Advocacy group Revive Rogers pushes for replacement accommodation at Rogers Pass

Just weeks after Parks Canada gained control of Glacier Park Lodge at Rogers Pass and then announced plans to demolish it, a new lobby group has sprung up urging Parks Canada to replace the lodge with suitable accommodation for backcountry users.

Glacier Park Lodge aerial view. Photo: Glacier Park Lodge website screenshot

Tom McMillan is a Calgary-based backcountry skier who’s behind the online drive, which includes a the website reviverogers.com, a change.org petition, and a number of social media accounts linked to the campaign. The website also includes a survey of backcountry users, asking questions about their usage of Glacier National Park.

McMillan travels to Rogers Pass for ski touring in the winter, but the loss of the winter accommodation means that those like himself have reduced access to Glacier National Park. McMillan draws a distinction between local backcountry users from Revelstoke and Golden, and those who have to travel from afar and require accommodation. In his case, the closure of the lodge in the past few years has meant fewer trips to the area in the past few years. Other backcountry huts are often booked months in advance.

“The question that I am asking now is what do people want now?” McMillan said in an interview with the Revelstoke Mountaineer. “There is this real ambiguity as to what direction they are going to go in. I think it’s incumbent on the community that actually use the park to put their voice out there.”

McMillan envisions a LEED certified lodge with a mix of accommodation types, including budget lodgings and high-end units.

His change.org petition asks supporters to back the following statement:

Letter to

As of the time this article was written, the petition has garnered 50 signatures.

McMillan, who works in marketing and communications, said the campaign had been doing well, getting over 200 Facebook followers in less than 48 hours, despite little promotion. He plans to promote the campaign in the coming days.

An image showing damage to one of the rooms at Glacier Park Lodge, which has been closed for the past few years. Photo: Parks Canada

“I am surprised by the organic reach of this,” he said. “I did not expect to get the response I have received.”

McMillan feels that new lodging could also be a safety benefit, providing a hub for backcountry education, avalanche awareness, and better awareness of the Winter Permit System, which seeks to keep skiers safe from the artillery-based avalanche control system at Rogers Pass.

In an interview with the Revelstoke Mountaineer in late October, the superintendent for the park cast doubt on the idea of a freestanding lodge in the area, but didn’t rule out accommodation altogether. Superintendent Nick Irving said that Parks Canada would embark on a planning process with public consultation about the future of the site, but said there was no timeline on that process at this point.

Parks employees board up Glacier Park Lodge in late October. Photo: Parks Canada

The privately-held Glacier Park Lodge was the subject of a legal struggle that lasted for several years and involved Parks Canada and about a dozen other parties with interest in the case, including the provincial government, about eight investment and holdings companies, lenders and two individuals.

In early November, the Mountaineer requested details on the settlement from Parks Canada. On Nov. 7, Parks Canada denied the request and issued a short statement: “Elements of this case, involving other parties, have not yet been resolved. Because of these continuing legal matters related to the site, Parks Canada cannot provide details of the settlement at this time,” wrote Parks Canada spokesperson Shelley Bird.

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