The western cold snap that began Sunday while I was at Mustang Snowcat was still going strong the next two days at Kicking Horse. Riding up in a snowcat made the cold tolerable at Mustang and I hoped Kicking Horse’s Golden Eagle gondola would help similarly.
Tuesday morning temps up high were about -6F and rose to about 0F in the afternoon. It was sometimes cloudy and sometimes sunny and thankfully not windy. Typically at Kicking Horse I use the Stairway to Heaven chair about as often to the gondola, but not in this weather. Our first two runs were into Bowl Over. In some years the long top to bottom runs encounter deteriorating snow surfaces on the lower mountain but not this year. The snowpack is deep and surfaces packed powder top to bottom. During my first time at Kicking Horse in 2002 I became exhausted skiing powder over moguls on the lower mountain, but now Kicking Horse’s lower half has become one of the better mountains anywhere for long steep groomers.
Our third gondola run was through the souith facing trees off CPR Ridge. On our fourth run we traversed down CPR Ridge to check out the steep north chutes, where coverage was far better than on Tseeb’s first visit in 2015. Here he is skiing the Iron Horse chute (educated guess from the trail map as individual chutes are not labeled on the ridge).
We did ride the Stairway chair once and skied the top diagonal line into Feuz Bowl. Light was a bit flat and we were a bit cold from the chair ride, but snow was smooth soft chalk. The exit from Feuz was groomed wide and smoother than I have ever seen, no doubt possible with this year’s deep snowpack. On our next gondola we skated and walked the road to Super Bowl, which Tseeb had not seen in 2015. Super Bowl views from top down and bottom up:
The Terminator groomer below Super Bowl was probably the softest groomer due to least skier traffic.
The north facing chutes at Kicking Horse often have flat light, but by this time of year they can be illuminated by western sun in the mid afternoon, which as fortunately the case on our last run about 3:30PM. View of KH’s sponsored pink Jeep at left and top of Stairway to Heaven in background.
Tseeb on Derail here:
The late sunny break allowed nice views from the base just after 4PM.
Tseeb and I skied 24,800 vertical, which was definitely a record for me on a day this cold. The gondola was indeed effective in enabling a good ski day for us Californians in the frigid weather. Neoprene boot gloves were a key item for me, and since Liz didn’t have them she took 4 gondola runs with warmup breaks in between vs. 6 for Tseeb and me.
The cold was supposed to moderate late in the week, but Wednesday was the coldest day yet. It got to -22F overnight in Fairmont Hot Springs and was -15F when we left in the morning. With a team effort we had managed to leave my skis in Kicking Horse and had to backtrack a couple of hours driving and our ski day was short, noon to 3:15PM. However it would have been tough to ski anywhere riding chairs vs. a gondola and it was not a day you would have wanted to ski at opening bell anywhere.
It was still -7F at noon and maybe warmed just a few degrees from there. Our first run was north from the gondola, Tseeb and I dropping into the Think Twice Bowl and then meeting Liz for groomers the rest of the way down. I noticed wind chill on my face on groomers more than Tuesday and should have used a face mask. My cheeks were slightly sensitive that evening and the next morning in warmer temps, so then I learned my lesson and wore the mask.
Tseeb and I took the skate/walking road to Super Bowl again.
At the top of our third gondola there was a short sunny beak, so we dropped into Briggs Brag.
4109a
Our final run at 3PM was through the south facing trees off CPR Ridge. Quality of skiing and snow surfaces wee the same as Tuesday; the weather just upped the challenge a bit. Total vertical was 15,700 for Tseeb and me. Liz skied 3 runs and had boot gloves this time to make skiing more tolerable. Needless to say I was rather sparing with the camera in the cold weather.
Tuesday morning temps up high were about -6F and rose to about 0F in the afternoon. It was sometimes cloudy and sometimes sunny and thankfully not windy. Typically at Kicking Horse I use the Stairway to Heaven chair about as often to the gondola, but not in this weather. Our first two runs were into Bowl Over. In some years the long top to bottom runs encounter deteriorating snow surfaces on the lower mountain but not this year. The snowpack is deep and surfaces packed powder top to bottom. During my first time at Kicking Horse in 2002 I became exhausted skiing powder over moguls on the lower mountain, but now Kicking Horse’s lower half has become one of the better mountains anywhere for long steep groomers.
Our third gondola run was through the souith facing trees off CPR Ridge. On our fourth run we traversed down CPR Ridge to check out the steep north chutes, where coverage was far better than on Tseeb’s first visit in 2015. Here he is skiing the Iron Horse chute (educated guess from the trail map as individual chutes are not labeled on the ridge).
We did ride the Stairway chair once and skied the top diagonal line into Feuz Bowl. Light was a bit flat and we were a bit cold from the chair ride, but snow was smooth soft chalk. The exit from Feuz was groomed wide and smoother than I have ever seen, no doubt possible with this year’s deep snowpack. On our next gondola we skated and walked the road to Super Bowl, which Tseeb had not seen in 2015. Super Bowl views from top down and bottom up:
The Terminator groomer below Super Bowl was probably the softest groomer due to least skier traffic.
The north facing chutes at Kicking Horse often have flat light, but by this time of year they can be illuminated by western sun in the mid afternoon, which as fortunately the case on our last run about 3:30PM. View of KH’s sponsored pink Jeep at left and top of Stairway to Heaven in background.
Tseeb on Derail here:
The late sunny break allowed nice views from the base just after 4PM.
Tseeb and I skied 24,800 vertical, which was definitely a record for me on a day this cold. The gondola was indeed effective in enabling a good ski day for us Californians in the frigid weather. Neoprene boot gloves were a key item for me, and since Liz didn’t have them she took 4 gondola runs with warmup breaks in between vs. 6 for Tseeb and me.
The cold was supposed to moderate late in the week, but Wednesday was the coldest day yet. It got to -22F overnight in Fairmont Hot Springs and was -15F when we left in the morning. With a team effort we had managed to leave my skis in Kicking Horse and had to backtrack a couple of hours driving and our ski day was short, noon to 3:15PM. However it would have been tough to ski anywhere riding chairs vs. a gondola and it was not a day you would have wanted to ski at opening bell anywhere.
It was still -7F at noon and maybe warmed just a few degrees from there. Our first run was north from the gondola, Tseeb and I dropping into the Think Twice Bowl and then meeting Liz for groomers the rest of the way down. I noticed wind chill on my face on groomers more than Tuesday and should have used a face mask. My cheeks were slightly sensitive that evening and the next morning in warmer temps, so then I learned my lesson and wore the mask.
Tseeb and I took the skate/walking road to Super Bowl again.
At the top of our third gondola there was a short sunny beak, so we dropped into Briggs Brag.
Our final run at 3PM was through the south facing trees off CPR Ridge. Quality of skiing and snow surfaces wee the same as Tuesday; the weather just upped the challenge a bit. Total vertical was 15,700 for Tseeb and me. Liz skied 3 runs and had boot gloves this time to make skiing more tolerable. Needless to say I was rather sparing with the camera in the cold weather.
