Deservedly well known yet still full of secret…
Located in the heart of the Selkirk Mountains, along HWY 1 between Golden and Revelstoke, Rogers Pass is the classic roadside ski touring destination in Western Canada. It boasts an incredible variety of tours ranging from high-glaciated ascents to fantastic alpine descents along with outstanding tree skiing.
Roger’s Pass offers a deep and reliable snowpack along with relatively easy access. There are countless unique venues in many ski touring accessible valleys. This world-class venue must be experienced by ever avid backcountry skier. Every winter season, from mid-December to April, Summit Mountain Guides offers day to multi-day ski touring trips at Rogers Pass. Because this destination is road accessible, it is possible to do various trip length. To fully appreciate this extensive ski touring mecca, we recommend a minimum of 2 to 3 days.
A typical ski touring days at Rogers Pass is long, arduous and rewarding. Depending on the tour selection, we will on average ski between 1200m-1800m of vertical (up and down!) per day. Below you will find a sample itinerary for day backcountry ski touring in Rogers Pass. This itinerary is bound to change as the weather, daylight hours & avalanche conditions evolve during the season.
Sample Day Ski Touring itinerary For Rogers Pass:
- Meet your guide between 6-7 am at predetermined location, sign waivers, and check gear
- Drive to ski touring destinations, purchase visitor pass
- Enjoy a full day of backcountry ski touring with lunch in the mountains
- Back from the last run one hour before sunset.
- Celebrate and start again the next day!
Here are some Rogers Pass classic day trips:
- Connaught Creek area: Grizzly Shoulder, Balu Pass, 8812 peak, Little Sifton & Hermit Meadows.
- Illecilleweat Glacier area: Avalanche crest, Sir Donald Col, Perly rocks, North Terninal peak, Lookout notch & Youngs peak.
- Asulkan Valley area: Dome glacier, Asulkan glacier, Sapphire col, Asulkan pass & Youngs peak.
- Loop Brook area: Lily glacier, Bonney glacier & Bonney trees.
- Bostock Creek area: Bostock pass, Farm pass, McGill pass, McGill shoulder & Ursus creek.
This is an intermediate to advanced ski touring program. Prior day backcountry ski touring experience with a minimum of intermediate downhill skills is required. Guests are responsible to self evaluate their skills as groups need to be matched together based on prior experience and ability. Please contact us to discuss your background and what kind of tour would suit you best.
This trip is based at Rogers Pass in Canada’s Glacier National Park. Rogers Pass is a high mountain pass in South Eastern British Columbia along HWY #1. It is 45min drive East of Revelstoke and 1hr drive West of Golden. For Day & multi-day trips, suitable accommodation can be found in Revelstoke and in Golden. For overnight backcountry trips, it is possible to stay in a backcountry cabin. The Alpine Club of Canada maintains a few well-located mountain huts in Glacier National Park.
In most cases, you will be meeting with your guide the evening before the trip starts for a final gear check. We will go over last minute changes (weather & avalanche conditions) and logistics for the following day(s). We will also sign a liability waiver.
The Selkirk Mountain weather can vary drastically. In winter you expect temperatures to be from -20C to –7C in the day while in spring daily temperatures could rise above zero. Visibility may be poor or whiteout conditions when snowing heavily or clear on bluebird days. Ensure you are dressed for all variations as temperatures, wind and precipitation can change within the day.
Included in the price:
- Pre-trip planning support
- Certified ACMG Mountain Guide, Ski Guide or Apprentice Ski Guide
- Group safety equipment (communication device, rescue kit, first aid supplies, GPS, maps)
Not included in price:
- Lunch, snacks
- GST 5% tax
- Personal ski touring boots, skis, skins or snow board set up
- personal avalanche safety equipment *SMG rentals available $50/day for complete set or beacon ($30), shovel ($15) & probe ($15)
- Transportation to touring location
- Lift fee if applicable
- Additional charges due to changes in itinerary or ski location, guest must cover also additional guide costs (extra travel/accommodation/food expense)
- Trip cancellation and or trip interruption insurance. Medical, emergency rescue and evacuation insurance are also your responsibility
- Gratuities
Where can I rent Ski touring and safety equipment?
Summit Mountain Guides has a limited amount of winter safety equipment available for rental. Contact us for availability. Here are some outdoor stores Western Canada that supply good service, quality outdoor equipment and gear rental. Please ensure you rent gear well in advance.
Nelson:
ROAM phone 250-354-2056
Valhalla Pure Outfitters phone 250-354-1006
Gericks phone 250-354-4622
Sacred Ride phone 250-354-3831
Whitewater Resort Rentals (250) 354-4944
Rossland:
Red Mountain Resort Shop: (250) 362-7124
Powderhound Sports: (250) 362 5311
Revelstoke:
Revelstoke Powder Rentals: 1(866) 604-SNOW
Valhalla Pure Outfitters: (250) 837 5517
Golden:
Higher Ground Sports: (250) 344-7980
Lake Louise:
Calgary:
Mountain Equipment Coop
Outdoor Center (University of Calgary)
Kelowna:
Vancouver:
What transceiver should I use?
If you are interested in touring in the backcountry with friends or take one of our courses, it is very important to get a modern “triple antenna digital transceiver” with a marking function. We ask participants to ensure that they have a digital transceiver for the course. For recreational skiers and boarders, we suggest the following beacons: Mammut-Baryvox “Element”, Ortovox “Zoom”, Peeps “Recon” or the Tracker “3” or “S”. For people moving towards working in the ski industry a more professional “more advanced” beacons is recommended, such as Mammut-Baryvox “Pulse or S”, Ortovox “3+“ or Peeps “guide”, etc.
Skis, Telemark or Split Boards?
Which should you use? If you are a downhill skier then you should use Alpine Touring gear. Only if you are already an advanced Telemark skier or Snowboarder should you bring Telemark or Split Board gear. All types of gear can be rented in Nelson prior to your day trip. There are three types of backcountry systems you can use:
Alpine Touring skis are essentially downhill skis with a special touring binding which allows the heel to lift whilst going uphill or across the flats and then ‘locks down’ to become a regular downhill safety binding. We recommend this system to anyone with a background of downhill skiing who is not already an advanced telemark skier.
Telemark skis. These should only be used for this program if you are at least an advanced-intermediate telemark skier with some backcountry experience. This system is more difficult and less forgiving than the others.
Snowboarding with a Split Board is the most effective way to snowboard in the back country. We recommend this system to advanced snowboarder over snowshoeing.
