Rogers Pass Skiing

Late January to early Feb 2023 we skied at Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park. 3 nights were booked at the A.O. Wheeler hut and the following 2 days at the Asulkan hut. Part 1 will cover ski touring out of the Wheeler hut.

Day 1 - GPX

Driving from Kamloops and arriving in the afternoon we had to pick up the overnight parking permit I had called ahead for and reserved which was left in the red mailbox outside. Also opted to buy the Parks Canada discovery pass since we had 6 days planned of skiing in Glacier National Park. 20$ per day for day passes - not sure if that is a cost per person or per vehicle? You need the reservation numbers from the Alpine Club of Canada hut bookings in order to receive the parking permit. The last permit was a restricted access pass which needs to be completed ahead of time on the Parks website and after answering 30 questions correct the permit was emailed to you. Evident that was the quiz was created by fellow ski bums! The idea of the quiz is good because it forces people to understand where they need to park and adds some accountability of knowing where things are and what the rules are etc. But the execution of the quiz seemed a little silly and you have to repeat on an annual basis.

We skied the route into Balu Pass since our car was already positioned at the Rogers Pass Discovery Center for the permits and it gave us a chance to see the terrain from a different trailhead. Temps were during the cold and dry snap, around -20 C. Snow conditions very light powder, probably the most desirable I have ever skied before. As the week progressed, the temps got warmer and more wind was creating wind slabs in the alpine. There was still plenty of powder around especially in Tree Triangle zone in the Asulkan Valley. There are a couple of options for runs right from the discovery center with the simplest and least technical including Rogers Run through the trees or Grizzly Tracks. I had a guidebook from Douglas Sproul and a Geobackcountry map of Rogers Pass, both of which provided invaluable information.

Rogers Pass Discovery Center

Connaught Creek

Grizzly Tracks Route

Uto Peak??

Seen in the distance looking behind from the Balu Pass Trail

Balu Pass

Day 2 - GPX

The A.O Wheeler Hut is easy to access near the highway which is convenient to avoid driving up and down Rogers Pass from either Revelstoke or Golden. At valley bottom though you have to do lots of climbing to get into skiing terrain. Still a great place to basecamp for a few days.

We skinned up the Great Glacier Trail which emerges into a bowl with Perley Rock to the left and Lookout Col to the right and the Illecillewaet Glacier above. At first glance the terrain looked more technical accessing Perley Rock directly so we stayed right punching in a skin track meandering through boulders and steep features eventually linking up with one that would have been used a few days prior. The ski back down the skin track would have been doable but not recommended since the micro terrain was very patchy. Lookout col was a cool destination to see a link into the Asulkan Valley but apparently few descend south over the col. We skied down to an elevation of 1980m and across the lower portion of the Illecillewaet Glacier and eventually skiers right of Perley Rock. The skiing here was rreally good and I especially liked that we made a loop out of the day. The trees below are not straightforward but doable especially in good snow conditions. There was a prominent cliff skiers left which is hard to see on the topo lines. Maybe one could stay high upon entering the trees and cross a smaller ridge to access terrain far skiers left for more turns out of the trees and still reach the exit trail? Counterclockwise was a good direction for the loop but it appeared most other parties were skinning directly up lookers left to access either PR or the IG.