Rogers Pass - Bugaboo Alpine Adventures

Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass offers some of the finest, moderate mountaineering routes in Canada. There are long, alpine rock climbs on exposed ridges, sprawling glaciers and snow and ice peaks. The rock is solid, blocky quartzite which offers good holds and easy climbing on lines that look difficult from the base. Although the highway through the pass is busy, very few people stop in the Park and it is rare to see other parties on the climbs. The area is protected in Glacier National Park and offers great scenery and well maintained trails.
Rogers Pass was the birthplace of mountaineering and guiding in Canada, when Victorian Age adventurers flocked from Britain on the newly completed railway to claim first ascents of the jagged peaks. Climbing was all but forgotten here when the railway was abandoned in favour of a tunnel. Now with the Trans Canada Highway going through the Pass and providing easy access, climbing is being rediscovered.

This trip is 5 days long and offers instruction in basic mountaineering skills as well as ascents of some of the nearby peaks. Skills covered include, snow climbing, snow anchors, crevasse rescue, prussiking, crampon technique and ice climbing. Also covered will be roping up techniques for glaciers, rope management, route finding and navigation. These skills can form the basis for many future mountaineering trips. The climbing is interesting and varied, including everything from snow and ice to easy rock climbing. Some of our objectives for the week will include; Youngs Peak (mostly glacier travel with a couple of steeper pitches involving snow or ice near the summit). Castor, Pollux and Leda, glacier travel to gain the ridge, then mostly rock climbing with some sections of snow or ice. Mount Swanzy, glacier travel, then several steeper pitches of snow or ice to the summit.

We will be based at the comfortable Asulkan Cabin, which provides easy access to glaciers and peaks. It is a four hour hike up to the Cabin, which will take us away from civilization and into the high alpine world of snow, ice and rock. The remainder of our first day will be spent going over mountaineering skills. The next four days will involve a combination of peak ascents and instruction on mountaineering skills, using your new skills in a practical setting. After 5 days learning and climbing you will be fit and ready for an ascent of Mount Sir Donald, the beautiful Pyramid shaped mountain that dominates the area.

Dates: June - September
Price: $1300 Canadian, minimum 3 people
Meeting Place: Rogers Pass, 80 km west of Golden BC

Includes:

Technical Gear (ropes, harness, ice axe, crampons)

Internationally certified IFMGA mountain guide

breakfasts and dinners

hut accommodation for 4 nights

emergency equipment (first aid, radio)

Does not include:

transportation

rescue insurance (rescue costs are covered by Parks Canada when you buy your park pass which is required to enter the park. Make sure you buy it)

boots, clothing, pack

Requirements:

No previous mountaineering experience is required for this trip. Good physical condition is required as some of the peak days will long, up to 10 hours.