So, in my 16 years of skiing in the east, I finally have made it out west. My first mountain of choice was Kicking Horse in BC. Its been on the top of my bucket list for some time now. I arrived at the mountain after a long day of travel on Saturday. I woke up to mostly sunny skies Sunday morning with a thick cloud cover in the valley. Overall, the conditions were about as good as they could get considering it had snowed about a foot over the past 48 hours. Spent most of the morning exploring the south sides of CPR and Redemption Ridge since they were right in the sunlight as well as getting a couple runs down Whitewall from the top of Stairway to Heaven. Around noon, they had finished bombing and opened the terrain over in the Ozone area. After a 25 minute hike from the stairway lift I was at the top of Ozone and skied down the main face. Probably one of the best runs I've had.
Next day was even better weather-wise as it was a perfect bluebird day and not a cloud to be seen in the morning. After a warmup run through the glades on CPR Ridge. I did 2 back to back runs from the top of the T-1 Peak (about another 25 minute hike from the gondola) and skiing down the south face to take advantage of the perfect lighting. After a few more runs from the lifts, I made the trek to T-2 which is beyond T-1 and a bit of a more technical hike to the summit. From there, I was rewarded with an epic run just outside the boundary line almost all the way to the base. I finished the day by again hiking up T-1 but this time skiing one of the chutes off the north face. These first 2 days of clear, perfect weather were worth the trip alone.
My last day was a bit cloudy and hard to see from the top. it didnt snow much but it did seem to add up in certain places off the ridgelines. I spent most of the day hoping back and forth from the gondola to the Stairway to Heaven lift, meneuvering the hair-raising chutes from the north sides of both CPR and Redemption Ridges, respectively.
Overall, I had a blast at the place and cannot wait to go back soon. I felt like I skied a majority of the terrain (made the trek to all the peaks), and took mental notes of some lines I'd like to hit next time that I didnt have time for this go-around. Highly recommend the place if you haven't been and also recommend staying at the Winston Lodge if you go. Prices are fair, staff is great, they have a ski storage area and a boot rack next to a wood stove in the basement, add in the free breakfast, great pub and the fact its less than a 5 minute walk to the gondola and you really can't go wrong with the place.
Some pics from the trip:
Bluebird day from the Gondola
Glades off of CPR Ridge
Great view with the low clouds on Sunday
Looking at Whitewall and Ozone Peak
View from the Stairway Lift
Looking down Whitewall
Looking up some nasty lines on Redemption Ridge after skiing Whitewall
Top of Ozone
Looking Up Ozone
Looking at the South Face of T-1 from T-2
Looking at the north Face of T-1 fro the Gondola
Looking at T-2 from the top of T-1
From the top of T-2
Somewhere on the lower half of the mountain
