Virgin Power Appreciation Society

Kicking Horse, BC, Canada

Kicking Horse is (for a couple more years at least) the latest mountain resort in British Columbia. It's a little out the way but is reachable if you're willing to travel a bit. It is marketed as a powder heaven (but aren't they all!) and is a mountain with 2 very different sections.

Looking up from the bottom, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's over hyped and there's nothing much there as the bottom section is really gentle with lots of green and blue runs. Take the Golden Eagle Express and you're soon in the alpine region with it's ridges and steep runs into gulleys that make up the fall line.

Basically anywhere from the top is good when the snow's good. CPR Ridge or underneath Stairway gets tracked first because it's the quickest to get back to for another run. Terminator Ridge is sweet if you can hack the hike and know how to ride/ski. On the far side is Feuz Bowl which seemed to be very popular, but you do end up funneling out at the same point where the tracks cut up into fair moguls pretty quickly.

There's not much more to say about Kicking Horse. When it snows, it's an awesome place. The area has a great vibe and there are the normal resident snow bums that are spending the season riding steeper and more adventurous lines. When there's no snow, the options are limited. You wouldn't have too much fun on the ridges when it's icy and anything that can't be piste bashed will be a real challenge.