Rogers Pass
At the summit of Rogers Pass
Elevation	1330 m./4363 ft.
Location	British Columbia,  Canada
Range	Selkirk Mountains
Traversed by	Trans-Canada Highway & Canadian Pacific Railway

Rogers Pass (el. 1330 m.) is a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. The pass is a shortcut across the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east. The pass was discovered on May 29, 1881 by Major Albert Bowman Rogers, a surveyor working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Photo of Rogers Pass, British Columbia, Canada taken by Michael Rogers. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English de facto (none stated in law) Flower Pacific dogwood Tree Western Redcedar Bird Stellers Jay Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 36 6 Area... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada_(bordered). ... The Himalaya as seen from the International Space Station A mountain range is a group of mountains bordered by lowlands or separated from other mountain ranges by passes or rivers. ... The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range originating in Idaho and Washington, and extending into SE British Columbia. ... Image File history File links British_Columbia_provincial_highway_1. ... Trans Canada Highway over Canada Map The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins all ten provinces of Canada. ... An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through the range. ... The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range originating in Idaho and Washington, and extending into SE British Columbia. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English de facto (none stated in law) Flower Pacific dogwood Tree Western Redcedar Bird Stellers Jay Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 36 6 Area... An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... Trans Canada Highway over Canada Map The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins all ten provinces of Canada. ... The Columbia River (French: fleuve Columbia) is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Revelstoke was also the name of a well-known Canadian chain of hardware and home improvement stores, now known as Rona. ... Golden is a town in central eastern British Columbia, Canada, located 262 kilometres (163 miles) west of Calgary, Alberta and 713 kilometres (443 miles) east of Vancouver. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Rogers in the 1880s, from the CPR Archive Major Albert Bowman Rogers ( 28 May 1829 - 1889), commonly known as A.B. Rogers, was an American surveyor now best remembered for his discovery of the Rogers Pass in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Rogers Pass is in the heart of Glacier National Park, in the midst of mountains popular for ski mountaineering and mountain climbing ever since the region became accessible in 1886. The location has tourist services including a visitor’s centre, hotels and National Park services. Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, Canada. ... Ski mountaineering is a sport that combines the techniques of skiing (often ski touring) with those of mountaineering. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...

Geography

Rogers Pass is a narrow valley surrounded by a number of mountains. It is formed by the headwaters of the Illecillewaet River to the west and by Beaver River to the east. Both of these rivers are tributaries of the Columbia River, which loops about 240 km around to the north of the pass. It was named after Major Rogers who first surveyed the pass. Illecillewaet River Illecillewaet River Bridge, Revelstoke, BC The Illecillewaet River is a river located in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Rogers Pass is known for its winter snowfall, which amounts to about 10 m per year. Because of steep mountains, avalanches are very common in winter. When the railway first went over the pass, 31 snow sheds amounting to about 6.5 km were built to protect the railway from the avalanches. To keep the Trans-Canada Highway open during the winter, the military uses 105 mm howitzers to knock down the avalanches under controlled circumstances so traffic is not caught in unexpected avalanches. The Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line passes through a timber snow shed. ...

Discovery

During the 1870s when the Canadian Pacific Railway was being planned, the preferred route through the Rocky Mountains was the northerly Yellowhead Pass. When the railway construction project was turned over to a private company in 1881, the route was changed to the Kicking Horse Pass. While the railway was being built across the prairies, the railway company had to find a pass over the unexplored Selkirk Mountains, or else it would have to detour around them via the Big Bend. // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... Rockies may also refer to the National League Baseball team, the Colorado Rockies. ... Canadian National Railways GP9 climbing in the Yellowhead Pass The Yellowhead Pass (elevation 1110 m, lat. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Kicking Horse Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff National Parks. ...

Major A. B. Rogers was hired in April 1881 by the railway company to find the pass with the promise of having the pass named after him and a $5000 bonus. Walter Moberly had discovered Eagle Pass just to the west, and based on suggestions in Moberly's reports, Rogers started out from what is now Revelstoke, up the Illecillewaet River. Running out of food, Rogers and his party almost reached the summit but turned back feeling reasonably confident that a pass existed. Rogers returned the following year, 1882, from the east and reached a point where he could see where he had stopped the previous season, confirming that the pass existed and was good enough for the railway rapidly approaching across the prairies. Rogers was reluctant to cash the $5000 cheque, and instead framed it for his wall until CPR General Manager Van Horne offered him a gold watch as an incentive to cash it. Rogers in the 1880s, from the CPR Archive Major Albert Bowman Rogers ( 28 May 1829 - 1889), commonly known as A.B. Rogers, was an American surveyor now best remembered for his discovery of the Rogers Pass in British Columbia, Canada. ... Walter Moberly (1832 - 1915) was a civil engineer and surveyor who played a large role in the early exploration and development of British Columbia, Canada, including discovering Eagle Pass, now used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. ... For the city by the same name in Texas, see Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a 550 m (1,804 ft) mountain pass through the Gold Range of the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... William Cornelius Van Horne (February 3, 1843 – September 11, 1915) was a pioneering North American railway executive. ...

Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway freight over the Stoney Creek Bridge

When the railway was built through the pass in 1884, the eastern approach up the Beaver River required some of the largest bridges on the line, including the often-photographed Stoney Creek Bridge. A series of loops were used on the west side of the pass to deal with the steep hill and avoid the avalanche routes. After the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in the fall of 1885, the railway was shutdown for the winter to observe the avalanches. In response, 31 snow sheds were built, with a total length of about 6.5 km. Download high resolution version (513x768, 421 KB) A Canadian Pacific Railway freight eastbound over the Stoney Creek Bridge. ... Download high resolution version (513x768, 421 KB) A Canadian Pacific Railway freight eastbound over the Stoney Creek Bridge. ... An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... An avalanche is a very large slide of snow (or rock) down a mountainside, caused when a buildup of snow is released down a slope, and is one of the major dangers faced in the mountains. ...

Some major avalanches that came without warning caused the railway serious loss of life and property. In 1899, 8 people were killed when an avalanche destroyed the train station at the pass. In 1910, the CPR suffered its worst loss. A crew and rotary snowplow were working to clear a snow slide when a second slide from the opposite side of the valley came down, killing 62 people. To avoid the avalanches the 8 km (5 mile) Connaught Tunnel was completed under Rogers Pass in 1916. At the time, this was the longest railway tunnel in North America. Some sections of the abandoned railway eventually became walking rail trails in Glacier National Park. Connaught Tunnel, in the Selkirk Mountains under Rogers Pass on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line between Calgary, Alberta, and Revelstoke, British Columbia, at 5. ... Rail trails are former railway lines that have been converted to paths designed for pedestrian, bicycle, skating, equestrian, and/or light motorized traffic. ...

Even with the tunnel, some of the CPR's largest locomotives and long helper districts were used to get trains up and over the pass. The Selkirk steam locomotive, one of the biggest, was named after the mountain range penetrated by this pass. In 1988, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened the 14.7 km (9.2 mile) Mount Macdonald Tunnel under the Pass to increase capacity (operating one tunnel in each direction) and to decrease the grades on the approach from the east. The lickey banker 58100 Big Bertha assisting an express up the Lickey, July or August 1955. ... T1a Selkirk at Banff, Alberta in 1938. ... The Mount Macdonald Tunnel, located in the vicinity of Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, is a railway tunnel constructed through Mount Macdonald by the Canadian Pacific Railway. ...

Trans-Canada Highway

The original highway between Revelstoke and Golden followed the Columbia River around the Big Bend to avoid crossing Rogers Pass. Between 1956 and 1962 a new highway was built over the pass to shorten the route, which now formed part of the Trans-Canada Highway. This also allowed the construction of Mica Dam, which flooded part of the Big Bend as Kinbasket Lake. Trans Canada Highway over Canada Map The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins all ten provinces of Canada. ... Mica Dam is a hydroelectric dam spanning the Columbia River, 135 kilometres (84 miles) north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. ... Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the town of Revelstoke and Golden. ...

A number of snow sheds and earth dams are used to protect the Rogers Pass highway from avalanches.

See also

• Canadian Rockies
• Other CPR grades in British Columbia: Field Hill, Big Hill, Spiral Tunnels, Eagle Pass

Ringrose Peak, Lake OHara, British Columbia, Canada The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. ... Field was created solely to accommodate the Canadian Pacific Railways need for additional locomotives to be added to trains about to tackle the Big Hill. ... “Big Hill” on the CPR, 1890. ... CPR 5844 emerges from the lower spiral tunnel, passing under its own train, 1986. ... For the city by the same name in Texas, see Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a 550 m (1,804 ft) mountain pass through the Gold Range of the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. ...

External links

• Hiking and Climbing Photos
• Mt Tupper Photos

References

• The Last Spike The Great Railway 1881-1885 Pierre Berton McCelland and Stewart Limited Toronto/Montreal 1971 0-771001327-2
• "The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill" Graeme Pole Altitude Publishing Canmore 1999 1-55153-907-1
• History of Rogers Pass

Coordinates: 51°18′05″N, 117°31′12″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...