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Resort Guide

Suitability	Resort height: 1314m
Families:		[Yes]
Glacier:		[No]
Beginners:		[3]
Intermediates:		[4]
Advanced:		[4]
Snowboarding:		[4]

Kicking Horse offers some of Canada’s steepest skiing on one of North America’s biggest verticals. Situated in the Dogtooth range of the Purcell Mountains, the ski area is one of the most spectacular in North America, surrounded by six national parks – Banff, Glacier, Kootenay, Yoho, Mt. Revelstoke and Jasper. Located close to the town of Golden, Kicking Horse has rapidly become famed for its steep and deep runs, which officially make up 60% of terrain. However it has been building up its offering for families, beginners and intermediates in recent seasons to avoid being too typecast as an experts-only destination. The resort receives an average of seven metres of snow each season on its upper runs.

Kicking Horse is one of the world’s newest major ski areas. Although based on a longer-established local ski hill, then known as Whitetooth, the resort was created thanks to the efforts of a Vancouver-based architect who visited the area in the late 1990s. Residents voted almost unanimously in favour of his plans and, less than a decade ago, Kicking Horse was born.

Beginners

Although the ski area’s reputation is built on its advanced terrain, Kicking Horse does have gentle slopes directly above the base. You can even take long greens right down from the top of the Golden Eagle gondola once you’ve mastered your turns, for some of the longest runs in North America. The ski school offers special beginners classes.

Intermediates

Although this is one of the few ski areas in the world which isn’t dominated by intermediate level terrain – having only a fifth of terrain classified in this category, intermediates will still find around 20 runs at their level including some excellent fast long cruisers. To make the most of what’s available, when you first arrive on the slopes, it’s well worth signing up for a mountain orientation tour with one of the resort’s Snow Hosts. These 90 minute complimentary guided tours are led by knowledgeable local volunteers and run twice daily at 10am and 12:30pm.

Advanced

Kicking Horse is famous for its steep powder fields, numerous bowls and glades, and you could book to be first on to it every Saturday morning by signing up for a First Tracks experience at 7:30am sharp. The package includes a hearty breakfast at the Day Lodge.

Purcell Heli-Skiing offers privately guided groups from Kicking Horse accessing 2,000 square kilometers of heli-skiing terrain from the resort’s heli-pad, which opened for the 2007-8 season. Guests meet in the new Heli-Lounge located in the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Discovery Centre in the Gondola Plaza. From there, guests will meet up with the guides, go through the briefings and head over to the resort-based heli-pad to begin their heli-ski experience.

Snowboarding

Kicking Horse doesn’t currently have a terrain park or half pipe for boarders, but the powder fields make this great terrain for the true spirit of snowboarding, surfing through the light snow and making the most of natural hits. The big vertical served by easy to ride high speed chairs and gondolas further enhance the experience.

Other Activities and Facilities

Kicking Horse is adding new facilities every year. Tubing is available from the Day Lodge with access by the Pony Express. The new and improved tube park has more vertical and new terrain features. There is also a family friendly ice rink in the centre of the resort village featuring a 60m x 120m ice surface with benches, a fire pit, a warming hut and music and skate rentals available on site.

For cross-country skiers, the world class Dawn Mountain Nordic Ski Trails provide 25 kilometres of groomed classic trackset trails and 15 km of groomed skate skiing trails. These trails range from gently rolling beginner loops to more challenging advanced routes. There is a four kilometre trail network located off Palliser Trail road for snowshoeing. Guided half and full-day snowmobile tours are available from the resort base, using top quality Ski-Doo snowmobiles on terrain that is varied to suit all ability levels.

Après Ski and Dining Out

The limited number of après ski spots at Kicking Horse’s base continues to expand and there is a further selection in Golden. For après ski drinks by the slopes, the Local Heroes Pub endeavours to reflect a traditional Scottish gathering place and is located in the Highland Lodge.

For dining at the resort, The Whitetooth Grill located in the central Day Lodge, serves healthy dishes, and Corks, located in Copper Horse Lodge, serves fresh food and fine wine. Extreme Peaks is another full-service restaurant and bar in Glacier Lodge, whilst for Japanese cuisine Sushi Kuma, next to the Golden Eagle Express lift in Glacier Lodge, is open daily for lunch and dinner.

No visit to the resort is complete without a meal at Canada’s highest elevation restaurant, Eagle’s Eye, situated at the top of the mountain. It stands at 7,705 feet (2,350 metres) elevation and can seat 130 indoors.

Families

The Kicking Horse Kids Club offers non-ski nursery care for children aged 18 months to five years. Half day (to 1pm) or full day care is available. Ski lessons are available in special children’s classes from age six. The Kids Club also organises ‘Kid's Night Out’ on Friday and Saturday evenings for children in the 18 months to five years age band, it runs between 6pm and 10pm.

Accommodation in Kicking horse

• Gondola Plaza Resort - 4 star,
• Gondola Plaza Resort - 3 star,
• Highland Lodge - 4 star,
• Palliser Lodge - 4 star,
• Whispering Pines - 4 star,

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