Researched route, Rogers Pass
Rogers Pass
One long climb through big old forest at Rogers Pass to glades falling west off the shoulder. You can only go on days Parks Canada posts it open.
McGill Shoulder is the long forested ridge running south from Mount McGill to the Trans-Canada Highway, 17 km west of the Rogers Pass summit in Glacier National Park, between Revelstoke and Golden. It's one long climb: about 1,100 m in 3.3 km from the Bostock lot to where the skin track tops out near 2,080 m, nearly all of it in big old forest. It's inside a Parks Canada restricted area, so you can only go on days it's posted open. The slopes falling west off the top, where the trip reports ski, are avalanche terrain with a record of slabs set off by skiers. The route is the common, well documented way to that skiing. Where you go and what you ski there is up to you.
We built this route from our own extensive research. All resources are cited on the dashboard. We haven't skied it ourselves, the routes illustrated may not be the best line choice, use your own judgement when planning. Remember you are still responsible for your own tour.
Last checked October 18, 2026.
| Distance | about 3.3 km to the top of the skin track, then the run down and about 2.5 km out on the Bostock Creek trail: roughly 7.5 km in all (the run down isn't a measured line, so that part is our estimate) |
| Elevation gain | about 1,100 m |
| Slope angles | mostly 15 to 30 degrees on the crest; the slopes beside it reach the 40s, about 50 at the steepest; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 987 m |
| High point | about 2,080 m where the skin track tops out above the glades, from a 2019 GPS track and Avalanche Canada report pins; terrain data reads 2,056 m. It isn't a summit: the shoulder carries on up toward Mount McGill |
| Nearest town | Revelstoke or Golden |
| Pass required | A Winter Permit and a national park pass for each person, and a printed Winter Parking Permit for each car |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
Head west on the Trans-Canada through Golden to the Rogers Pass summit. If you don't already hold an annual Winter Permit, stop at Summit Station there for a daily one. The Bostock lot is about 17 km farther west, just north of the highway where Bostock Creek comes down.
If the lot is full, Parks Canada asks you to change your plans. You can't park along the highway, and stopping isn't allowed in the signed avalanche zones beside it. The lot is sometimes poorly plowed. The highway closes at times for avalanche control, so check DriveBC before you go. If you come back to a closure, stay with your car until Parks Canada says the road is open. Cell service in the park is unreliable. For a backcountry emergency, Parks Canada's dispatch line is 1-877-852-3100. Leave your plan with someone who isn't coming.
From November 15 until Parks Canada ends its highway avalanche control for the winter, the Winter Permit System runs in Glacier National Park. Everyone going past the parking lot needs their own Winter Permit, photo ID and a national park pass, in the unrestricted areas too. Going without one can cost you up to $25,000. Camping and any overnight stay aren't allowed in a restricted area.
Annual and daily permits both start with Parks Canada's online quiz. You apply for an annual permit online, and it can take a week or more to come by email. Daily permits are sold only at Summit Station at the pass, only for that day, and can't be used overnight. The Rogers Pass Centre is closed for the 2026-27 season, so Summit Station is where you buy permits and park passes. It opens at 7:30 am Pacific time, an hour behind Alberta. Each car needs the Winter Parking Permit that comes with the permit, printed and on the dashboard, with a plate that matches the car.
A permit alone doesn't get you on the route. McGill Shoulder is in the West Rogers Winter Restricted Area, which Parks Canada opens or keeps closed each day around its artillery avalanche control for the highway and railway. The status goes up at about 7:30 am. The Bostock lot is a restricted lot. It closes at midnight and opens again only once West Rogers is posted open, and Parks Canada doesn't let anyone drive into or park in it before then. If West Rogers is closed, so are the lot and this route. The same lot is also the start for the Fortitude restricted area and Flat Creek, across the highway and the river. Those have their own status and their own access route, and they aren't part of this plan.
Bostock Creek runs right beside the lot, and the ground west of it there is the Mount Fidelity prohibited area, closed all year. Our route stays east of the creek.
We checked these rules on Parks Canada's pages on 2026-10-28, which were last updated 2026-10-15. Parks Canada still links its 2025 boundary file, so that's the one we checked the line against, and the restrictions order posted at the trailheads rules over any map. The boundaries aren't marked on the ground, so carry Parks Canada's map, and read the current pages before you go.
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