Kicking Horse – Dale and Becca

After watching the weather forecast with bated breath, we knew it was going to start snowing again. So Excited. It also meant the temperature was going to rise a bit, and while -30 degrees was interesting to experience, it is fine if it doesn’t continue for our whole trip.

It started snowing! We had to work for another day, but that was fine, as it meant the snow could start building.

On Wednesday morning, we consulted the internets, and due to the 10cm of snow overnight, and the accumulated snow over the past few days, we decided to go to Kicking Horse again. There were puppies playing in the carpark. They don’t seem to care about the snow.

It was ridiculous and amazing and so soft and foofy. The whole day was great, the powder was great, the field was so much fun with that much snow. Everywhere is so much fun with powder! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Cruising down into the bowls, it is all quiet and peaceful, and the only sound you can hear was not the scrape of board over firm snow or ice, but the “WooooOOOOO” and “YEahhhhh” of the people riding around you, everyone was just so excited and happy to have a powder day. Even Canadians get excited about powder! It was the best day we’ve had, and Woooooooooo.

I love the trees in the snow, not only for zooming around them, but they look so pretty! And they have squirrels in them!

Thursday (today) we decided to mix it up and go to Lake Louise, as it was closer, even though they hadn’t had quite as much snow. We had a great day there, we stayed on Larch and Ptarmagin lifts, over the far side of the field, and the whole day was great, lots of zooming through trees, falling around trees, and a few swear words, but mostly it was fantastic and there were freshies galore!

We arrived home to nicely plowed streets, and a large ledge of snow in our driveway, so we had to spend some time clearing it out before we could park. Not so much fun after a couple of full days of boarding, but it was nice to get the driveway clear.

I’ve formed a theory, on why Canadians are so nice and helpful. I think it is cause of the powder, and cause their country is so pretty. They can’t help but be super happy after having a winter of riding powder, it makes everyone so very happy! And everything is just so pretty, even when there is no snow, the mountains and trees and lakes are all So Pretty, that it just makes everyone happy. All the happy.

Friday we headed to Kicking Horse Ski Field, as I was feeling well enough, and there had been a bit of fresh snow the day before. We had been holding off going to Kicking Horse, as we were being fussy, and wanted fresh powder. The weather is being fickle with us though, and providing us only with foggy days, or clear sky days, and pretty much no fresh snow. The first world problems!

Kicking Horse is mostly intermediate and advanced terrain, and it was a bit of a challenge for us, with very little new snow, and lots of large moguls. It was also very cold – hard to feel how to steer, when the front half of each foot is numb! We both had sore feet problems, on top of the cold. They have a gondola that goes all the way to the top of the field, which is pretty cool, but it is a long ride, I think it was just under 15 minutes.

We overall had a good day, but occasionally wished we had certain crazy skiiers with us to take us crazy places! As we would often take the easier path, as it was.. easier! Sore feet makes you pick the easier path too >< We did do some challenging terrain, found some freshies, and zoomed through some more trees.

The ski area is home to a rescued bear, who in Summer, roams over much of the mountain, and in Winter, sleeps in an enclosure in the middle of the field. The bear area is fenced off, but you can zoom past the Winter enclosure, even if you can’t see the little bear. Unfortunately I was going too fast to stop and take pics of his house. From the gondola you can see down into his territory. They can’t release him back into the wild, so they keep him as an ambassador for his species.

We stopped in Golden on the way home, and bought some new headlights, which we shall try out next time we go out at night, and perhaps we will be able to see the road without having to put high beams on! We can dream.

Tag: Kicking Horse

Powder Days Part 1

Kicking Horse Skifield. 30th Jan