Rogers Pass

pass, British Columbia, Canada

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Article History

Rogers Pass, gap between the Hermit and Sir Donald ranges of the Selkirk Mountains, in Glacier National Park, southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It was named for Major A.B. Rogers, who explored it in 1881 while searching for a practicable route for the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Despite its relatively low elevation (4,354 feet [1,327 metres] above sea level), attempts to lay track through the pass cost so many lives from avalanches down its steep valley sides that instead the 5-mile- (8-km-) long Connaught Tunnel was built in 1916 beneath the pass. A scenic section (protected by huge snowsheds) of the Trans-Canada Highway between Revelstoke (west) and Golden (east) was completed through the pass in 1962. That accomplishment was observed (September 3, 1962) as the official opening of the entire route, and a monument was later erected on the pass to commemorate the occasion. Another railway tunnel, the 9.1-mile- (14.6-km-) long Mount MacDonald Tunnel (completed 1988), was built beneath the pass to reduce track grades for westbound trains; eastbound trains now use Connaught Tunnel.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kenneth Pletcher.