TR: Kicking Horse & Revelstoke. B.C. 2/25-3/7

BC interior 09’

Beginning on Feburary 25^th 2009 my friend Arne & I headed to British Columbia for a 10 day journey to visit Kicking Horse Resort & Revelstoke Mountain Resort.  The following is a brief account of our trip.

2/25 Wednesday:

I meet up with Arne who flew in from CA, at the SLC airport in UT. 

Delta added direct flights from SLC to Cranbrook in the Fall.  It is a short (under 2 hours) flight from SaltLake to the BC interior town of Cranbrook.  We arrived at about 1:00 PM expecting to pick up a Ford Explorer from Budget car rentals.  Our vehicle was not available, but after some waiting & negotiating they showed up with an AWD Ford Tauraus sedan which actually suited our needs perfectly & was a little cheaper. 

It is about a 2.5 hour drive to Golden, BC on a sometimes snowy, but pretty straight & flat 2 lane highway, where we checked into Mary’s motel.  $89 a night for 2 queen size beds is about as cheap as it gets.  Kicking Horse (KH) has just received about 30cm of new snow, the first significant snow for them in quite awhile.

2/26 Thursday:

I visited KH once before on a road trip in 2007.  It is about a 10 minute drive up the hill from Golden.  There are lots of on site accommodations, but a little beyond our budget.

Kicking Horse is a big mountain with a lot of hard core skiers & a spattering of Snowboarders. The base elevation is 3900’ & tops out at 8033’ for a total vertical of 4133’ & 2750 inbounds acres. The Golden Eagle Express Gondola rises 3900’ vertical in one shot. There are 3 other fixed grip chairs, Catamount for beginners, Pioneer which serves the original area, & Stairway to Heaven, which is the newest & gets you to the top elevation. The Stairway lift accesses Feuz Bowl, Redemption Ridge, and some fabulous O.B. terrain that goes on to the north forever with touring equipment. The main skiing is on the North flanks of CPR Ridge & Redemption Ridge, but there is much, much more to be had.

It is a beautiful clear but very cold morning when we begin with a ride up the Gondo & a traverse out to one of the far chutes I remembered off of CPR ridge. It is great skiing with mostly cut up powder & a few untracked turns after the chute opens up toward the bottom where we can load the Stairway to Heaven Quad.  We are on the chair with a local couple who inform us that the White Wall run wasn’t open yesterday & Patrol are doing control work now.

We figure it will be worth the wait for some steep freshies, so we wait with them at the gate for the opening.  After a few minutes word comes that it is going to be at least ½ an hour till opening, so we opt to take a quick lap on the chair.  A pretty good crowd has begun to gather when we return, but we only wait a few minutes till they drop the rope for the mad 5 minute dash to the top of the ridge.

At the bottom of the White Wall in Feuz Bowl:

We return to the wall a few more times during the day, but the real freshies are gone after the second lap.

To get back up STH lift from this side of the mountain you need to go back to the bottom & catch the gondola, so it takes some time. 

Eventually we return to the car, grab our shovel packs & head back up the gondola.  We are bound for Super Bowl off the top of TerminatorPeak. 

It is about a 15-20 minute hike up the ridge to reach the bowl, but about 4000’ vertical of untracked back to the bottom.

When we reach our destination we spy a few natural releases on the other side of the bowl near the next peak over, so we decide to stay in close to a ridge where there are 2 sets of tracks from previous skiers.

I ski first to a protected spot under the ridge & call Arne down.  Needless to say, the skiing here is epic.  From this point the slope steepens even more, & we can see where some natural slough debris has collected in the bottom of the bowl so we elect to traverse to a different more stable exposure from this point to ski the rest of  this section

After the traverse, back to where a few mnore people have skied:

Looking back up from the bottom of the first pitch:

Quite a bit of bushwhacking at the bottom, but well worth it.

That's it for day #1!

To be continued...

JF

2nd day at KH, skiing at the bottom of the last chute off of CPR ridge.  We still found some deep snow:

At the top of the White Wall in Feuz Bowl.  The background peak is the permanantly closed area that 2 skiers lost their lives in last Saturday:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finndog 

 

AWESOME! Truly epic..... Bring it on....

 

Did you ski the face of the 4th pic up ^? that's some serious steeps.

