Kicking Horse 15/16

[Ringrat]

Spent the Feb 13-15 weekend at Kicking Horse. It was Alberta Family Day weekend, so it was a zoo, but the skiing was great!

The spectacular early season they had is clearly apparent, with great coverage from the chutes up top to the groomers at the bottom. Some of the lower pitches are less twiggy than I've ever seen them.
We had ~10 cm every morning for our 3 days, and they'd had lots of snow the weekend before, so conditions were soft everywhere. The south/east-facing sides of CPR and Redemption ridge were a bit crusty under the newer snow - evidence of the ridiculous warm weather we've been having the past few weeks. Still good skiing though, I had some great fresh turns on those slopes!

 

[Ringrat]

I spent the Mar 5-6 weekend at Kicking Horse, but was in an Organized Avalanche Rescue Team Member course, so did a grand total of 1.5 runs in the whole 2 days...not much of a conditions report from that!

I then spent Mar 25-27 back there. No new snow while we were there or much recently, unfortunately. North facing slopes were chalky but very well skiied. South facing slopes were not as bad as I would have guessed for this time of year, but definitely crunchy. The weekend wasn't sunny or super warm, so south-facing slopes weren't softening at the top of the mountain, but they clearly have previously. The very lower mountain, from the top of Catamount down, was softening in the afternoon, but only the very top layer, and it was hard underneath. Mid-mountain elevations varied in snow conditions depending on the surface (bumps generally better than things that had been groomed and then softened) and skier traffic (again, probably why the bumps were sometimes better). On all runs there was a noticeable deterioration in snow quality as we descended. It wasn't really spring skiing...more like refrozen spring skiing!

 

[Albertan ski girl]

Thanks for the report - we were trying to figure out whether to go to Kicking Horse or Sunshine this upcoming weekend, but I think we might go to Sunshine. I don't think the temps have been above 0 yet.