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Kicking Horse, Canada

Rated 9 out of 10

Freerider paradise

Thu 15 July 2004 David
Ok, so this isn’t a huge resort, there are hardly any lifts and there’s no life in the surrounding town. The upside is that the lack of facilities in the town and its distance from airports keep the crowds away. Better still, as it’s so under-developed, the owners haven’t had chance to piste the hell out of the slopes.

What you’re left with is a free-rider paradise. Kicking Horse (formerly Whitetooth) is basically a row of four or five powder bowls leading down into the tree line. Plenty of scope to get some steep, deep, powder action and take on some natural hits, before charging into a tree run. Don’t bother collecting a piste map, as you can pick out a route you fancy whilst on the Golden Eagle Express gondola on the way to the top - and it’s well worth a run outside the rope.

Unfortunately, the lower areas in the resort consist mostly of unchallenging pistes, but if you pick the right route through the trees, it’s possible to take one of the chairs back up from the midpoint and stay in the champagne powder. If you decide to go right down to the bottom, at least you’ll have enjoyed a vertical drop of over 1,200m, and will be able to take the gondola all the way back to the summit in just 12 minutes.

A great place if you’re up for some balls-out free riding, but not one for the hard boot brigade or anyone wanting to spend the day mincing around town rather than boarding.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type:  Alpine
Winter: Dec to April
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 5
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 2
Other lifts: 2 'Bunny Hill' magic carpets
Max people per hour: 1,400
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 128
Total ride area: 2800 acres
Longest run: 10km

Top lift: 2450m
Vertical drop: 1260m
First lift: 1190m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 20%
Red runs: 20%
Black runs: 60%

Lift Passes

  Low Season High Season
  CAD GBP Average CAD GBP Average
Day Pass - - 75.00 48.72

28%
6-Day Pass - - 410.00 266.36

44%
  CAD GBP Average
Season Pass: 1,299.00 843.90

58%

Lift Passes: 
If you know early that you're coming for the season then buy your pass before special 'Early Bird' discount offers expire around end-September/early-Oct - see the KH website for more details.
Lift times:9.00am to 4.00pm (4.30 from Feb) The Gondola & Stairway chair stop running 1/2 hour earlier than these times - it doesn't matter because you'll be beat by then anyway and already sitting in the 'Peaks' bar watching the last few newbs side-slip/snowplough the last pitch to base.

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 7.6m

Facilities

  CAD GBP
Days Rental of Board & Boots: 36.00 23.39
4hr Private Lesson (full day): 349.00 226.73

Snowboard Schools: Private lesson $349 (3 hrs am or pm) or $549 (9am - 4pm)
Group lesson $89 (2hrs) or $138 9am-3pm
Beginner package $109 half-day or $155 full day inc rental equipment, lesson & Catamount chair day lift pass.
Snowboard Hire: Boards alone are available @ $22 per day - a pretty cheap way to demo gear. A 'High Performance' set-up will set you back $49
Night Riding: :  No

Other activities

Heliboarding: :  See Guest Services at the Day Lodge at base for more information on this.
Snowmobiles: Bring your own snowmobile or if you don't have one you can rent one in Golden - a number of operators rent machines at approximately $300/day. Snowmobile tours are also offered. Again, see Guest Services at the Day Lodge at base for more information on this..

Further information

www.kickinghorseresort.com
Email:guestservices@kickinghorseresort.com

Think you're a good rider? Come to Kicking Horse and get your ass kicked! Forget the trail map and your traditional way of assessing a resort by number of runs etc - this hill has 85 chutes alone and almost the entire area of the upper bowls is freeride terrain.

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ON THE SLOPES: Good
OFF THE SLOPES: Quiet
MONEY WISE: Cheaper than Whistler/Banff - options to suit every budget.

HALFPIPE: No
TERRAIN PARK: No
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:Yes
TREE RUNS:Yes

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Weather for Thu 17th:
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light snow
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The forecasted total for the next 6 days:
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top 11cm
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Resort News

Kicking Horse Canada Set To Open Dec 9th 2011 14Nov11
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  • Kicking Horse Resort Current Conditions
    Current Conditions as of 1:03pm, Monday 16th April 2012. Past 12 Hours: 1 cm /0.5 in Past 24 Hours: 10 cm / 4 in Past 48 Hours:18 cm / 7 in Past 7 Days: 19 cm / 7.5 in Season To Date: 1032 cm / 406 in ...

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