It was closed in the summer of 2018 pending a geotechnical evaluation of the slope which underlay the structure, after a hiker noticed erosion on its eastern side, due to melting glacier ice.

[3][6][4][7][8] The pass and the hut are named after Philip Stanley Abbot (1867 - 1896), who became the first mountaineering fatality in North America[9] after he fell in an attempt to make the first ascent of Mount Lefroy in 1896.

[4] The hut was built in 1922 by Swiss guides working for the Canadian Alpine Association to shelter clients attempting to climb Victoria and Lefroy.

The hut was designated Abbot Pass Refuge Cabin National Historic Site of Canada in 1992, and, in 1997, a federal plaque was placed outside its front door.

[4] It involved about 900 metres (3,000 feet) of elevation gain and 3 to 5+ hours from Lake O'Hara to the hut depending on conditions and the strength of the party.

A trail was built to the hut by the Alpine Club, but parts of it were sometimes erased by rockslides, so route finding skills are helpful.

It involves crossing a number of crevasses in the glacier and may be impassible due to wall-to-wall bergschrund at the upper end.

The normal route up Mount Lefroy (3423 m / 11,230 ft) is via the west face, going straight up the slopes from the hut toward the summit.

[17] The hut slept 24 on its upper floor, and had both a wood stove for heating and drying, and a propane system for cooking and lighting.