Kicking Horse, Canada

Freeriding

Freeriders will love Kicking Horse; its one of a few BC resorts with wide-open powder faces. The trail marked out as Porcupine is a cool run that can be done at speed, but only if you know what youre doing. For the intermediate freerider, check out Kicking Horse, which starts out fairly mellow before dropping away more steeply mid-way down. For the advanced, go straight up the gondola to the top of the mountain and drop into either of the bowls off the ridge. 

If you fancy some hardcore riding, then take the Stairway to Heaven chair and take a short walk up to your left into the Feuz Bowl or stay high and keep walking above Feuz Bowl, leaving the resort to access another huge bowl.

If youve got a spare C$4000, then take a 3-day heliboarding trip: see www.canadianheli-skiing.com who are based in Golden. Or for a C$600 3 decent day trip see www.Purcellhelicopterskiing.com

 

 

Freestylers

Freestylers may be forgiven for thinking that Kicking Horse is not for them. Freestyle's not what Kicking Horse is about. Its splattering of natural hits and the occasional log won't keep your attention for long, and theres no park although theres talk of one in the future.

Pistes

People who love the piste will enjoy the tree-lined trails which run in a straight line down to the base area. Pioneer and Grizzly are notable carvers' trails where you can lay out some fast lines at speed, but this is an advanced rated run so be warned. 

Beginners

Beginners might look at the piste map and think that the place is made up of runs not suited to their ability, but on the ground it's a different story. You should head up Catamount chair where youll be able to chose a number of well-groomed, very wide runs. If you can handle a short path then head up to the top and check out the Crystal Bowl area.

Resort Statistics

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

Lifts

Total Lifts: 5
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 3
Drag lifts: 1
Max people per hour:  1,400
Board Leashes required: Yes

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 106
Total ride area: 2,750 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

Lift Passes: 
Half-day pass $44
1 Day pass - $59
6 Day pass - $321
Season pass - $799

Lift times:8.30am to 3.30pm 9:00am to 4:30pm from feb

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 7.6m

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: Private lesson $459 (6rs)
Group lesson $50 (2hrs)
Beginner package $80 full day inc equipment, lesson & lift pass

Snowboard Hire: Board & Boots $31 per day, performance stuff $47
Night Riding: No

Other activities

Heliboarding: See the client services at the base lodge for information on this.
Snowmobiles: Bring your own snowmobile or if you dont have one you can rent one. See the client services at the lodge for information on how to obtain these.

Further information

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

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Summary
Up-and-coming resort named in the top 10 hot powder spots worldwide by CNN in 2004. Lots of money being spent in the area so will vastly improve in the near future. A freeride paradise!

ON THE SLOPES: Good
OFF THE SLOPES: Quiet
MONEY WISE: Not bad

Terrain & parks

HALFPIPE: -
TERRAIN PARK: -
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:Yes
TREE RUNS:Yes

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Piste Map

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