Check your language tools
Report a yes/no question with asked + if/whether + subject + verb, using statement order. “Is the path open?” → She asked if the path was open. In a past reporting context, backshift present to past and can to could; change pronouns/time expressions when the context requires it. Do not keep do/does/did or invert the subject.
Clusters /sl/ in slope and /sn/ in snow begin with /s/. Move directly to /l/ or /n/ without an extra vowel. Compare slow and snow: /l/ and /n/ differ inside the initial consonant cluster; both words end in the same vowel. Keep both consonants audible when the word starts a sentence.