Kicking Horse, Canada - BC

Visitor reviews for Kicking Horse

• March 15, 2008
  Ryan from CANADA
  

  Pros:
  - some of the most challenging terrain in North America
  - steep runs (don't worry about flat spots here!)
  - big vertical / long runs (4133 ft all covered by the gondola)
  - gets huge dumps of snow
  - usually quiet, highway often closes, blocking the Calgary crowd
  - awesome chutes on the bowl ridges
  - the best rollers down the front side I've ever seen
  - there's always POW to be found in the bowls and the trees
  Cons:
  - generally more for advanced riders, unless you stay on the Catamount quad chair for cruisers
  - gondola does not have a mid-station, which would allow riders to stay on either lower or upper half, vastly improving this mountain (longer seasons for both snow and bike). This would also provide lift access to another bowl (Superbowl) easily opening up another 900 acres of terrain
  - lower mountain can get slushy or icy
  Summary: super steep, super deep, super tall, excellent challenging terrain - step off the gondola and think "wow I drop in here!?!" then change your shorts when you get to the bottom (15 minutes later)

• March 14, 2008
  John from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Went in February. The conditions were truly awesome - 50cm of snow in the week, fantastic powder! Resort is definitely for advanced skiers, although they are making an effort to appeal to intermediates. The resort centre is very limited, but the appeal is that it is a resort for skiers. Will definitely return.

• February 04, 2008
  Francois from CANADA
  

  This place is for riders that can handle stupid fast speeds and love to huck of cliffs. If you rate your ski vacation on food and lodging, go to Lake Louise or Panorama. Leave the real good stuff to the locals and ski bums. Yuppies.

• January 11, 2007
  Owain Dunn from TURKEY
  

  I was at Kicking Horse for a full two weeks over Christmas and New Years and I have to say that it truly is an amazing resort. The mountain is great with truly satisfying runs and little lift wait time. And the snow was the most that I have ever seen. So much that I missed all my flights due to road closures. Every week there was easily 70cm of new snow. And it is fluffy and beautiful. It was the best boarding that I have ever done. I went to Louise once and stayed away because the snow at KH was purely irresistable. Go there!

• November 23, 2006
  Lee from CANADA
  

  Kicking Horse is simply phenomenal. There are so many plusses, the terrain is frankly the best in the Rockies. It's pretty much a heli-skiing experience without the cost. It's also so quiet there. European tour groups tend to stick to Louise and Sunshine leaving you sometimes cruising down a run wondering where the HELL everyone else is. It's one of the few Canadian resorts with bona fide on mountain accommodation options. Entertainment and eating is a bit limited but Golden is only a 10 minute drive away. You can pretty much spend the whole day here without freezing yourself on a chairlift every twenty minutes, ride from top to bottom, snuggle back up in the gondola. Fantastic.

  There are a couple of negatives, the hill would be improved with a lift from the mid mountain back to the summit and the lower slopes could benefit from some snowmaking (although I hear this will start in the 06/07 season). Also, from the gondola there is only one really narrow, flat access run to the main area of the mountain which can be a real pain, particularly for beginners on snowboards.

• April 20, 2006
  Graeham Douglas from CANADA
  

  A hit and miss place. The top of the mountian nearly always has at least decent snow in the alpine chutes, but the bottom has no snowmaking and can often be thin. They also tend to exagurate snowfalls. Terrain is epic, but best suited for experts or strong advanced skiers. There is not very much avalable for begineers. The village on hill is starting to develop and looks nice, if small. One big downside of kicking horse is a very poor lift arangement. Basicly, you have to ski from the summit to the base every run. This reduces the number of runs you can ski at the summit where the snow and terrain are better, and is very bad for early and late season when the snow is poor at the bottom. The resteraunt at the summit is quite nice and offers stunning views.

  Definately the place to be around Calgary on a powder day, due to low crowds and excellant terrain.

• April 14, 2006
  Jeff Peterson from CANADA
  

  Went here for spring skiing. Big Mistake. Resort advertised that all lifts and runs were open. Technically true as the lifts were open but there was no snow on bottom of mountain-just patches. Resort said that there were 5 restaurants to dine at. Only the pub was open and the food was horrible. Felt cheated and lied too. Will not go back again.

• March 07, 2005
  Paul from NETHERLANDS
  

  There's not always good snow. This year the conditions really sucked. Icy bumps all day long is not ideal. From the five lifts the area has, you'll only use two. That's a huge limitation of the resort. Everybody takes the gondola or the stairway to heaven. There's no variety. With bad snow, this resort really sucks!

  With good snow, I would like to go back one time...

• January 11, 2005
  Malcolm Lockhart from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  This is the place to be!!! Although the town Golden is a little on the backward side of things the hill is superb with the widest variety of terrain I've come across. The whole resort is taking off in terms of development so use it while you can before it becomes another Whistler. There is always good snow, it's never crowded and there is some awesome skiing and riding. Hike up terminator for the deep stuff and go off the back of Stairway to Heaven. The best I've been to in Canada.

• October 16, 2003
  jiro from CANADA
  

  If you are a hardcore rider or a skier, this is the place to go. You can feel like you are out of bounds when you are not. After a good system goes by, nipple high powder and amazing tree riding. You can easily spend all day hitting new runs. I just can't say enough about it and i shouldn't cuz then the place is gonna get packed!!!