20 August 2008
Rogers Pass, Then and Now
Canadian Pacific Railway's Glacier
Hotel - Date/photographer unknown.
Rogers Pass British Columbia - Incredulously, I peered out
the window of the overloaded car and into the liquor store at which we had made a brief pit stop.
"He couldn't be!" I exclaimed in disbelief. "Steve is actually buying a case of beer!"
Myself, I had been more sensible. My pack already overloaded with a sizeable sleeping bag, a hefty camera, a bladder of water, food,
and extra clothes, I had opted to keep my recreational beverages to a minimum. Chai tea, sugar, and a small bottle of Fireball Whiskey
would sustain me for the evening, and is, incidentally, an excellent light and compact beverage to bring on any overnight hike!
A former Whistler kid and still fairly new to Revelstoke, Steve loped over to the car and climbed in, beer under his arm and a goofy
grin on his face. We were all set. Rob threw the car in reverse and we were off, speeding eastward along the Trans-Canada
Highway on the short drive from Revelstoke to historic Rogers Pass and Glacier National Park where the Asulkan Valley beckoned.
With hikes starting at an altitude of over 1,200 metres the window of opportunity for summer exploration of the park is small. Often
receiving over 12 metres of snowfall annually, many trails are still under snow pack well into July. This, combined with steep and
treacherous terrain, contributed to the decline of the Glacier House Resort, a luxury Canadian Pacific hotel that once existed atop
this lofty pass. All that remains today are faded photos of an era long past and crumbling stone foundations littered among the dense
foliage of the Illecillewaet Campground.
After watching in amusement as Steve loaded his pack with twelve cold ones, the four of us embarked on our mission, lighthearted
despite the hefty backpacks pressing onto our shoulders. The decommissioned Canadian Pacific rail bed formed the first part of the
trail, taking us to the ruins of the Glacier House, where well-to-do guests once disembarked for a night in the Canadian
wilderness at the foot of the Illecillewaet Glacier. We continued into the forest and up toward the fields of ice beyond.
Construction of a railway that linked the new province of British Columbia to the rest of the country was a promise our first Prime
Minister, John A. MacDonald, made to Canadians in 1871. This land link would end B.C.'s isolation and prevent the colony's absorption
into the United States.
Thus began the "Battle of Routes" that saw surveying crews fight biting flies and muskeg, searing heat and bitter cold,
forest fires and raging rivers, all on foot and horseback in order to find a route through the seemingly impenetrable Selkirk
Mountains. A total of 74,000 kilometres of land was surveyed by 1881, when Major A.B. Rogers glimpsed a narrow pass up the
Illecillewaet valley - the pass over which today's Trans-Canada Highway is constructed. The discovery of Rogers Pass
earned the Major a $5,000 prize as well as a permanent place in Canadian history.
Before the last spike was driven into the earth at Craigellachie, B.C. on 7 Nov 1885, seven construction workers had been
buried in avalanches and two killed. And although the completion of the route signified a major international railroading triumph, no
trains ran for months in the first winter of operation. In fact, the next year saw the beginning of a new challenge; the construction
of 31 snow sheds, totaling six and a half kilometres in length, continuing the saga of challenges that would continue to beset
railroaders for 30 years to come.
As we sweated beneath our burdens, the trail meandered easily along the wooded hillside beside the Asulkan Brook, crossing slide paths
and the occasional patch of yet unmelted snow. Steve cracked a beer and took the lead as our route began to ascend rather steeply,
leaving the forest and entering a rocky, sun drenched sub alpine. A hoary marmot sunned himself lazily on a boulder. Steve savoured his
beer and quickened his pace, soon disappearing from view as the three of us plodded onward and upward, shaking our heads at his ability
to beat us to the top while drinking. Attributing this to his being five years our junior, we laboriously followed him up the
hillside.
In 1886, a year after the creation of Banff National Park, the Canadian government declared the area around Rogers Pass a protected
area and Glacier National Park was born. In June of the same year, the first scheduled passenger train summited the pass to open up
this raw slice of Canadian wilderness to scores of tourists - the crown jewel being the Great Glacier, today known as the Illecillewaet
Glacier, which loomed majestically overhead.
While the government provided funds to Banff for the development of tourism, they left the development of Glacier National Park to the
Canadian Pacific Railway, and the company soon constructed a small dining hall with a few chalet rooms below the glacier. Due to the
steep grades, a dining car was not feasible on the train as it added too much weight. This way, guests could disembark at the summit
and have a meal while taking in the inspiring views. The popularity of the Glacier House grew and was soon overbooked, prompting the
addition of a few sleeper cars until more rooms could be added.
Thus, at the site of today's Illecillewaet Campground at the summit of Rogers pass, there grew a luxury Canadian Pacific Hotel, built
before even the Banff Springs and Chateau Lake Louise. The Glacier House set standards for service and luxury, and was expanded twice,
once in 1892, and again in 1904 to its final capacity of 90 rooms. Hotel staff and hiking guides built climbers' cabins, trails, and
teahouses, and the area was soon considered the "Cradle of North American Mountaineering". A small city was born where today
one will only find a gas station and convenience store, an information centre, and campground. Summit City grew quickly to include
hotels, saloons, a barber, a school, residences, and a small railway maintenance facility.