Edited by Finndog - 3/12/2009 at 03:15 pm

No, we didn't ski it.  That peak is Teminator II, or as the locals call it, "T2".  If you look closely at the bottom of the pic you will see where 2 fairly large natural avalanches had recently occured.  Apparently this peak does get skied, but not so much this year because of avalanche hazard.  We skied Terminator pk., where the picture was taken from.

I will post more about the trip, but my computer is slow & it is time consuming to sort & upload the pictures with the new site here.  I will post a little more of KH before I start on Revy.

Thanks for looking,

JF

Looking toward STH from CPR ridge:

Skiing down the White Wall on day 2:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfoot 

 

 

So weren't you the guy that almost called off his trip because of lousy snow conditions?

Yes, that is true.  Glad we went, but the skiing IS better in UT this season.  BC was good, but not spectacular.  We did cut our trip a little short as temps got to about -20 for a few days this week.  On the other hand, it wasn't a great week at home while I was gone & I got back just in time to enjoy fresh powder this week.  KH & Revy have about 1/2 their normal snowpack this season, although there is decent coverage top to bottom.
 

JF

Looking north at KH

View of the village from the Gondola at KH

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfoot 

 

 

This pretty much sums up why I like Canada.  The KH, Rogers Pass, Revy area has snow like no place else, and even half is enough for good skiing, as beautifully illustrated by your pictures and report.
 

Absolutley, & don't forget the massive vertical!
 

JF

Continuation of my report:

When we were done skiing for the day we headed up over Rogers Pass to Revelstoke. It was a beautiful drive through the National Park with awe inspiring views. At the top of the pass we stopped for a look around and a quick visit into the lodge to check things out. We were hoping to spend a night here on the way back to do some touring, but avalanche conditions were high, so that didn’t happen.

We arrived at Revelstoke that evening & checked into the Powder Springs Inn for the week.  Everything was pretty booked up for the weekend as there was a big jr. ski race & some other events going on.

2/28 Sat.

We meet Fly & Michelle who are 2 kiwis living in Revelstoke & working at the motel for the winter.  We arrange to meet Michelle on the mountain for a little tour around & get the layout of the area.

Michelle takes us through some hidden tree runs off of the Stoke lift before making the short hike up to the North Bowl.  When we get to the top of the ridge we decide to traverse to the far boundary & ski Greely Bowl where with a couple more short hikes we find some good powder & a fun gully back down to the base of the Ripper chair.

From the top of the Ripper, we make our way back to the Stoke for some more tight turns through the trees & eventually end up on a groomer back to the base.  Michelle has to return to work at the motel, so we spend the rest of the day trying to repeat some of the runs she took us on.  It is not easy, especially in the trees.  It would probably take a month or more to really learn your way down all the nooks & crannies in the trees.

Revelelstoke is in it’s 2^nd year of operation & expansion.  With 5620’ vertical, it is now the longest lift served skiing in North America.  The present 3,031 inbounds acres are served by an 8 passenger gondola & 2 detachable quad chairlifts on the upper mountain.  There is a good combination of super long groomers, tons of trees & some alpine bowls.

3/1 Sunday – 3/6 Friday

The rest of the week we get a mix of weather, from warm temps & wet snow to cold temps with dry snow.  We don’t get any huge dumps, but manage to find some fresh snow everyday, along with some of the longest groomed runs I have ever skied.  On one run we take the longest trail down the mountain.  It is 91/2 miles long & I manage to make 700 turns in one run!  We skied everything from powder to spring slush & hard as rock ice depending where you are on the mountain.  On one morning we found the runs Hot Sauce & Devils Club groomed to perfection from top to bottom.  I swear you could set a full length downhill on this run, & then set another one right below it.  The run just rolls on and on with no real flat sections.  Arne’s GPS put us at a top speed of 52 mph.

Friday broke sunny, clear & cold.  We decided it was finally a good day to explore some of the adjacent sidecountry, which is also served by Cat & Heli-skiing.  When we reach the top of the Stoke chair we traverse out a ways & skin up through the boundary for a run in the bottom of South Bowl.

Finally reaching the ridge,

for some good turns:

Looking back up from the bottom of South Bowl:

On our next run we decide to hike up the peak directly above the top of Stoke chair.  It is a steep, 15 minute staircase, but the views by themselves make it worth the effort

We decide to ski off the back of the mountain back of the mountain, & try a different line in south bowl.

