Kicking Horse
Have you been kicked by the horse? Your answer is likely to be “yes” if you’ve skied or snowboarded one of the many black or double black diamond chutes or bowls at Kicking Horse Resort. It has a great reputation for being hard core and many an expert has been humbled here. The mountain cites 45% black runs and 15% double-black diamond runs, although some of the single black diamond runs would be considered double blacks elsewhere. The peaks at Kicking Horse were once only available to lucky heli-skiers, and now us mere mortals can access this great terrain.
Kicking Horse is a new ski resort village that opened in 2000. The resort is located 14km outside the logging town of Golden, in British Columbia, Canada. It’s about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from Calgary, and is about 90km west of Banff. The location of Kicking Horse is ideally situated to produce light dry powder, and it doesn’t suffer from the wetter weather patterns that can affect its southern BC neighbours. It’s all about quality not quantity at Kicking Horse with an average annual snowfall of 7m at the top of the mountain.
The in-resort skiable
terrain is 2,750 acres (11.1km²). The top of the mountain consists of three main bowls and many ridges that fan out into one main face, providing a total of 106 named runs. Kicking Horse boasts significant vertical at 1,260m feet, the 4th longest in North America (1.8 metres less than
Jackson Hole), but for some this amount of vertical could be considered rather annoying.
The resort is in its infancy and only has four chairlifts, two of which are used solely by beginners. The main lift from bottom to top is a high speed gondola which allows access to the huge variety of terrain for experts at the top of the mountain. Further down the mountain it flattens out to intermediate and then beginner territory, and if you want to remain on the upper mountain your choices are limited. There’s the slow Stairway to Heaven chair near the top that only services one ridge, otherwise your only other option is to ski right to the bottom to catch the gondola again.
There’s some talk of adding new lifts or a mid-station for the gondola at some stage. Recently the main focus of development has been on the real estate front rather than improving the skiing. In addition to lifts, snow-making facilities on the lower slopes would also be beneficial, but there’s also talk of this arriving over the next few years.
Just because this mountain has awesome expert terrain, doesn’t mean that it’s not also suited to others. There’s enough terrain for beginners to improve their skills at the base of the mountain, and the 10km “It’s a Ten” run from top to bottom. There are plenty of runs for intermediates, but currently they’ll need to repeat the same two runs at the top through Crystal bowl in order to access the intermediates terrain in the middle of the mountain. Advanced skiers won’t be able to play on groomed black runs as the limited grooming infrastructure doesn’t allow for this. Experts are very well catered for, and there’s also some easily accessed out-of-bounds and backcountry skiing. As to be expected with the steep terrain, proper avalanche safety precautions are required.
The village is growing quickly but is still very small. There are various on-mountain
accommodation options, many of which have the fantastic convenience of ski-in ski-out. Cheaper alternatives are available down in Golden if you’re happy to catch the bus or drive up each day.
The development of this resort is only in the early stages, and it has soooooo much potential. New lifts and snowmaking will improve the skiable terrain significantly, but don’t wait too long until you visit because with the development will come the crowds. And don’t forget to sharpen your edges before arriving in Kicking Horse – this mountain is on steroids!
Powerhounds have awarded Kicking Horse the following
awards for Canada: "Best Steeps"; "Best Uncrowded Slopes"; and "Best Out-of-Bounds".