Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Review & Ski Guide

[@src248]

The Pyramid looks huge on video, in person it's absolutely insane. I wouldn't believe it's been flipped if I hadn't watched the FWT

[@riseandalpine]

I genuinely stared at it laughing for about 5 minutes. It was a Mind Blown kind moment seeing it in person. More impressive than the wonders of the world in my opinion.

[@paulcentineo4174]

Headed your way in March! Lake Louise, Sunshine, Revy, Kicking Horse and Panorama! Two old guys in our late 50’s reliving our youth! TY for the excellent reviews, see u there!? 👊🏼

[@riseandalpine]

Right on Paul! Sounds like the dream trip to me!

[@scottmorrison7177]

Favorite resort I've every skied! I vow to get back up there one day. I'm going to share this video with my "steeps" buddies to get them stoked to plan a trip back to the Horse!

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks brother. Sharing my vid's around with the "steeps" boys is the highest form of gratitude a viewer can give me. Stoked for you to get back out there,

[@thefabulousplatypus8956]

Going for two weeks in Jan 25, with a week prior in Fernie to warm up. going to hang out and hope for good snow. Nice vids keep them coming form New Zealand!

[@riseandalpine]

Sounds like an amazing trip! Let me know if you have any questions!

[@thefabulousplatypus8956]

Honestly, your vids are just perfect for me. Coming from down under there are so many options, on a good snow day it's not like your Gunna have a bad time no matter the resort. But really nice to see how these places really ski for those wanting big mountain experiences. So much more useful than the usual review videos, short format fluff, aimed at the mass touristy market. Show me how it skis!! Where's the best place to break a leg? ​@@riseandalpine

[@jeremyletourneau]

Ya this is the mountain I wanna ski! This looks so awesome! Great review bro!

[@riseandalpine]

You'll love it brother!

[@timstevens2848]

Went to KH a few years ago with a bunch of friends. A foot of fresh snow the first morning at the base of the gondola. Friend who's skied there lots says "you'll love the view from T2. Hiked up and totally fogged in. Couldnt see past my skiis. Stepping off the ridge was freeky. A couple minutes later i blew a tire and took an hour to find my ski. In chest deep snow. Made it down in one piece. If you love big and steep, you'll love Kicking Horse.

[@riseandalpine]

Holy shit Tim! Hilarious story. I couldn't imagine doing that bootpack in deep snow and low visibility. Glad you came out of it stoked!

[@YannSaintLaurent]

Best Kicking Horse review… Ever!!! I was there in Feb ‘23 for my first time and agree to everything you said! With an Epic pass you get 7 days at KH included. Caution ⚠️ out of bound riders. 2 death and 6 caught in an avalanche off of T2 when I was there. I almost witnessed it. That place is SICK!

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks Yann! KHMR is truly out of this world. Great reminder for everyone watching as well. The backcountry at any ski area is no joke. Always have the right training, the proper gear and understand the forecasts/snowpacks

[@choisam20]

Absolutely. You need a blue sky day to see where you are going in this resort. I love snow day but for first day, we need the vision first.

[@riseandalpine]

100%. I would be scared to death with fog at KHMR.

[@choisam20]

@@riseandalpine yeah, when the visibility is bad there, it's bad.

[@skibummerdude]

I had the best poutine of my life at Kicking Horse. Maple bacon. Right at the bar at the base of the gondie. Fantastic.

[@src248]

The French Sandwich (I think that's what it's called? The one with potatoes) at the café might genuinely be the best meal I've ever had, KH has amazing food

[@riseandalpine]

Maple Bacon Poutine! Sheeesh... I'm going to have to remember that!

[@SalmonPowered]

I went to do the T2 bootpack near the end of the day by myself- halfway through the hike it fogged up completely and I couldn't see shit to either side of me. Not sure if it was better or worse than being able to see. I remember thinking during that part where you're climbing up the rope that if I dropped my skis they'd probably go a literal mile downhill. Anyway I got up to the top and it was 0 vis, my goggles had fogged completely due to me panic sweating, and the snow had a windblown crust so it wasn't even fun skiing. 10/10 can't wait to go back.

[@riseandalpine]

Sounds like a nightmare but makes for a fantastic story! I'm glad you survived and are itching to go back. Imagine if you dropped your skis... that would be the worlds longest bootpack to the bottom hahaha.

