Guide To Ski Touring At Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass sits high in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia and is easily accessed via the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). Most of the common ski tours start from one of the many parking lots along the highway, and maintained by Parks Canada. It’s located about 65 km east of Revelstoke (roughly a 45-minute drive) and 80 km west of Golden (around 60 minutes). Winter driving conditions can extend travel times, especially from the Revelstoke side, which sees heavier snowfall. Careful driving and equipping your vehicle with winter tires are key to safely navigating the icy roads.

Skiing at Rogers Pass is simply phenomenal, and the main reason is the terrain. Nearly everything here is skiable and full of character. You'll tour through ancient forests, drop into sprawling alpine bowls, navigate sharp ridgelines, and cross massive, glaciated terrain. One day you're snorkelling through bottomless powder; the next, you're bootpacking a knife-edge ridge and dropping into a steep couloir. That said, most of the terrain is best suited for advanced and expert skiers or splitboarders with solid fitness. The routes are long, the climbs are big, and the descents can be serious.

Rogers Pass sits in an intercontinental belt, receiving large amounts of relatively dry snow, averaging 10 to 12 metres at treeline each season. It’s no exaggeration to say the ski conditions here rank among the best in Canada, if not the world. But with great snow comes significant avalanche risk. The area is known for both persistent instabilities, like buried surface hoar, crusts, and facets, and surface instabilities such as storm and wind slabs. Snowpack depth typically ranges from 200 to over 400 cm, depending on the season. By mid-December or January, the accumulating snowpack generally smooths out much of the terrain’s natural roughness, covering boulders, tree stumps, and small cliffs, making for more forgiving travel and better skiing.

Rogers Pass is renowned for its world-class backcountry skiing and splitboarding, but with that comes serious avalanche risk. Avalanche control measures were put in place to ensure the safety of travellers driving along the highway corridor. To manage this, Parks Canada has implemented the Rogers Pass Winter Permit System, which ensures that backcountry users don’t enter areas with active avalanche control operations. The system relies heavily on user compliance, making it critical for all visitors to understand and follow the rules.