 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there.
Can anyone give me info on Kicking Horse, Canada please? Just come back from a summer holiday there and it looks very good. We would love to know what people think. It looks very small at the moment but they are doing loads of building work.
Thanks,
Mark
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nice little area. very much aimed at the more advanced skiier - lots of black diamond bump runs and easy access to off piste skiing. town's a bit quiet, but some excellent restaurants. can be *VERY* cold. We only spent a quick two days there on a road trip so can't go in to much more detail than that
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Some info. below, slightly out of date.
Best to make sure you have a car or do a two centre holiday if with a tour operator. Personally I'd recommend travelling around and going to Sunshine/Lake Louise/Mount Norquay (from base in Banff or Canmore) also Panorama and Fernie/other place near by I can't remember name of right now. Lot's of cheap motels and cheap gas.
Resort
This resort is an antidote for all those people who think North American resorts seriously over grade their runs. There are only three double blacks on the piste map and these are genuine expert only runs that also involve a significant hike to get to. All of the runs off CPR ridge are black and genuine. The south side is forested, whilst the north side has fewer trees and tends to be more popular. One of the reasons for this is that you can jump on the new Stairway to Heaven lift instead of heading all the way back down to take the gondola up. The black, My Blue Heaven (3 , off this is a good mogul run. The Cat track down, Cloud Nine, is not for early intermediates.
Feuz bowl, also off Stairway to Heaven, was not actually open 2002/2003 due to a dispute with one of the Heli-skiing operators due to a ‘right of use’ dispute. Despite this you can trek off from the top of Stairway to Heaven and poach the heli-skiing terrain, if you’re good enough.
Wiley Coyote (17) is the run most people take to get down to the base area/gondola. And given the very high standard of skier/boarder they really do fly down.
The base lodge does reasonable food, in terms of both price and quality, but its not easy to get a seat at weekends.
It can be a surprisingly good resort to learn (but once you can ski the choice of easy intermediate runs is limited).. As an ‘experts’ resort there are very few beginners. My friend often had private lessons at group rates, an absolute bargain (35 CAD for two and a half hours or there are options that include lift pass/gear hire). The maximum she had was three in her group and half the time she was on her own.
The resort and lift staff in general were the friendliest we encountered in six weeks covering nine resorts.
What was refreshing was the lack of wind, especially compared to the wind testing facilities at Sunshine and Lake Louise. Basically if its windy then there’s snow on the way.
Places to stay
There are loads of motels and getting accommodation isn’t a problem (60-80 CAD will get a two double bed unit). The Sportsman Motel (off trans Canada highway 1) was reasonable and had a Jacuzzi, sauna, pool and water slide. It also had helpful staff.
Marys Motel, which is far more central, was also reasonable and walkable to Packers and The Roadhouse (see below).
Places to eat and drink
There are three pubs:
Packers Place, good with good, reasonably priced food done by the restaurant next door, Apostoles. Smokers are sectioned off. Apostoles itself is decorated like a café but worth a visit, good choice and large portions.
The Roadhouse, a more ‘earthy’ atmosphere (Stripper on a Monday night), some very good Pool players and undergoing a refit this spring.
Trappers Bar and Grill, large portions of good food with table football and Pool.
Kicking Horse Grill, excellent ambience and quality food, with wide selection available.
Eagle’s Eye restaurant, well worth a visit in the evening, especially if you can do it on a night when there’s a full moon and you can see a surprisingly amount. Excellent food with pretentious descriptions.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Wow Nick. That is tremendously thorough and helpful!
Thanks
Mark
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I can second the kicking horse grill, we ate there both nights. the other guys ate up at eagle eye one night, said it was superb but very expensive
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've just done the one day there and can only echo what the other's have said, if you want to cruise all day this is not the place for you - if however you want to test yourself to the limits go for it!
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I visited for just one day as a day trip from Lake Louise. Eating wise I liked the Eagle Eye. I posted a while back here.
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Sounds great and might just be the catalyst to get my lot back to Canada. We could do KIcking Horse and Fernie maybe over 10 days.
Good suggestion, I might do some research to see how they feel about Alberta/BC
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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how far is it from Lake Louise to Kicking Horse and how long is the journey, we would be driving our own vehicle if we did the trip?
If we were there for 10 days should we just stay in Banff for the whole time or split it say 5 days in Banff and 5 days in Lake Louise (going to Kicking Horse from LL).
Nightlife and shopping are not a big deal for us, skiing, a decent meal and somewhere to chill out is all we need
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it's about an hour's drive from banff to LL:it's probalby just under two from LL to Kicking horse, maybe less actually. There really is very little at lake louie itself - we did two days there on our roadtrip, on dya one we arrived from KH and went on to Banff after skiinig, we later returned for the skiing and once finihsed popped up to the chateau. the chateau had several restaurants and we had a nice meal but I can't recall there being much else around
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Unless you really want zero nightlife, stay in Banff. It's a very easy drive to LL (I'd say nearer 40 mins than an hour). You can stay near KH, I believe (Golden?), which might be good for a night or two. If you do stay in LL, or even if you just visit, go to the LL Station for beers or a meal.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Yep, Golden is the place below KH. Loads of accomodation on spec.
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