[@anonymous134y]

keep this series going bro! love it! Would like to see ski touring edition with some good beginner/intermediate trails near Van.

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks brother! That's an awesome idea. Maybe Rank some local ski tours that I've tried?

[@peterlai6488]

rode this mountain lots in my mid-late 20's. 10 years later 1 day in at the Horse- I'm on my heatpad and feet up in bed by 9pm. She bucks!

[@riseandalpine]

Things to look forward to eh :) :). I'm still in my mid-20's and I was thrashed after two days hahaha. It absolutely bucks.

[@ArturoTierra]

I completely agree. It might be my favorite lift served area.

[@riseandalpine]

I ❤️ KHMR

[@BradMcFeters]

Great review with good honest comments. If KH had more/better lift infrastructure, and did a better job of trail maintenance on the lower half of the mountain, it could be world class.

[@gnar_tar]

sorry mate gotta work for it. don't want another whistler that's getting tracked out by noon.

[@BradMcFeters]

@gnar_tar I'm not against some hiking, but the gondola and chair are less than reliable. Some days running at 50% speed, or not even at all. Hard to justify the pricing at that amount of runs per day.

[@freedomrider5906]

Great review, have skied KH many times and it is awesome. Looked at your Red Mountain vid and it would be great if you could do a full review as well. Love the new format.

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks! Red mountain review is coming down the pipeline!

[@WeirdAwesomeGeography]

Great review! I'm really hoping for some Sun Peaks and Harper Mountain content from you this coming season! Deff gems in the Interior :)

[@WeirdAwesomeGeography]

Gonna buy some merch to help buy your ticket!

[@riseandalpine]

Yoooo - really appreciate that! Really eager to do more travel to some new mountains and that helps me a lot! Sun Peaks is one of my all time faves. I used to ski there a ton as a kid but haven't been back in about 6 years. Would be such a good time.

[@Juno_12345]

i was just there monday to wednesday, i was just imagining it in the winter, can’t wait to come back in winter! also so crazy you posted this while i was there since i’ve been watching you for 2 years lol

[@riseandalpine]

Crazy! What were you doing up there? Thanks for watching me for two years Juno. You're a legend.

[@jdp6127]

You used to be able to rent a room above the Eagle's Nest for the night, only one room, but pretty cool to stay overnight and wake up to that view!

[@riseandalpine]

No way! That would be the most incredible morning. Couldn't imagine how gorgeous that alpine glow would be on a clear day.

[@jonrosenthal6556]

Great vid🙂 can’t wait tell the next one

[@riseandalpine]

Glad you're diggin' the review series!

[@mccormacken]

Love the reviews Would be cool if you implemented a graphic showing where it ranked when you give the stats. So skiable terrain, list the other resorts with similar area as a list for a few seconds. Or vertical drop etc. just so we can kind of compare and see where this fits amongst other resorts 👍

[@riseandalpine]

Great idea! Going to see how I could bring this to life.

[@will3057]

Basically go straight get a 90 degree cliff you can ski. Go right insane chute and go left for another insane chute.

[@riseandalpine]

LOL - that sounds about right!

[@BobE_Nagesh]

Thanks for the great review. I've been exclusively at Lake Louise the past three seasons but I am determined to get to Kicking Horse this season. It's only another hour or so from LL.

[@riseandalpine]

Such a quick drive from LL. So worth it!!

[@tarfeef101]

Just did a short few day trip in the rockies, and was based in Golden for it. Town was nice, and I'll definitely be back to ski there in the winter :)

[@riseandalpine]

Golden rocks! Where else did ya ski other than KHMR?

[@tarfeef101]

@@riseandalpine oh I mean "just" so it was 2 weeks ago. A touch of snow, but no skis just yet 😅, the highlight was climbing mt Assiniboine

[@flapjackson6077]

Butt clinching, mind blowing. Yes, you captured it perfectly! Sphincter tingling even! Lol. I’m 62, live in the eastern US, and haven’t skied in 30 years. Never skied out west. I always loved skiing steep terrain. I wasn’t a great mogul skier but I could I’ve been watching vids of kickass skiing places around the world and have concluded that Kicking Horse is one of the top skiing experiences in the world. That place is hardcore! It actually is fairly well suited for first timers and beginners, as long as they don’t go up top. But I’ve never seen a mountain so riddled with double blacks and steep terrain as Kicking Horse. That place looks like the ultimate playground for ski and snowboard freaks! Great breakdown of the various trails and runs! 🤙

[@riseandalpine]

Sphincter Tingler should be the name of the top half of the resort. So glad you enjoyed the review. Can't wait to get back to this place. Steep skiing heaven!