Back in the present day, our trail had grown considerably steeper, yet its location was undoubtedly fantastic. After crossing a small
bridge, we began to climb a steep glacial moraine, essentially a large berm or ridge. We were ascending the spine at a painfully slow
pace.
The trail dropped off steeply on either side, allowing panoramic views of the sparkling glaciers above and dense forest below. Water
ran down smooth and shiny rock expanses. Trees were stunted, tiny; vegetation scarce. Steve maintained the lead but had abandoned his
beer drinking for the time being.
On 4 Mar 1910, a crew was toiling in the pass to clear the train tracks as they did every winter, when an avalanche roared
down the mountainside. Fifty eight men were killed. Since the railway's inception almost 30 years prior, close to 200 men had lost
their lives in avalanches. The Canadian Pacific was ready to give up on Rogers Pass when the eight kilometre Connaught Tunnel was
constructed through Mount MacDonald, rerouting the train through the mountain and away from the Glacier House Resort. On
13 Dec 1916, the tracks that ran over Rogers Pass were abandoned.
Although the Glacier House lost direct rail service, they stayed open for another ten years. Guests were brought to the hotel from the
tunnel's entrance along the abandoned rail line on horse drawn coaches. But the glacier, the main attraction, was beginning to recede
and visitation began to steadily decline. The hotel's popularity was also overshadowed by the newer Banff Springs and Chateau Lake
Louise hotels and in 1925 the Glacier House closed its doors forever.
With the railway rerouted and the highway yet to be built, Rogers Pass was very quiet for the next 35 years, receiving less than 1,000
alpinists annually. Those who did venture into this abandoned wilderness could find accommodation in a few rooms above a general store,
and later in the Wheeler Hut. Built in 1946 and run by the Alpine Club of Canada, the Wheeler Hut still stands among the trees and
foliage of the Illecillewaet Campground and is still available for use today. Sleeping 35 to 40 people, it seems a soundly constructed
little log cabin complete with a woodstove, a propane cook top, and lanterns, and a kitchen stocked with pots and pans. While
mountaineers took refuge in the rustic little cabin, the luxurious Glacier House Resort and Summit City were slowly being reclaimed by
vegetation, avalanches, floods, and landslides.
Construction of the Trans-Canada Highway over Rogers Pass began in 1956. Prior to its completion seven years hence,
motorists had to follow the Columbia River on what was known as the Big Bend Highway in order to travel east of Revelstoke. It was a
lengthy detour around the mountains that the new highway would eliminate. Following the original rail line, the rerouting of the
Trans-Canada over the pass brought tourism activity back to the Selkiriks. Glacier National Park now receives over 500,000
visitors annually.
Snow sheds, earth dams, dikes, and catch basins are all utilized in an effort to keep the highway open and safe, free of avalanche
debris and snow. Teams are employed year round to study the climate and snow pack, predict avalanches, and trigger unstable areas with
artillery. But despite all this, Mother Nature always has her way. This stretch of the Trans-Canada is frequently closed
due to avalanches and mud slides, not to mention often fatal car accidents caused by over zealous drivers in wintry conditions.
Rogers Pass was declared a national historic site in 1971. The creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway linking B.C. to the rest of
Canada played a very important role in our development as a nation. It ended our dependence on waterways for transportation and, as
such, helped many settlements spring up along the route, many of which grew into towns and cities. Foreign workers from Europe and Asia
played a major role in the construction of our railway, and many settled here permanently, adding to Canada's rich cultural diversity.
The historic site beside the highway at the summit of the pass commemorates early route finders, and the construction and operation of
a line that took many lives but united a young nation. The railway also introduced to the world the rugged wilderness of British
Columbia's Selkirk Mountains from the luxury of one of the west's first Canadian Pacific Hotels.
Asulkan is thought to mean "wild goat" in a First Nations dialect, and the cabin of the same name sits comfortably on a flat
shelf of rock atop a steep moraine ridge and below a towering glacier. Just behind it a sparkling glacial creek tumbles down the rocky
terrain, providing drinking water and cool refreshment. Deep drifts of snow remain well into July.
Steve already had the beer chilling in a nearby snow bank as the rest of us pulled our weary bodies up the final switchback. The
Asulkan Cabin is a snug refuge in a rugged wilderness, complete with twelve bunks, foam mattresses, a propane stove, lanterns,
kitchen supplies, and board games. At an altitude of 2,100 metres, six and a half kilometres from the Illecillewaet Campground, and
beneath lofty peaks and dazzling glaciers, we even found salt and pepper! It was a far cry from the luxury of the historic Glacier
House, but I could hardly ask for more than the sun on my face at a cozy cabin in B.C.'s majestic mountains, the satisfaction of
getting myself there beneath the burden of a weighty backpack, and a friend who was willing to carry the
beer!
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