Hard to believe it took almost to the end of January for our first hike to T2 at Kicking Horse Resort.  Usually at this time of the year we have been going daily for the past month.  The resort opened T2 a couple days ago and along with friend Patrick we had to do it for no other reason then to find out whether or not we could still do it.
I must admit, it seemed a lot harder.  But I will blame  it on the condition of the hike.  Since it was the first day, the trail wasn't packed down very well.   It is easy to step off the path and down you go into wait-deep snow.  The ski down was not that pretty as the knees were sore already.  We need to do this a few more time for sure.
The weather has changed for the worse for the next few days with warm temperatures  and rain.   It looks like next week the temperatures are due to drop and snow, instead of rain. But it is what it is.

Despite all the story lines I have been seeing on the internet in the past month regarding lack of snow at resorts in Canada, the best skiing starts now. 
That is usually the case and this is our 21st winter at Kicking Horse Resort.  Sure sometimes you get a great early snowfall which is nice over Christmas but historically it seems it is combined with really cold temperatures. I normally don't get serious about skiing until now and now we have some nice snow. 
Over the past couple days Kicking Horse has received about 30cm of champagne powder.  And that is what it is.  So light and fluffy you don't even know it's under foot.  
There are still a lot of small shrubs sticking up on the lower slopes you need to pick your way around.  No question Kicking Horse needs to do a better job of their summer grooming.  A lot of those runs could be used by now.  Hopefully this year is an eye opener for next year.  There is no guarantee of a lot of early snow and this year is an indiction of that.
But still some great skiing now and looking forward to start doing some hiking up to T1 and T2 soon.  Short video is from this morning at Vagabond Lodge.