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Kicking Horse resort snow
Lat Long: 51.30° N 117.05° W
Ski Canada - BC

Kicking Horse Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Kicking Horse at 1848 m altitude

Issued: 11 am 14 May 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Kicking Horse: 1.8 cm on Fri 15th  (after 9 PM)

Visitor reviews for Kicking Horse Ski Resort

Kicking Horse Ratings

Overall: 3.7. Based on 87 votes and 68 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.2

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Kicking Horse is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.6

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Kicking Horse has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.6

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.6

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.4

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Kicking Horse

Public Transport: 2.9

  • There are no buses or taxis to Kicking Horse
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.1

  • No places to stay in/near Kicking Horse
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.4

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.8

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Kicking Horse

Ski in/Ski out: 4.5

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.6

  • There are no child care facilities at Kicking Horse
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 2.7

  • Kicking Horse relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.4

  • There are no snow groomers at Kicking Horse
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Kicking Horse are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.7

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Kicking Horse is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.1

  • If snow conditions are poor at Kicking Horse, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.2

  • Kicking Horse usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.3

  • The staff at Kicking Horse are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Kicking Horse are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.6

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.9

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.4

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.1

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.7

  • No intermediate terrain at Kicking Horse
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.9

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 1.8

  • Not even a kicker at Kicking Horse
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 4.5

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Kicking Horse
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.2

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Kicking Horse has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.9

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.7

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.4

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.2

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.8

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.3

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.5

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.8

  • Overall, Kicking Horse is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.0