[@flapjackson6077]

@@riseandalpine 🤣 Tru dat!

[@benlittlechilds1192]

One of my local hills. We always do mega laps…up the gondola, chose a chute to the quad, and then explore bowls further over. KH does have some nasty rocks though, and the biggest negative is the cat track access….all the runs seem to need a narrow, scrapped out, busy cat track to access the good runs. And last, as mentioned, KH needs at least 1 more lift to be a real serious contender.

[@riseandalpine]

The traverses and shallow rocks were pretty wacky last year. I figured it was just a low snow pack. Those who suffer the adversities are most definitely rewarded!

[@benlittlechilds1192]

@@riseandalpine 2022 was a horrible snow pack season, but the rocks always get me every year lol.

[@riseandalpine]

@@benlittlechilds1192 Golden BC must sell the most P-tex per capita hahaha

[@stevebrunke5003]

Great review. Happy I found your channel.

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks Steve. Glad to have you here!

[@PetrShred]

Just sitting here having lunch at home - the view from the dining room window is across the valley to KHMR. Yup, it's steep; yup, it's fun!

[@riseandalpine]

All time best review right here!

[@mattabell8372]

8 gondola rides at Kho is a big day! The Gondola is a bottleneck and needs to be upgraded. It is reliable though, you can rely on it breaking down twice a year.

[@riseandalpine]

At least it's consistent hahaha

[@djpacitt]

Hey brother, great video - keep it up! I'm headed to Revy and KH in like 10 days so this has been super helpful. Question, did you get a guide or just go it alone and explore? I'm a super solid skier from Salt Lake City who's fully capable of self exploration but I always like local's knowledge when I can get it. Would be welcome to your thoughts on guide vs. no guide?

[@riseandalpine]

For KHMR we went up there with no guide and just felt around. It helped a lot that we had blue sky days. It will be a blast with a guide or without, but local knowledge up there could be pretty damn epic. Either way you can't go wrong. I feel like a guide maybe could be comforting on cloudier days.... It's not the kind of spot where you want to feel around without being able to see haha. For Revy I don't think you need a guide on the resort, but it could be helpful if you want to venture off into some of the lesser travelled slack country spots!

[@reddottx]

Love that you’ve added these reviews to your channel. From a challenge aspect how would you compare KH to Alta/Snowbird?

[@riseandalpine]

I wish I could tell ya. I've never been to Alta/Snowbird. It's on my radar to ski and review. Maybe @tristancleary from the comments could help. Sounds like he's done a Utah trip!

[@reddottx]

@@riseandalpineyou’ll love it. Doesn’t seem like it has the panorama of KH but snow quality and creativity is very high. 1500-2000cm of wispy light magic.

[@arthurcichowski9682]

Good skiing bro ! Solid sends and chargin thro 🤙

[@riseandalpine]

Thanks Arthur!

[@erinb4919]

Kh is the best❤❤

[@riseandalpine]

my favourite place in the world!

[@kylecarscaden3953]

Hi, thanks for this video. How does this compare to the skiing in LCC? I want to make trip up from Utah because it seems like much fewer people

[@riseandalpine]

I've never been to Utah. Maybe someone in the comments can help you out with the comparison??

[@lovetoride9646]

This resort scares the heck out of me

[@riseandalpine]

Scary fun!

[@renuvatos1325]

The saying north of the 49th is if you can ski the horse you can ski anything

[@riseandalpine]

That checks out!

[@aaronfrohnmayer8493]

T2 !!

[@riseandalpine]

T2 is crazy sick

[@jean-francoiscloutier7361]

As usual, great review. 58 days to go.............

[@riseandalpine]

The countdown has officially begun!

[@jean-francoiscloutier7361]

You beat I'm counting can't wait@@riseandalpine

[@CM-hd8jx]

Awesome videos, the passion really comes through. Couldn't agree more that KH is a really special place; given your experience and objective assessments it's a real compliment. Yea, the gondola is a bottleneck of sorts, but if you're there at 8am and are willing to hike a bit it's not too bad, especially mid week. As a snowboarder, it's predominately fall line stuff all the way to the bottom so not much traversing for the most part. One word of caution I would share is to be aware when you're closing in on the cat tracks. Given said terrain the drops on the uphill side can be pretty brutal. Just saying. Not much way for the trail crews to mitigate it either . Do come back again and keep up the excellent work! Punk rock hill...

