We had heard secondhand reports that the Feb. 8 and Feb. 14 storms had rained nearly to the top of Revelstoke, so tseeb and I decided to skip Revy and drive to Golden after getting out of Mustang late Monday afternoon. 10 years ago after an even more extreme Pineapple event, I had moved east to the colder climate Purcells and Rockies to find some skiing above the rain/snow line.
Kicking Horse in 2005 had received 27 inches of snow from the warm storm above 7,000 feet, while the lower 3,000+ feet were solid frozen granular from rain and freeze. This time, with multiple storms of varying snow levels the transition by elevation was more subtle. Snow became gradually firmer as one descended but didn’t really reach the frozen granular stage until about 5,500 feet. The exceptions were the south side glades of CPR and Redemption Ridges, which had melt/frozen in warm weather sometime in the past week. This is unusual, as on my previous 7 visits weather was cool enough up high to preserve good snow even on south faces. Weather was in upper 20’s, a bit of breeze up top late in the day, and mostly the typical Canadian overcast with occasional sunny breaks.
Tseeb and I started with a mogulled bowl run from the gondola down to the Stairway to Heaven chair. Moguls were much more widespread than usual as it has been awhile since the last major snow. Nonetheless the north facing snow was firm chalk with no melt/freezing. We took 2 Stairway laps, one on the groomer and one short test run in the south side Redemption trees. Snow was firm but edgeable from the partial melt freeze but it did warn us away from the longer and steeper south facing lines.
On our third time up Stairway to Heaven we skied the top line into Feuz Bowl
Snow was excellent, but light was flat so it was necessary to ski cautiously as it was not completely smooth. The short mogul section at the bottom of Feuz was surprisingly busy this time.
Overall it was far from a busy day. We never waited for more than 5-10 people at the gondola, nor did we see that many people on the hill in one place again.
We skied to the bottom via the Kicking Horse groomer, which was decent for the upper half, hardpacked lower down with a sketchy exit to get back to the gondola. From the gondola we skied a partially refrozen Flying Dutchman into Bowl Over and skied to the bottom past the grizzly refuge.
Next time up we checked out the north side of CPR. Tseeb descending cautiously here:
There were some rocks lower down not clearly seen from the top. I went farther along the ridge to find a more open line. These north side CPR runs were as intimidating as I’ve ever seen them, definitely a no fall zone. They are not icy, but there are obstacles and the snow is firm and steep enough that it would be difficult to self-arrest.
We took the Stairway lift and climbed the stairs to the top of White Wall. View along Redemption Ridge and across the Columbia Valley to the Rockies.
All of the White Wall runs are sustained pitches around 40 degrees. The snow is probably the best on the mountain, but the flat light required cautious skiing. Tseeb near the bottom of the run we skied.
Three skiers are in the next chute south of where we skied.
From below we can see their line is quite wide open. But like us they we skiing very deliberately due to the flat light.
After skiing to the bottom and riding back up I was ready for a late lunch at the Eagle’s Eye restaurant on top. I had a tasty duck pasta and we left at 3PM. There were snow flurries during lunch but we caught some sunny breaks when we left. Stairway to Heaven from the top of the gondola:
Eagle’s Eye and CPR Ridge from Stairway:
We caught a clean line with some soft snow at the top into Feuz Bowl for our final run, and finished the day with 22,100 vertical.
While conditions were often challenging, we overheard comments that Kicking Horse has the best snow in British Columbia now. This is possibly true. Everything we have read and heard from Whistler to Revelstoke and all points in between is that skiing off the groomers is not recommended. But as demonstrated here a substantial portion of Kicking Horse’s expert terrain is still skiing quite well in this difficult season.
Kicking Horse in 2005 had received 27 inches of snow from the warm storm above 7,000 feet, while the lower 3,000+ feet were solid frozen granular from rain and freeze. This time, with multiple storms of varying snow levels the transition by elevation was more subtle. Snow became gradually firmer as one descended but didn’t really reach the frozen granular stage until about 5,500 feet. The exceptions were the south side glades of CPR and Redemption Ridges, which had melt/frozen in warm weather sometime in the past week. This is unusual, as on my previous 7 visits weather was cool enough up high to preserve good snow even on south faces. Weather was in upper 20’s, a bit of breeze up top late in the day, and mostly the typical Canadian overcast with occasional sunny breaks.
Tseeb and I started with a mogulled bowl run from the gondola down to the Stairway to Heaven chair. Moguls were much more widespread than usual as it has been awhile since the last major snow. Nonetheless the north facing snow was firm chalk with no melt/freezing. We took 2 Stairway laps, one on the groomer and one short test run in the south side Redemption trees. Snow was firm but edgeable from the partial melt freeze but it did warn us away from the longer and steeper south facing lines.
On our third time up Stairway to Heaven we skied the top line into Feuz Bowl
Snow was excellent, but light was flat so it was necessary to ski cautiously as it was not completely smooth. The short mogul section at the bottom of Feuz was surprisingly busy this time.
Overall it was far from a busy day. We never waited for more than 5-10 people at the gondola, nor did we see that many people on the hill in one place again.
We skied to the bottom via the Kicking Horse groomer, which was decent for the upper half, hardpacked lower down with a sketchy exit to get back to the gondola. From the gondola we skied a partially refrozen Flying Dutchman into Bowl Over and skied to the bottom past the grizzly refuge.
Next time up we checked out the north side of CPR. Tseeb descending cautiously here:
There were some rocks lower down not clearly seen from the top. I went farther along the ridge to find a more open line. These north side CPR runs were as intimidating as I’ve ever seen them, definitely a no fall zone. They are not icy, but there are obstacles and the snow is firm and steep enough that it would be difficult to self-arrest.
We took the Stairway lift and climbed the stairs to the top of White Wall. View along Redemption Ridge and across the Columbia Valley to the Rockies.
All of the White Wall runs are sustained pitches around 40 degrees. The snow is probably the best on the mountain, but the flat light required cautious skiing. Tseeb near the bottom of the run we skied.
Three skiers are in the next chute south of where we skied.
From below we can see their line is quite wide open. But like us they we skiing very deliberately due to the flat light.
After skiing to the bottom and riding back up I was ready for a late lunch at the Eagle’s Eye restaurant on top. I had a tasty duck pasta and we left at 3PM. There were snow flurries during lunch but we caught some sunny breaks when we left. Stairway to Heaven from the top of the gondola:
Eagle’s Eye and CPR Ridge from Stairway:
We caught a clean line with some soft snow at the top into Feuz Bowl for our final run, and finished the day with 22,100 vertical.
While conditions were often challenging, we overheard comments that Kicking Horse has the best snow in British Columbia now. This is possibly true. Everything we have read and heard from Whistler to Revelstoke and all points in between is that skiing off the groomers is not recommended. But as demonstrated here a substantial portion of Kicking Horse’s expert terrain is still skiing quite well in this difficult season.