Rogers Pass is 4,364 ft (1,330m) above sea level and is the third highest point along the Trans-Canada Highway.
Rogers Pass was declared a National Historic Site in 1971, commemorating the connection of Canada as a nation by rail and road.
First with the railway, completed in 1885 - part of a promise to British Columbians to connect them to the rest of Canada, enticing them to join confederation.
Then, the Trans-Canada Highway which opened in 1962.
Snow:
There are, on average, 155 days of snowfall per year in Glacier National Park.
Rogers Pass receives, on average, 10 metres (approximately 32.5 feet) of snowfall at treeline each winter.
Recorded snowfall at the Summit of Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park (elevation of 1,315m):
Average recorded yearly snowfall from 1965 to 2024 is 905cm;
Highest recorded snowfall year was 1966/67 with 1,553cm;
569cm of snow fell in 2023-24.
Recorded snowfall at the Mt Fidelity weather station in Glacier National Park (elevation 1,905m):
Average recorded yearly snowfall from 1965 to 2024 is 1424cm;
Highest recorded snowfall year was 1966/67 with 2,151cm;
990cm of snow fell in 2023-24.
Avalanches:
Approximately 2000 avalanche activity events along the Trans-Canada corridor are recorded by Parks Canada staff each year.
On average, 20 avalanches a year affect the highway with mass and 80 avalanches affect the highway with blowing snow and wind. (Parks Canada works to control avalanches before they get big enough to affect the highway.)
Avalanches can reach speeds of up to 250 kph.
Avalanche Control:
The avalanche control operation requires 14 Parks Canada avalanche forecasters and technicians and visitor safety staff, 2 Parks Canada Law Enforcement Officers, Parks Canada highway staff and two rotations of 17 Canadian Armed Forces military personnel.
Operation Palaci is the longest running Canadian Forces operation, domestic or expeditionary, in Canadian history.
The Operation Palaci mission is the only Canadian Armed Forces Domestic Operation in Canada that provides live fire support, by way of the Royal Canadian Artillery, to alleviate the threat to the strategic corridor resident in the steep slopes and associated snowpack of the Selkirk Mountain Range.
Over the past 20 years, Glacier National Park has averaged 20 avalanche control missions per year. The highest number was 41 in 2011-12 and the historic low (in 2023-24) was 8.
105mm C-3 Howitzers are used to trigger avalanches during avalanche control operations. The use of howitzers with live explosives, in collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces, remains the most efficient method to control avalanches in Rogers Pass.
Parks Canada is responsible for managing avalanche hazards through an approximately 40km stretch of the Trans Canada Highway from 16 gun positions that mark 135 different avalanche paths and approximately 270 artillery targets (each path may have multiple targets).
Line-of-sight distances between the gun and the targets are up to 5km over a vertical rise of up to 1.8km
The Trans-Canada Highway:
Approximately 4,000 vehicles and 24-32 trains (between 10,000 -15,000 feet long) travel through Rogers Pass each day in the winter. (Note: the annual average daily traffic volume is 6,000 vehicles – there is more traffic in the summer (8,000 vehicles) than in the winter.
Highway Closures:
On average, there are approximately 100 hours of highway closures per year related to avalanche control work in the Rogers Pass area of Glacier National Park.
The majority of closures are from Revelstoke to Golden and last between 4 to 8 hours.
On average, there is 1 closure lasting longer than 12 hours every 4 years. -The last closure of more than 24 hours was in 2009.
Over the 50 years of the avalanche control program there have been 13 closures lasting longer than 24 hours, 75% of which occurred in the 1970’s.