  • Overall, Kicking Horse is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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January 11, 2011
Jeremy
Having a slow day at work, I have been giving my two cents on some the resorts in the area. As you can read from the previous posters, KHMR (Kicking Horse), undeniably has the most, and best, advanced/expert terrain out of the resorts in the Canadian Rockies. While all have good expert terrain, the sheer volume of lift serviced/tranversable/hikeable expert runs at KHMR is without peer. However, I would like to summarize my more balanced thoughts: Pros: - expert terrain - quick gondola covers the vertical - dining... I find it the best quality for its price in the area - has some of the best powder snow (Revelstoke and Fernie are the main nearby competitors in this category) - I personally like the bottom half... it is more interesting than most bottom halves Cons: - staff are highly variable in their knowledge, demeanor, and helpfulness. Some are obviously just punching the time clock until they can get off and find their own lines - they didn't know even the basics of customer service. - gondola line can be lengthy.. the alternative, parallel lift line is likely many years away - on hill accommodation is overpriced, and although new, most is cheaply built/furnished - when I go with a group of mixed abilities, the intermediates find it difficult to transition from the upper to lower mountain (e.g. narrow, icy/rocky runs/cat tracks). - limited avalanche control... there is greater onus on the customer to be avalanche aware/trained even for inbound runs. - very mediocre terrain park - the nearby town, Golden, competes with Revelstoke, as the lamest and most depressing (IMHO Banff, Fernie, and even Invermere/Radium are much better).
October 22, 2010
Scott from Ski USA - California USA - California
I visited KH (Kicking Horse) for two days of skiing in February of 2009. We had a group of 4 experts, from the east coast, used to tough conditions of the east coast. But also plenty of out west experience, mostly US Rockies (Jackson Hole to Taos and lots in between), but also Tahoe and Whistler BC. We have been fortunate to have gotten around a bit :-). I spent full seasons at both Taos and Jackson Hole and I would describe Kicking Horse as what Jackson was like in the early days that I heard so much about from the "Old Timers", when it was basically just the tram at JH, only way up to the top was Tram...ski to the bottom to get back up to the top. No Thunder chair, no Alta Chair, (the Gondola wasn't there yet when I was living there). Sure sounded great to me at the time! So we end up traveling to KH, (yep, you gotta drive a little from Calgary...) and you are presented with a huge alpine area to explore. Locals do their best to steer you, but regardless of how good a skier you are, looking over a drop-in for the first time, you take your time and you do your best to judge it. Truck loads of those experiences at KH. Conditions: we did not get any new snow when we were at KH, last storm was a week out (8 - 10 inches)...we were a little concerned that we would be getting skunked, and certainly main lines were skied out, but plenty of snow to be found, and actually I read a lot of reviews dissing the lower mountain, but to crafty old timers like us...(nice to be returning the compliment to my mentors from the Hole and Taos :-) that just forced us to explore a part of the mountain we expected to be just pointing to the bottom on...found lots of fun stuff to keep us occupied, and a lot of fresh, dry snow still waiting for turns...which basically illustrates how few people are at this mountain. We didn't fly to BC to just spend two days at KH, we also hit Fernie and Whitefish, both of which by that time had started receiving some new snow (good times at both), and even so, I prefer traveling back to KH, knowing at some point I will hit it with a storm and it will be unbelievable, new chairs or not...
March 19, 2010
grassy
I've been a fan of KHMR (Kicking Horse) since it's opening...the terrain is second to none in the west...big upper mountain bowls w/ steep chutes and all the air u can muster...the slack country is awesome too! The problem: Dutch owners whose only concern is real estate development..the on-hill development is deplorable...a fixed speed chair to nowhere? This is 2010 not 1995...short sighted management and poor on-hill development has ruined this resort! Crowds on any snow weekend are ridiculous..30 min - 1hour lineups and local morons cutting lineups without regard to others.. Too Bad - the potential is there but the brains aren't!
March 18, 2010
Jay
I don't understand why people are bashing the lower half of Kicking Horse. If you really care about that you are a really terrible skier and should stick to beginner hills (cop). Either way I was there last weekend and I know the conditions at the very bottom were way better than Sunshine or Louise have seen anywhere on their mountains all year. Not to mention how unreal the alpine terrain is...I'd say just as good as Whistler and better than Revelstoke. Yeah, they need more lifts but that's just going to make it easier for duds from Calgary to traverse and ruin the good lines that you need to work for right now.
March 12, 2010
MisterSki
Kicking Horse is formerly a heli-ski site and is a serious hill looking for serious skiers. If you're after a resort experience with fine wine, diamond, art, and purse shopping, there are better places. Banff, Whistler, Vail, Jackson Hole, all have that area of the market covered. However, if your after a real mountain experience that will challenge your abilities, then Kicking Horse is a gem. I've rarely had a bad snow day, and their grooming team is top notch. Awesome gondola: 3700+ vertical feet in 13 minutes!!
March 11, 2010
John
Not sure when another reviewer was at Kicking Horse or how many times. I have lived here for 7 years and have seen it rain maybe 2 times of any significance to cause a problem on the lower part of the mountain. No question the resort needs some more lifts. Not sure what he means by a lack of consistent snow? Don't know of any resort that has consistent snow especially ones that have 4 thousand vertical.
March 09, 2010
Taco
I live in Calgary, ride regularly, and have visited most of the hills in Alberta and BC. I think of Kicking Horse as two hills. The top part of Kicking Horse is a wild place, that feels like a real mountain. Generally it gets decent snow that doesn't get rained on or melted, and the wind can help keep things fresh. Snowfall can be less consistent than some of the other hills in the area, although well ahead of Lake Louise, Panorama and Kimberly. The bottom half of the hill degenerates into big fields of moguls, or fast cruisers, often with little snow cover due to a tendency towards rain at lower elevations. While it is possible to find some good snow on the bottom half, if you know the hill, you always do it with one eye open for hazards. The Achilles heal of Kicking Horse is that you can't really ski the top without going down to the bottom. There is one chair on the upper half that you can do laps on, but it serves only a limited amount of terrain. So you end up riding good snow for a few hundred vertical meters, and then having to "commute" a vertical kilometer back down to the gondola. The hill is best suited to expert skiers and riders. It is worth checking out, if only for the views, and on a powder day, it is hard to beat. But it would be much improved if there were a few more lifts to allow you to stay on the upper mountain. And with all the rain we are getting these days, I shudder to think what the hill will look like with a few more years of warming.
January 25, 2010
Jim from Fort Sask.,Alberta
I live 600kms from KHR (Kicking Horse) and have skied it approx 20 days in the last 6 years. When I read a neg review below I suspect they have spent one or two days and for an "expert" skier they could have used a map or a local to help with finding the good stuff at the lower levels. I have become a much improved skier since skiing this mountain. It has been forgotten that the "lame-o" lift at the top gets you into Feux bowl (even in the spring this area's snow is plush and wow, White Wall has not been mentioned). 2008-2009 was not a great snow season for the Rockies but this year all 5 days at KHR (Kicking Horse) have been 7-9.5. I find their snow reporting to be honest (not like the spew that Lake Louise has on their website...135cm base at mid??...shame on Charlie L.). I used to call Marmot my main squeeze but I find it is very....er...intermediate in comparison. Best 1-2 punch I have seen yet is KHR then drive (through Rogers Pass 145kms) to Revelstoke resort. If these two do not impress the hard cores then chances are you need to reevaluate the hard in yer core. Do not let yer kids roam alone here. If it is 2 x black you're looking for this is where it is. Let us hope that they can get a couple of new lifts in place soon.
January 16, 2010
Jamie
Kicking Horse Ski Resort is a truly awesome mountain. It probably has some on the most challenging terrain in Canada. Lots of chutes, open bowls and champagne powder can be found there. It may lack somewhat in apres-ski but it keeps the crowds away. If you a looking for a place to challenge you Kicking Horse is it.
January 06, 2010
bobby jenks
Kicking Horse is a great resort and is better than a lot of other areas. However, people continue to knock it. You can go fast and hit perfect roller jumps after shredding sick lines up top... Boo to people who disrespect a great resort.. I dare anyone to name one resort better than Kicking Horse.