Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

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Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

takeahike46er
This post was updated on .
It’s already February—well into midseason for most skiers and riders. I’m in the worst shape of my life, less active than ever, carrying more weight, and I’m just hitting the slopes for the first time this winter…

What better place to start the season than Kicking Horse!?!?





I was way too ambitious my first day out on the mountain. Already familiar with Kicking Horse from a stellar day last season, I headed to the Super Bowl for my first run, hoping to find pockets of fresh snow from the storm two days prior. No warmup run—I just got right to it.

Unfortunately, this less traveled section of the hill was pretty well tracked out already. Locals later told me that with the Freeride World Tour in town days prior to my visit, the mountain had skied out faster than they had ever seen.

The cat track and short uphill sections en route to the bowl left me winded, and now I was committed to a grueling mix of chopped up powder and bumps for the next four thousand vertical feet. That's one hell of a way to kick off a season.





Floundering with exhausted legs and rusty technique, I suffered through the run taking frequent breaks. My boots, which have been largely hassle free in seasons past, were causing major pain and adding to the misery. I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of the hill.





I tried to take it easy for the rest of the day, sticking mostly to groomers and the more moderate pitches. But you don't go to Kicking Horse to ski gentle cruisers; the advanced and expert terrain is where it's at. Unable to resist, I was lured into Feuz Bowl, tackling one of the easier chutes on the north side of Redemption Ridge.





Though the chute was fun, I continued to struggle when tasked with top-to-bottom runs–-often a necessity at Kicking Horse––which was a shame because the lower mountain was skiing really well with the above-normal snowpack. There’s some decent tree skiing and bump runs on the lower half, and it’s easily overshadowed because all the terrain off of the upper mountain is so rad. Disappointed, I called it an early day and made my way back to the house for a soak in the hot tub.





With no new snow, day two at Kicking Horse was cold, fast, and more of the same. I warmed up with a quick top-to-bottom run on some fresh cord—my legs protesting a bit, but overall feeling better than my first day out. The most confident I felt all day was a steep line off the north side of CPR Ridge. The no-fall terrain really got my adrenaline flowing and brought a level of focus to my skiing that was severely lacking the previous day.





After two days of masochistic skiing at Kicking Horse, my one day at Sunshine felt easy by comparison. Not only were the pitches far less steep and less sustained than Kicking Horse, but the short chairlifts allowed for more periodic breaks to relax the legs. Fresh snow overnight softened the hill, but there was low visibility and wind-scoured snow to contend with. I generally stayed low and along the trees where visibility and snow was best.




On a chairlift ride, a local recommended I check out “The Shoulder” off of the Tee Pee Quad. An easily missed, narrow traverse skier’s right of the lift lead to a short, untracked face filled with wind-loaded snow.





The run was pretty sweet, but like much of the terrain at Sunshine, the pitch shallowed out too quickly. It was a confidence booster for sure, and even if it wasn’t fully satisfying, perhaps it was exactly what I needed.





My day at Lake Louise turned out to be the Goldilocks of the trip. The runs were neither too long nor too short for my weary legs, and the terrain was consistently pitched without the flat spots that plagued Sunshine. Several inches of fresh snow overnight also yielded the best overall surface conditions of the trip.

My buddy and I started with what was supposed to be an easy warmup run down the backside; however, the trees adjacent to Ptarmigan looked too enticing and we couldn’t resist dropping in. They were beautifully spaced with a steady pitch that gentled over the course of the run.





After a couple of runs in the trees and still feeling good, we headed over to the Paradise Chair where we scoped out a line that had been wind loaded. It required a brief hike accompanied by heavy winds ripping across the ridge top. A cornice clung to the mountain edge as winds deposited fresh snow to the face below. I dropped in along the rock spine and had a solid run down to the bowl and trees below.







On the ride back up the Paradise Chair, we noticed a clean face along the far boundary that had hardly been skied. It was called Boundary Bowl, and it required taking the Summit Platter, followed by a little bit of hiking.

The hike to the top of the peak was a bit sketchy. Rope anchored to the rock helped somewhat, but there were a couple pitches without it where a fall would have had resulted in a spill outside the boundary.





After taking a moment on the small summit to catch our breath, we dropped in. This was by far the best run of the trip. The snow on this face was soft and deep, and I managed to ski it with a confidence that had been lacking in the days prior.









Towards the bottom, the bowl spit us out on top of the North Cornice. Any trepidation about the six foot cornice drop turned to elation as the deep snow cushioned the fall and made for a few effortless turns before leveling out to the traverse below.



North Cornice above my buddy's helmet w/ Boundary Bowl extending above and to the peak in center



Kicking Horse had left me humbled, and a tad beaten down. But by the time I left Lake Louise, I felt like I had redeemed myself. I may be out of shape, but it’s nice to know that with a little patience and determination (and maybe better planning), I can bounce back.
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15

JasonWx
Great report!!!
Those are the best pics ever post on the site...What camera did you use?
"Peace and Love"
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15

Brownski
In reply to this post by takeahike46er
Wow. Great pics. I can identify with the fitness stuff. Nice job
"You want your skis? Go get 'em!" -W. Miller
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

YUKON CORNELIUS
In reply to this post by takeahike46er
We were out at Kicking Horse the week before you (during the Freeride World Tour). That place is the real deal. I loved it.

