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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: 5 am 14 May 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Kicking Horse: 2.6 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, 2007
Owain Dunn from Ski Turkey 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!
December 16, 2006
Ryan Wilson
Don't listen to someone who says KH snow reports are false, that's bullshit. Why? Because... Most hills have a staff member write a snowreport in the morning based on their measurements, and are often inflated (see Sunshine Village). Kicking Horse automatically computer updates the report directly from the weather station, no inflated numbers here. They get pounded HARD... twice as much snow as Sunshine/Louise is the norm. This year they (and whistler) have broken all snowfall records for Nov and Dec. The storm that just ended today dumped over 110cm! Usually early season (pre-christmas) means grass and slush on the lower half, and decent snow up top. This year is awesome snow everywhere.... waist-chest deep turns in the alpine... boot deep at the bottom. It's all downhill at Kicking Horse, no lame flat spots to get stuck in. A black run at most ski resorts will equal a blue run here, so be prepared. The vertical is huge, 20 minute runs are standard. Since it's such a new hill (5-6 years old) they are still working on infruastructure and it will really come alive when they get some more lifts installed in the next few years. If you're looking for powder... mid december is usually decent (this year epic)... mid feb to mid march is usually good too. Other than that the lower half can get in rough shape. This is by far the best ski resort in the country..... when Whistler gets 100cm it's heavy and wet and settles, not to mention gets tracked fast by the bc hordes. When the Horse gets 100cm it's light and fluffy and you have untracked turns all day (or for multiple days). Basically the story is: - can have poor lower mountain conditions outside of powderseason - powder season dumps are among the best in the country - STEEP, DEEP, soft, and untamed..... you don't have to follow many trails, you can hit wide open alpine pow turns or take some epic tree lines. The backcountry is easily accessable for great lines when it hasnt' snowed in a few days, via an easy hike off the top ridge, as long as you have the gear. You can hike to heli-skiiing drop terrain within 40 minutes. Bottom line: one of (if not the) best hill in the country, as long as it's been dumping. without snow (usually early season or spring) it can be bad though. We're going tomorrow and due to the 4 foot dump they just got it's going to be EPIC...
November 23, 2006
Lee
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
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
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 Ski France France
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 Ski United Kingdom 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
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!!!