![]() |
||
Check Availability and Book ON-Line |
April 3 I am closing in on 80 days of skiing this winter!!! I won't make 100 but close. That's not too bad for an old fart. I went up with a couple of friends, Warren who also lives at the Resort and Don who has retired to become a ski instructor. We made 3 great runs, all into Feuz Bowl. The last two were especially nice. We went down basically the last chute into Feuz Bowl. The top part you go through a narrow entry with trees and then you cut under a rock face and it was untracked powder about boot-top. And we really haven't had a substantial dump of snow lately but still some powder to be found. The temperature at the top was still cool so the snow is staying nice and soft. Very enjoyable today. Check our Video of the Day.
March 31 Snow
off and on all day. Not much accumulating at the bottom but it was pretty
good up at the top with about 5-7 cms during the day. I went up about
2pm and first went down into bowl-over and then double header. It was
nice with the new snow but icy underneath so you had to hang on a bit
more. I ran into a couple who a unit in Glacier Lodge who I had known
since we built Vagabond. They said they were heading into Feuz Bowl and
that's where I was going. We got to the top of Stairway to Heaven Chair
and the clouds cleared with nice sunshine. We decided to head to Whitewall.
It's a double black diamond area that is about a 10 minute hike from the
top of the chair. It truly is spectacular and requires a drop off a cornice
into the slope which is steep. The snow was really nice and soft. A great
run!!! When I got to the bottom, I figured I had time for another run
and ended up back at Whitewall and this time it was a "White-out."
I couldn't see a thing and waited around for about 10 minutes for the
clouds to move out but they didn't. So I decided to make the plunge and
it was a challenge. I had to do jump turns to the bottom just to hold
my speed because I was reading braille with my feet. Luckily the snow
was nice and soft. I made it down okay, but it wasn't pretty.
March 29 A couple of great days at Kicking Horse. Some new snow, ..about 7cm yesterday. I went today out with son Kori, his girlfriend Elaine and Elaine's sister Emily and friends Tony and Kim. Had a few runs down Stairway to Heaven. Then decided to head up to Whitewall which is double black-diamond. At Kicking Horse, a double black diamond is really a double black diamond. You get off Stairway to Heaven Chair and then hike about 10 minutes to the top of the ridge. The big challenge is the drop off the cornice. Where we went...probably only about a meter. This is all part of the resort and is deemed safe. It certainly is the steepest area of the resort but with some new soft snow, is maybe the best snow at the resort this time of the year. It ends up into Feuz Bowl and then you make your way to the bottom. I then headed up for our Sunday Church service in the Eagle's Eye Restaurant where a group get together every Sunday for a beer and some good fun and a run back down. Things are really quieting down at the resort which is too bad since there is still some nice skiing. Check our my video of skiing Whitewall.
March 26 Beautiful sunny day and quite cold. The temperature early in the morning was about -8 C. I didn't get out until about 2pm, hoping it may warm up and soften things up abit. But no such luck. It stayed pretty cool. But I had a couple of nice runs. The North Facing slopes are still nice. The south facing are pretty slick. I did a couple of runs off CPR ridge making my way to Stairway to Heaven chair and then into Feuz Bowl. Both times I took one of the top chutes with a short traverse into Feuz bowl. Very nice. The lower runs get pretty icy, so I looked for some of the groomers and they were fine. Some snow in the forecast. Here is my video of the day.
March 21/22 A couple of interesting days at Kicking Horse weather-wise. It has warmed up big-time. On our deck at Vagabond Lodge today, the thermometer was about 18C at one point in the sun. Spring-time is here. I went up for our Weekly Church-Service at the Eagle's Eye Restaurant. A group of us get together for a few beers and pray to the snow-gods. We had a good turn-out for a gorgeous sunny day. My 1 run down was interesting. Top part was still nice soft snow and eventually near the bottom I got into soft spring-like corn snow. But it was the day before..Friday ..that was really interesting. It started to rain Friday night at the bottom of the resort and I figured .."we are in trouble." But when I woke up in the morning you could see the snow-line above us. A friend of mine from the Kootneys near Nelson BC came for a visit and had never skied Kicking Horse. He usually skis Whitewater Nelson which is known for it's big powder. It was fun to show Jim our hill and he loved it. We got up to the top about 11.30 to discover they had about 9 cms of fresh snow with sunny skies. We went into both Feuz Bowl and then into "Bowl-Over" which is on the left side of the Gondola with nice untracked snow everywhere. Another friend from Golden Bob joined us. Great day. See our Video of the day below.
