Kicking Horse, BC | March 30th to April 6th
After a brief day of skiing at Kimberley and the prior week at Fernie, I continued north to Kicking Horse in Golden, BC. I can't say it enough, no matter where I've been driving up here, the views are gorgeous. When I arrived at the base of the mountain there's a lot where there were other RVs and pickup campers parked. It's located right next to the Purcell heli landing area which serves the surrounding area. A perfect spot to stay for the night and be on the mountain early. It was Easter weekend, so it was a bit busier than usual, but still relatively calm compared to some of the lift lines I've seen elsewhere.
Kicking Horse is a very unique mountain. 5 total lifts, and only 2 that I took the whole time there. The "Golden Eagle Express" Gondola and the "Stairway to Heaven" lift. These 2 lifts access some incredible terrain, 2800 acres, and 4133' vertical feet of skiing. Absolutely incredible. Kicking Horse was also host to one of the Freeride World Tour events this year. If you've never seen videos of FWT, I'd recommend checking some of them out in the link. At the top of the Gondola, there are spectacular views in every direction. When I got up there, I took a moment, looked around and thought about where I wanted to ski. I couldn't go wrong no matter where I headed.
I skied down to the "Stairway to heaven" lift and hiked up to "Whitewall." From there, pick a line, it's all incredible. Whitewall into Feuz Bowl, back to the lower portion of the mountain, and ski all the way to the base, jump back on the Gondola and pick the next line.
Given that it was a busier weekend, and there was snow in the forecast later in the week, I took the next couple of days to rest and spent some time in town. I visited Whitetooth Brewing, took a couple of yoga classes at the Golden Lotus, and spent some time planning on where I'd be headed later in the week. A good call, as I'd been skiing pretty much non-stop for the past week and my legs were shot.
That Monday I was back out on the hill, and lift lines were non-existent, I was skiing right back to the gondola. I hiked out to "Super Bowl" in between the "Terminator 1 and 2" peaks. With a couple of inches of fresh snow on top, the skiing was again, amazing.
Form there there is also an incredible view of the "Terminator 2" peak which I knew I had to get out to at some point. The hike is just a but farther than I wanted to go on that day and there was still a ton of incredible skiing closer to the gondola. Still, the lines out there looked amazing and as soon as there was some more fresh snow I was going to head over that way. The following day I did. Getting to the "Terminator 2" peak requires a 10-15 min traverse, before I took off my skis and boot-packed up the rest of the way. The hike starts along a thin ridge with steeps on both sides before arriving at a rope bolted to a rock. I climbed up and around the rock and arrived at the top. Spectacular views. There was one other person up there at the time, and as it turns out he was also from Colorado. We both commented how it feels a bit different skiing there from our home mountains. There was no rush to get down so I took some time to take in the views before skiing back down. Even from out here, the ski back down ends at the base by the gondola. So cool, in one run I'd end up skiing a variety of terrain, from a powder bow, to some bumps, to a groomer, then jump back on the gondola. A full week of skiing 4000' vert on every run, awesome.
My last day there was on a Friday, and it was snowing on and off the night before and throughout the day. Another short hike up Terminator 1 peak and there's an awesome line named "Glory." With there being very few people on the mountain, and good snow blowing in, it made for incredible skiing. I did a couple of runs through there before heading back into town for the night.
The next morning I was going to continue north and drive through Banff and Jasper National Park before continuing on to the Alaska highway. I loved skiing at Kicking Horse, and I would absolutely recommend a visit here. The people are all very friendly, and the skiing is unlike anywhere else I've visited.
Kicking Horse is a very unique mountain. 5 total lifts, and only 2 that I took the whole time there. The "Golden Eagle Express" Gondola and the "Stairway to Heaven" lift. These 2 lifts access some incredible terrain, 2800 acres, and 4133' vertical feet of skiing. Absolutely incredible. Kicking Horse was also host to one of the Freeride World Tour events this year. If you've never seen videos of FWT, I'd recommend checking some of them out in the link. At the top of the Gondola, there are spectacular views in every direction. When I got up there, I took a moment, looked around and thought about where I wanted to ski. I couldn't go wrong no matter where I headed.I skied down to the "Stairway to heaven" lift and hiked up to "Whitewall." From there, pick a line, it's all incredible. Whitewall into Feuz Bowl, back to the lower portion of the mountain, and ski all the way to the base, jump back on the Gondola and pick the next line.
That Monday I was back out on the hill, and lift lines were non-existent, I was skiing right back to the gondola. I hiked out to "Super Bowl" in between the "Terminator 1 and 2" peaks. With a couple of inches of fresh snow on top, the skiing was again, amazing.
Form there there is also an incredible view of the "Terminator 2" peak which I knew I had to get out to at some point. The hike is just a but farther than I wanted to go on that day and there was still a ton of incredible skiing closer to the gondola. Still, the lines out there looked amazing and as soon as there was some more fresh snow I was going to head over that way. The following day I did. Getting to the "Terminator 2" peak requires a 10-15 min traverse, before I took off my skis and boot-packed up the rest of the way. The hike starts along a thin ridge with steeps on both sides before arriving at a rope bolted to a rock. I climbed up and around the rock and arrived at the top. Spectacular views. There was one other person up there at the time, and as it turns out he was also from Colorado. We both commented how it feels a bit different skiing there from our home mountains. There was no rush to get down so I took some time to take in the views before skiing back down. Even from out here, the ski back down ends at the base by the gondola. So cool, in one run I'd end up skiing a variety of terrain, from a powder bow, to some bumps, to a groomer, then jump back on the gondola. A full week of skiing 4000' vert on every run, awesome.
My last day there was on a Friday, and it was snowing on and off the night before and throughout the day. Another short hike up Terminator 1 peak and there's an awesome line named "Glory." With there being very few people on the mountain, and good snow blowing in, it made for incredible skiing. I did a couple of runs through there before heading back into town for the night.
The next morning I was going to continue north and drive through Banff and Jasper National Park before continuing on to the Alaska highway. I loved skiing at Kicking Horse, and I would absolutely recommend a visit here. The people are all very friendly, and the skiing is unlike anywhere else I've visited.
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