Glacier National Park is rolling out changes to its visitor centre between Revelstoke and Golden for the next while, and looking ahead to big adjustments for next year's winter ski season.
As of recent weeks, Glacier's Rogers Pass Centre has fully shuttered and could stay closed for up to two years while Parks Canada carries out renovations to strengthen the 40-year-old building's roof for future decades of heavy snow.
In the meantime, the temporary Summit Station has opened right next door, in the same parking lot off the Trans-Canada Highway.
It's spread across two buildings, where one provides accessible and all-gender washrooms, while the other offers merchandise and park passes for purchase and has Parks Canada staff on hand to answer questions. While unique amenities from the Rogers Pass Centre such as its wildlife exhibits won't be available this summer and early fall, standard and essential park services won't be interrupted thanks to Summit Station.
On Tuesday, July 15, the federal government announced the renovations to the Rogers Pass Centre are just one of the projects receiving some of the $13.4 million Canada is committing to infrastructure improvements at Glacier and Mount Revelstoke national parks.
"As one of Parks Canada's most visited facilities, the Rogers Pass Centre is a gateway to nature, connection, and discovery, linking travellers to essential services along the Trans-Canada Highway and within Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, year-round," Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault, also responsible for Parks Canada, said in a release.
"By enhancing safety, improving visitor experience, and safeguarding wildlife and ecosystems, we're keeping communities and our economy moving in every season," he added.
The Rogers Pass Centre, built in 1984, is part of a National Historic Site that Parks Canada says receives more than 420,000 visitors annually. Approximately, 6,000 vehicles daily, or 2.4 million yearly, travel Highway 1 through Glacier and Rogers Pass.
The centre contains a gift shop, theatre, interactive exhibits and, in winter, daily updates on avalanche conditions and closures. Usually open year-round, it's the only facility in Glacier maintained during winter and early spring, when snow blankets trails, campgrounds and day-use areas.
"The Rogers Pass Centre is an essential visitor experience and public safety node and rest point for travellers along this busy national corridor," the federal government noted in its release. "Summit Station will be open seven days a week to provide safety and travel services while highlighting the rich transport and mountaineering history of Rogers Pass."
With the Rogers Pass Centre under renovation as of this summer, Parks Canada has also been looking to change how things roll in Glacier during winter.
On June 18, it announced several changes to the park's winter permit system, following an extensive review of its 2023-24 winter ski touring season.
Based on feedback from 738 submissions and two in-person workshops, Parks Canada will as of the 2025-26 winter season require all backcountry users to obtain a winter permit, even for unrestricted winter zones such as Illecillewaet and Beaver.
All winter permit holders 香蕉视频直播� whether with an annual or daily winter pass 香蕉视频直播� will have to complete an avalanche safety quiz. While this was already required of annual winter permit holders to obtain their touring and parking passes, Parks Canada will create a new quiz for day visitors and also redesign the existing quiz for annual visitors, to make them more accessible.
"Backcountry users accessing Glacier National Park香蕉视频直播檚 unrestricted areas from the highway will receive the education they need to avoid inadvertently accessing a restricted or prohibited area," Parks Canada told winter permit holders by email in June. "Parks Canada can ensure all winter backcountry users are informed about key safety considerations when planning to enter complex avalanche terrain."
It also advised that with more limited space at Summit Station next winter season, backcountry touring groups should find other meeting spots. Visitors around Revelstoke are encouraged to dodge the lines for winter permits at Summit Station, and instead buy theirs at the Parks Canada office in town at 301 Third St. West. Parking layout at Rogers Pass will also be changing and more limited, Parks Canada said.
"We're fortunate to have the Rogers Pass Centre available to us during the winter months, and this rehabilitation is crucial to keeping it open and safe in the future," it added.