Once we ski the first face, we skin again back up our track from the first run & continue over one more ridge.  We find a cool gully that has filled in with some deeper light snow that goes on for quite a ways.  Once the gully begins to disappear we take a few pitches down through the trees.

Finally we meet the Cat road where we skin back into the ski area.

Sadly, the weather forecast calls for temperatures dropping to -30 in the next few days, so we decide to head home early.

JF

Hi Mudfoot,

I did not mention the original ski area that was based where the day lodge is now.  It was called Powder Springs, & there is quite a bit of interesting history about the old area & Mt. Mckenzie.  The new lower extension of the gondola doesn't seem like much compared to the rest of the mountain, but I guess it must add the 900' of vertical.  It is all skiable, & on a couple of the colder days had some nice corn snow.  The Ripper chair is also new this season, but doesn't add any vertical, just inbounds acres.  They could still go higher I think.  From what I saw of expansion plans, it looks like they will put lifts out in the South Bowl area next.  I think it will be awhile though, as rumors sound like the developers are out of money for now.  There is more parking at the new base, & accomodations as well as a rental shop, ski school desk & tickets.  We always parked at a small lot just above the base of the gondola.  It was convenient ski in ski out parking & close to town.

Although it never seemed crowded, there were always a good amount of cars in the lots & crowds in the lodge, so I think they're doing okay with skier numbers.  Time & the economy will tell the story on further expansion.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfoot 

 

When I heard they were having financial problems I thought all they need to do is cut a lower exit road on that side and they could open up a lot more terrain without putting in any more lifts..  It really is fantasic skiing already, so maybe the best thing for us skiers is if it never turns into the huge resort they envisioned.  When in doubt, "kill the banker."

I am of the same mind on this, I am kind of a minimalist I guess.  Thin a few trees out and cut a few traverse trails to get back out, provide detailed avi forecasts, put in some gates, require a partner & avi gear, heck even do a little avalanche control so you can put it in bounds & you would have something special!  This is what I like about Kicking Horse, also a great area, with access to a lot more.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfoot 

 

I agree, the sidecountry at those two areas is enough to keep you occupied for years.  At KH the $25 one gondola ride gives you access to about 7 drainages for day skiing, assuming you've got the gear, the conditioning and the backcountry knowledge.  Throw in Rogers Pass in between them, several local heli, cat and hut skiing options and IMO you've got the best nexus of skiing on the planet.  Plus, I love the Canadian people, very polite and friendly.

I did the $25 1 ride pass on my last day when I was there in 07' & had a great day exploring in Rudi's & beyond.  Although I came back into the resort on the beaten path out of Rudi's, apparently there is a catch trail down lower that will bring you back from the bowls beyond.
 

You are right about the Canuks, I should have made mention in my report.  Friendly, helpful and willing to share.  At home today, I happened to ride with a family from Golden.  When I told them I had just been at KH, they were excited as can be that I had enjoyed their mountain & truly interested in when I was coming back.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by world-traveller123 

Very good blog i was in REvy last year. but only stayed on resort trails, just question about when u skiied off the back of the mountain, for someone who skis off the back area, how do u get back up or is there a route or road that takes u back to civilization?

 

Thanks as i was not sure about ski off the main trails? thanks

Where we skied was basically the "Cat Skiing area".  We hit the Cat track at the bottom of our runs, & skinned back up the road to the ski area boundary at about mid mountain.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by world-traveller123 

So you recommend to sign up for a Cat Ski trip or can one just go down the back side on their own/

Either way I guess. 

Cat Skiing = Diesel fumes, $'s & guide

On your own = more risk, less $'s & more sweat.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by world-traveller123 

Of the 2 resorts u been to KH And REvy , what one do u prefer more. as i plan to stay in REVY again and 2 to 3 days there and maybe a day trip to KH/ recommended?

Both are great.  Personally, I prefer the terrain at KH.  I spent a great deal of my life skiing tight trees which Revy has plenty of along with some great alpine terrain.  KH is all about steep alpine chutes which is always a treat for me.  The snow can be different at one from the other as they are on opposite sides of a divide, so weather may be a factor in your decision.  Both places have massive vertical, which is also something that I enjoy...  Lots of variation in snow textures.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by world-traveller123 

never really skied a chute before 

would trying one out for first time be a wise thing, more so doing it at KH?

cheer

KH is worth a visit, for sure.

Some of the chutes have wider entries than others, so yes KH would be a good place if you've got some steeps skills.

JF