March 20 Warmer...a lot warmer. Some snow continuing in the upper alpine. I didn't get out skiing today. Friday is my hockey day. I play with a group of old-timers in Golden every Friday afternoon. Good fun and great break. It's good to get off the hill now and then. I did get up yesterday for a couple runs in the late afternoon. There was more new snow higher up. With the warmer weather, the snow was considerably heavier. Here is my video of the day from yesterday.
March 18 We were without internet for the past 2 days. Telus is such a great company to deal with. Some call centre in "who knows where." Two days, trying to find out when it was going to be back in service and they couldn't say anything except "is there anything else we can help you with." Anyways...it is back. Amazing how much we rely on internet for. Scary! I went up for a couple of runs about 2pm. The weather has warmed up in the past day. 5 or 6 above at the Vagabond. It was snowing off an on at the top. I made one run down into "Double Header" and then the second run into "Feuz Bowl."Both were really nice, but not as nice as March 17th. About 15 cm of new snow in the past few days, with sun coming out and colder temperatures so nice soft fluffy snow. We for a great dinner the night before with some friends from Corpus Christi Texas at Corks next door at Copper Horse Lodge. Here is my video of the day from St. Patrick's day. I don't get into celebrating St. Patrick's day. No green or anything. Not sure what it is all about. When they start celebrating Ukrainian day, I may think about it. Nothing against the Irish!!!!
March 15 Woke up to a snow storm. It began about 7am and lasted only a couple of hours but it dumped about 10cm. Then about 10am the clouds started to lift and sun came out. Turned out to be a classic day for skiing. I went up for a couple runs about 12.00. I went down into Bowl-Over and the snow was boot-top deep powder and nice and light. From there I headed over to "Double-header" and found some nice untracked powder. Second run I went down CPR ridge and eventually "Race Place" which I haven't skied for awhile. A lot of bumps but with the soft new snow, it was a lot of fun. A good work-out, but a lot of fun. Today is also "Church Service" in the Eagle's Eye Restaurant. It was a special day for one of our guests. Rita from Texas is 98 and went up to the top for a Bloody Mary. Amazing lady. Here is my video of the day.
March 12 Beautiful Sunny days. A few whispy clouds floating around and warmer again. Probably about -5C and no-one on the slopes. If you are looking for a ski holiday for next winter, this is the time to come. Next week is spring breaks so it should be pretty busy. But this week was dead. I was still finding powder up to my knees in places and we haven't had any fresh powder for 5 or so days. I went up about 12.30 or so made a run into Fuez Bowl and it was outstanding. With the warmer weather the snow was a lot softer. Actually a perfect day. Supposed to be some snow on the way. You can see by my video of the day.
March 10 Woke up to about -18 C and it didn't warm up much during the day. Not normal for this time of the year, but what is normal?? But no wind, picture blue sky's. Quite spectacular. We have a group from Germany who went heli skiing with Purcell and they loved it. I went for a couple runs about noon or so and it was fine. I prefer it a little warmer. Snow was cold and sticky so it was no problem holding the speed. A little tough on the knees because of the stickiness you had to work a bit more. I did a run down the front face basically with still some fresh powder in places. And on my second run I took Euphoria and down. The resort is doing a lot of grooming lately. In places they really don't need to or should in my mind. They end up awfully icy when it gets skied off. Here's my video of the day.
March 9 Cold weather for this time of the year. Woke up to about -15 C and a wind-chill that made it a lot colder. A very light snow coming down with about 4 cm of new stuff overnight which should make the skiing pretty nice. One of the great things to do at Vagabond Lodge after a hard day of skiing, is to hit the out-door hot tub. One of our regular guests from Australia Gary, was kind enough to give us his video of Gary playing in the snow. I think you will like it.
March 8 Quite cool temperatures for this time of the year. About - 8 C in the morning and maybe a little cooler at the top. Snowing off and on in the morning with 3 or 4 cm of fresh stuff at the top which made it very nice. I went up about 2 for a couple runs. First one was into Feuz Bowl. Visibility wasn't great but snow was nice. Managed to see where two people were killed by an avalanche the day before. It was a closed off area but they elected to go into the area anyway's. Sad story. Even a father and his 14 year old son were going to follow the two who got killed but elected not to go down. Not sure what sort of father he is to take his son into a closed area. There are all sorts of signs and ropes. You can't make a mistake of accidentally going in. Anyway's I also made a couple runs into double-header which was also very nice. Still some patches of untracked powder. We had our Sunday "Church Service" with a good turn-out. Check out my video of the day.