[@riseandalpine]

Ayyee thanks for commenting. Cool to hear from a snowboarder and that the fall line works great for those riding sideways. Were there any runs or zones I missed that i need to try when I come again this year?

[@CM-hd8jx]

You're welcome! What to say? Seems to me you gave things a good going over... Obviously some variations on the themes are possible I suppose. Take your pick! Hopefully you get some fresh next visit. Don't hesitate to drop me a line when you come back. @@riseandalpine

[@fernandovalley9229]

⁠@@riseandalpineI think you hit a lot of good stuff already, but you can try going to the coffin trees/sling shot area (further down redemption ridge, not on the map) this year, maybe try a few lines down T1 south (not as steep as the north side but fun regardless, was also the FWT venue one year), there are also some chutes down from T2 off the main run that I don’t think you covered last year either, there are also some spicy tight chutes further down CPR you may want to try (boxcar etc, keep going down the cat track until you are basically right above the stairway chair). Then of course you can show some side country stuff, ozone north, rudis, T2.5/T3

[@DirtBikeDuo]

It’s currently absolutely dumping at the top of whistler

[@riseandalpine]

You're kidding me. Should I wax my twigs?

[@DirtBikeDuo]

@@riseandalpine haha snowing down to about 1600 m

[@Joe-jt2ng]

Got a boys trip to Banff in early March, hoping to make the trek out there to KH. Does it level out a ton near the bottom and you end up skating a bunch? As a boarder I prefer my hiking up to terrain not on cat tracks to the base :)

[@src248]

You shouldn't have to hike much/at all, getting back to the gondola can be tedious but it's downhill. You'd have to hike out of Superbowl but that's the only bad spot I remember

[@riseandalpine]

Yup! You're chilling man. Only a flat spot is the bottom of superbowl beneath the South side of T1 and T2. If you like hiking up, you'll be in heaven!

[@AntonSostaric]

Coming over from Oz in Jan. Should I ditch the all mountain 93mm and get some powder skis over there ?

[@riseandalpine]

Honestly, you'll probably really enjoy 93's most days. The snow is pretty dry at KHMR too so I wouldn't be too worried. You could always use the 93 as the daily driver and test some thick ones on a deep day.

[@geirlyster6375]

As a local, we say either you kick the horses ass or the Horse kicks your's. There is nothing like hucking chutes on a pow day at The Horse! Yeeha!

[@riseandalpine]

Love that saying... so flipping true. What an awesome spot to be a local at!!!!

[@geirlyster6375]

@@riseandalpine if you want to see Kicking Horse on POW days, I have a channel called GoldenGeir that has some past POW days. Cheers!

[@christianacosta4013]

can you do sunpeaks and big white next?

[@riseandalpine]

I'd love to! I'll have to ski at them this season first :).

[@jesboogie]

I came down off the top and as a not so strong skiier my butt was puckered! But once things opened up mid mountain it was magnificent. The snow is the driest and dusty ive encountered, and there is a grizzly bear living on the mountain. Whats not to love! KH is tits!

[@riseandalpine]

That top part isn't very friendly eh! Glad you had a blast mid-mountain, it's so flipping fun. Where was the Grizzly bear?

[@jesboogie]

Boo the grizzly Bear lives in a habitat mid mountain, he's taken care of all year round. He was an abandoned cub and could not be released back to the wild. Craziest animal encounter ive ever had on the slopes 🐻 PpS He's frekaking HUGE

[@will3057]

Are you going to add mountain rankings to your website

[@riseandalpine]

That would be sick! I think I have to ski/film some more mountains first!

[@wrightmderek]

"the ski down T2 is underwhelming". Id correct you, but I dont want to give away any secrets.

[@riseandalpine]

Gotta keep those secrets under lock and key :). I'm sure the locals could do a much better review than me!

[@350zee1]

KH has insane backside, if only they had a couple backside lifts

[@riseandalpine]

Maybe one day they'll expand, but until then, skins work great!

[@anandappukuttan2427]

Backside of ozone is such a gem why you gotta give it away😭

[@riseandalpine]

It's no secret and It'll stay mint back there - not everyone feels like carrying avi gear and taking risk and it's some very dangerous/complex avalanche terrain.