cooperation of UP, the Port's principal rail partner, has been sought to "construct a second track and raise tunnel clearances over Donner Pass for container trains linking California with the rest of the country."^[12] This would likely require either a new parallel tunnel next to Tunnel 41 or the replacement of the summit section of Track 1 between the Norden complex and Shed 47; either would increase capacity and effectively eliminate delays currently caused by having to run all east and west bound traffic between Norden and Shed 47 over a single track. (To eliminate bottleneck delays the now single track 7.1-mile (11.4 km) section between Switch 9 (MP 171.9) at Emigrant Gap and Shed 10 (MP 179.0) west of Cisco would likely also have to be restored to double track.) Improvements were completed on the Sierra grade in November 2009, including increasing 18,000 feet (5.5 km) of tunnel clearances in 15 restricted tunnels between Rocklin and Truckee and upgrading 30 miles (48 km) of signals to CTC, although the original Donner Pass grade (Track 1) was not restored. Since then trains of full-height or 20 feet 2 inches (6.15 m), double-stack container cars have run over Donner Pass; some tunnels on Track 2 between Bowman and Colfax were not enlarged, so stack trains in both directions must use the older, tunnel-free Track 1 between those points.^[13]

Sierra Nevada, but it crosses the Sierra crest at the Euer Saddle, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Donner Pass. Euer Saddle, along with a nearby park on the south side of the freeway, are commonly called "Donner Summit" by the state of California.^[14] At 7,240 feet (2,210 m) (39°20′24″N 120°20′38″W / 39.339872°N 120.343958°W / 39.339872; -120.343958 (Donner Summit)) Donner Summit is about 150 feet (46 m) higher than Donner Pass, but is wider and has a gentler approach that aided construction to Interstate Highway standards, which do not allow the sharp curves used by the Donner Pass Road. The grade is 3–6% for 30 miles (48 km).^[15]

Precipitation averages 51.6 inches (1,310 mm) per year, and because California has a Mediterranean climate wherein most precipitation falls in the winter, much of it falls as snow.^[16] At an average of 411.5 inches (10.45 m) per year, Donner Pass is one of the snowiest places in the contiguous United States. Four times since 1880 total snowfall at Donner Summit has exceeded 775 inches (19.69 m) and topped 800 inches (20.32 m) in both 1938 and 1952.^[17] To take advantage of the heavy snows, the Boreal Ski Resort was built to the north. Ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area report an average of 300 to 500 inches (7.62 to 12.70 m) of snowfall per season. Winds in the pass can also become extreme and wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) are common during winter storms. Winter temperatures in the area drop below 0 °F or −17.8 °C several times each year; the all-time record low for California of −45 °F (−42.8 °C) was recorded at Boca (east of Truckee) in January 1937.^{[citation needed}

backpacking, alpine and cross-country skiing, rock and ice climbing. The original tunnel built by Central Pacific Railroad is home to a large amount of tagging. The region was featured during the early 1990s in snowboarding films by Fall Line Films (FLF) and Standard Films for its easy access to frontcountry and backcountry terrain. However, its fame and quick access from Old Highway 40 or nearby Sugar Bowl Ski Resort has led to a large number of avalanche fatalities, including that of professional snowboarder Jamil Khan.^[20]

National Geographic Channel series Hell on the Highway, which focuses on the towing and recovery companies working the region.^[23]