March 7 More new snow. Not a big dump but a few cms in the morning and it continued most of the day. Visibility was the biggest issue. Once you got off the top, best was to stay close to the trees for definition. Cool temperatures. About -7 c or so, so the snow was really light. I went up for a couple runs. The first was into "doubleheader" which is the most southern run at the resort. Snow was very nice. And then I ended up on my second run on Euphoria with a lot of bumps but it was nice and soft. The old knees got a work-out. It was a sad day though at the resort. Four people went skiing into a closed off area and they were hit by an avalanche. Two people died. It's an area that has never been open as long as we have been here which is 5 years. What prompts people to cross the line of stupidity is beyond me. There are plenty of areas that you can go into that are open to the public. You still have to be careful and know what you are doing. But areas are closed for a reason. I have noticed tracks down the slope this year for the first time. It is not a risk worth taking and two people have paid the ultimate price. Our thoughts go out to their families.!!!! Video of the day is below.
March 5 What a great surprise. Woke up to a little snow coming down and then as the morning progressed it got heavier and heavier. Snowed for a few hours and the skiing was maybe the best of the year with 16 cm of new snow, no-one on the hill. The temperature was pretty cool so the snow was super-light and fluffy. I made a couple of awesome runs. The first was into Terminator which was the most southern run at the resort. Big bumps but with that amount of snow you just floated through the snow. In places it was up to my thigh. And then I went into Fuez Bowl. I took one of the chutes at the lower end of the ridge. Very narrow with a few trees and then it widens out at the bottom with nice fresh deep snow. I managed to lose a ski at the top end. Thank goodness with the fresh snow my ski didn't go too far. Certainly worth the extra effort to traverse to this run. Check out my video of the day and eat your heart out!!
March 4 Somewhat cooler today than the warm temperatures of yesterday. Some high overcast skies for most of the day with some light snow off and on at the upper elevations. I managed to get up for 1 quick run about 1.30. The snow hardened up a lot after the warm weather yesterday, but the coverage is still very good and the snow especially at the top is very nice. Here is my video of the day.
March 3 Did you miss me?? I went out of town for a few days. But I am back. We managed to get a few cms of new snow and the weather has warmed up dramatically. Raining in the town of Golden but big flakes of snow coming down off and on at the Resort. It was foggy early in the morning but as the morning progressed the sun started to make its way through. Temperatures were hovering around plus 4 or so for most of the day with the roads pretty sloppy. But on the hill it was great, especially the top part. Not very busy on the hill. I went up with some of my friends, Bob, Brian, Warren and Carol. We made a run down from "Stairway to Heaven" Chair and then decided to go into Fuez bowl. The easiest access is to make a quick right off the chair and traverse off the top into a run called "Horses Mouth." The top part had a few rocks you had to pick your way through, but after that it was very nice. Ended up on "Kicking Horse" It's a run they have been grooming. If you stay to the sides there is still some nice soft. Certainly as you make your way to the bottom the conditions change, but it is all nice. You can see more on my video of the day.
February 26 Wow! Wow!Wow!!!! What a day. After the biggest snowfall of the year yesterday, Today was just as good without snow. Instead it was a blue-bird sky day, temperatures about -10C in the morning. It actually was about -18C early for breakfast. So the snow hadn't really set up. It was still nice and fluffy especially on the North Facing Slopes. I went up with friends Bryan and Bob about 1pm and headed up to Stairway to Heavan. We still found some knee high powder off CPR ridge. And we traversed under Stairway to Heavan chair until we were above the bottom of the chair. There is a really nice fall-line to the bottom. Then decided to head into Fuez Bowl. I met up with one of our guests Michael from Australia and he joined us. Michael and I ended up missing the traverse into the Chute were were headed for and experienced a new one. It is almost as far down as you can go off the ridge into Fuez Bowl. Quite narrow off the top with trees and then it opens up very nicely. Well it turned out to be truly outstanding with snow thigh-high in some spots. My video of the day has more.
February 25 Well it was quite a day. Woke up to about a foot of fresh snow and combined with the 10 or so cms the day before, this had to be one of our biggest snowfalls in awhile. And the thing is, the temperature was still about -10C which isn't the usual temperatures for big dumps here. Usually we get snow about 0C or even plus 2. Needless to say it was a beautiful soft light powder. I spent the first couple of hours plowing snow but then took off about 11. It was truly an epic day with thigh-deep power in a lot of places. Everyone yelling and screaming as they headed downhill. I will let my video tell my story. Eat your heart out!!!
"Where
the real skiers stay"
|
|
Add to Favourites
|
||