Chilkoot Pass - The Pass

The Pass

The Chilkoot trail raised 900 feet to the base of the Chilkoot Pass to an area called the Scales. This was a rough rock strewn area and was named thus because it was the last place the travelers could have their packs reweighed and adjustments could be made to their payments. The Scales was used as a place where travelers could store their provisions and supplies while continuing back for the rest of their supplies before the journey up the Pass. After the Scales, the ground rose about 500-600 feet over a distance of approximately half a mile. The trail was covered with giant, sharp slabs of rock which made the footing treacherous and often inducing crawling during the summer months. In the winter the ice was cut into 1500 stairs which came to be known as the ‘Golden Stairs’. There were approximately 1500 stairs the stampeders had to climb to reach the top of the pass, and the stairs were too narrow for more than one person to travel up at a time, so the trek was limited to a single file line up the mountain. The workers who had carved stairs into the ice of Chilkoot Pass had also charged for the privilege of ascending the mountain, as they had used their stairs.