Thanks for sharing!
"This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?"
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15

takeahike46er
This post was updated on .
In reply to this post by JasonWx
JasonWx wrote
Great report!!!
Those are the best pics ever post on the site...What camera did you use?
Thanks! It helps that the Purcells and the Canadian Rockies are naturally stunning.

Almost all the photos were taken with iPhones. Several of the shots were enhanced using Instagram.

My best piece of advice is to not use the site's image uploader to resize/compress the photos. Image quality is significantly better if you resize using something like the Mac Photos app.
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

takeahike46er
In reply to this post by YUKON CORNELIUS
YUKON CORNELIUS wrote
We were out at Kicking Horse the week before you (during the Freeride World Tour). That place is the real deal. I loved it.
Nice! Did you catch the competitions on Ozone or T1?

Kicking Horse is indeed a special place, and despite being ill-prepared for this year's visit, it easily ranks among my favorites anywhere.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lake Louise. I thought it was a really well-rounded mountain. However, I do recognize that with 180% of its normal snowfall, Lake Louise is probably skiing far better than normal, and I take that into consideration.
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

YUKON CORNELIUS
takeahike46er wrote
YUKON CORNELIUS wrote
We were out at Kicking Horse the week before you (during the Freeride World Tour). That place is the real deal. I loved it.
Nice! Did you catch the competitions on Ozone or T1?

Kicking Horse is indeed a special place, and despite being ill-prepared for this year's visit, it easily ranks among my favorites anywhere.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lake Louise. I thought it was a really well-rounded mountain. However, I do recognize that with 180% of its normal snowfall, Lake Louise is probably skiing far better than normal, and I take that into consideration.
We watched some of it on Ozone in-between runs and from the lift. Those guys and girls can rip. The mountain was packed with great skiers. No shame in feeling "ill-prepared" for Kicking Horse, 3 of our 5 (including me) walked (limped) away a little dinged up. Its a big, burly mountain.

We also skied a "recovery" day at Panorama, which had some sweet tree runs. Last 2 days were at Fernie. The first part of out first day was spring-style corn snow , then it started raining. Next day temps dropped and set things up rock solid. Fernie has pretty nice terrain, but lacks elevation. We should have stayed up North.
"This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?"
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

YUKON CORNELIUS
In reply to this post by takeahike46er



"This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?"
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

nepa
In reply to this post by takeahike46er
Everything about this report is Awesome!! Thanks for sharing,
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

Harvey
Administrator
In reply to this post by takeahike46er
WOW I just read it. Fantastic.  Nothing like a STORY with good pictures.

Thank you so much.
"You just need to go at that shit wide open, hang on, and own it." —Camp
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

takeahike46er
In reply to this post by YUKON CORNELIUS
YUKON CORNELIUS wrote
Last 2 days were at Fernie. The first part of out first day was spring-style corn snow , then it started raining. Next day temps dropped and set things up rock solid. Fernie has pretty nice terrain, but lacks elevation. We should have stayed up North.
Sucks to hear that Fernie didn't work out for you. It definitely is a hit-or-miss kind of place which makes me hesitant to include it again as part of an advance booking to the region. KH and the Banff areas are much safer bets for overall snow quality--even if they don't get nearly as much powder. Revelstoke is a good option as well, but the lower half of the mountain can be subject to rain throughout the season. In fact, locals said it rained at Revie to the top of the gondola prior to our arrival at Kicking Horse.

Nice pics of the FWT venue. Thanks for sharing!
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

tjf1967
Great pictures and report. Nice job!!
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

Danzilla
So awesome you got to ski the horse with good visibility and nice snow. Your pictures are awesome. We only had an hour or two during our trip where we could see much of anything. Love that place but man going in the cold would be seriously tough. I had 30+ days in by the time we skied there last march. I was still fat and not in great shape but at least had my ski legs and it was still challenging to ski 4k vert in one run. Lake Louise and Revy are on the list for the next trip out that way.
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

campgottagopee
Nice report and pics --- thanks!
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

Skiray
This is on our bucket list - wow.. Thinking we might need to take advantage of the max pass.

Yes, the FWT was there a few days before you got there....
The family that skis together, stays together.

AlbaAdventures.com
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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

Jamesdeluxe
Great pix/report. From someone else's TR -- lucky you weren't there on Feb 20:

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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

takeahike46er
This post was updated on .
I was nearly as lucky...

On the morning of the 12th, when I 'scored' second gondola, records show the temperature was -11°F in Golden up until approximately 9am. To this easterner, it didn't feel nearly as intolerable as a similar day would feel back east. No doubt the low humidity and the bright sun made all the difference.

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Re: Kicking Horse, Sunshine, Lake Louise: 2/10 - 2/15/18

takeahike46er
This post was updated on .
In reply to this post by takeahike46er
One more observation just to put the difficulty level of Kicking Horse in perspective...

Under a portion of the Eagle Eye gondola, about a third of the way down the mountain, there's a groomer called Show Off. The run reminded me of Upper Skyward at Whiteface—with a similar pitch sustained over a slightly longer vertical. However...Show Off is a blue.