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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 pm 13 May 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Kicking Horse: 3.1 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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December 29, 2009
Ken
I don't think you can find a more challenging ski resort in the Canadian Rockies or in North America than Kicking Horse. Double-heade, Terminator, Race Place, and a few others basically take you to the bottom of the resort on black diamond runs. Sure, maybe the final few seconds are on a groomed run, but at the point you have already skied 4000 ft vertical of black diamond. If you are looking for a bunch of intermediate or beginner runs, you don't go to Kicking Horse. If you are looking to improve your skiing you stay at Kicking Horse. Any other resort is easy after skiing Kicking Horse. Sure, there are some traverses to get to the chutes. But I would think if you ask any real skier/snowboarder they will say the traverses are worth it. If you know how to use edges, it is no big deal. If all you are doing is sliding and taking all the snow with you, you may want to take some lessons first and come back. You can't please everyone.
December 20, 2009
Kevin Lee
Kicking Horse is a great area to stop at for one day if you're passing through anyway. Their claim to fame it the long (4000 vertical ft) gondola. The problem is every run you have to descend all the way back to the village, which means warping through the blue and green runs at the bottom. This is a problem and something I don't agree with. Experts shouldn't have to ski through a green run to get to the lift. It's dangerous for the little ones and no fun for the expert. Additionally another problem we have at Kicking Horse, if there is a freezing line the conditions could change dramatically for the worse half way down your run, happens all the time. They have one lame-o lift at the top that runs beside a ridge so skiing it means the entire run will be off the fall line. Most of the black and double blacks are very short pitches of only a few dozen turns till you hit the bottom of a bowl then its a log road out to get to the next area that has some good turns. Kicking horse is definitely a must do resort if you're in the area anyway, but you'll probably want to try something else after you've skied it one day.
November 17, 2009
Vance from Ski USA - California USA - California
Kicking Horse is not good at times, in my opinion. I had face shots just about every turn I made in the alpine with about 8 inches of fresh every night I was there. The only thing I would do differently is go in Febuary so the freeze levels would be lower.
October 29, 2009
pow pow
Stay away from Kicking Horse all you resort lovers. This place is for straight shredding. If you want a resort experience then go to Whistler or to any cheezy US resort. We'll keep this place for us Kootenayonians. Don't even come here to shred if you are gonna talk about the 'runs' it's all about the chutes and trees at Kicking Horse.
April 07, 2009
RB from Ski USA - California USA - California
I believe the KH's (Kicking Horse) reported snowfall statistics, but they are pretty unimpressive: 145 inches per year average. That's a couple of good storms at Kirkwood or one decent month at Alta. For whatever reason meager snowfall seems to plague many of the areas around Banff. Not sure why anyone would book a week long trip to this area (Kicking Horse) when so many U.S. areas have much more reliable snow. It doesn't do any good to have great terrain when you are skiing stumps, rocks, and crud.
March 03, 2009
Jack Reacher from Ski Pakistan Pakistan
Anyone with any sort of ability with have no issue skiing at KH (Kicking Horse) whatever the conditions. In fact, everyone that I spoke to who skied KH (Kicking Horse) during Jan 2009 was stoked to be there.
February 09, 2009
AB from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just back from Kicking Horse after 3 days spent there in Jan 2009; last went in 2003. As with all resorts, this place massively improves with a good dump of snow. 2007/08 was a record breaking season at Kicking Horse so this was a phenomenal place to ski/ride then. When I went this year (2009) there had been no snow for 15 days so the bowls/runs were hard packed/icy/tracked out and not much fun - contrary to other reports in previous years there was NO pow to be found in trees/bowls. The 'village' has improved since my last visit - there are now accommodations at the base and somewhere to eat 'n drink. Golden (nearest town 15/20 min drive depending on conditions) also seems to have expanded to meet increased demand from skiers/riders. Only compensation for the lack of decent snow at Kicking Horse was the restaurant at the top of the gondola which still serves fab grub even if the wine list was reduced from fully international to local BC wines; nothing against BC wines but occasionally would want an alternative. The restaurant can be enjoyed no matter what the snow conditions - that's why I may come back again but for only a few days. It's an awfully long way to come from Britain if the snow here is poor as there really is no good skiing unless the pow is here 'cos the steeps are short and after them, the bottom 3/4 of the mountain (in reality, no matter what the piste map says) is a dreary blue. In pow this place would be fantastic - empty runs, lots of lines through trees, 3 (?) bowls - but I haven't yet been lucky enough to experience it.
March 15, 2008
Ryan
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 Ski United Kingdom 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
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.