We got our first snow in week; about 10 cms and maybe a bit more at the top. That softened things up considerably. I went out with a friend Bob for a couple runs and it was really nice. The South facing slope off Stairway to Heaven was pretty crunchy under the new snow. The temperature was pretty cold...about -10 C in the morning so the snow was really light and fluffy and obviously not sticking to the surface below it. But as you went further down it got a bit warmer and that was where it was really a lot of fun. One of those days where you could just let your skis go.
Here are are a few photos from today's run.
0 Comments
After a couple days of being in the fog, I had to get some sunshine. A cloud bank has been hanging around the base of the Resort for the past couple days. Usually it is below us. Guests at lunch had told me, it was beautiful and sunny at the top and I had to make sure they were right. I went with a guest of ours Peter who stays with us for a few days every ski season. We both decided to head up to T2 for a hike. Well it was pretty spectacular. I was surprised how warm it was. On the way up on the climb it felt like spring skiing with the sun beating down on us. With a few cms of snow a few days ago and the warmer weather the snow conditions really improved. A few days ago it was a pretty firm crust of snow from the wind we had a week or so ago.
Really enjoyed the run. At one point we had to go through a bank of fog or cloud cover and the temperature really dropped and of course the visibility sucked for a few seconds. And everywhere you looked the views were stunning. We will take what we can get right now. After a week without snow it was nice to see 3 cms overnight. It doesn't sounds like much but it really made it nice skiing today. And I think with some warmer weather coming(about 0C) in the next few days, that new snow will help a lot.
I went for a run into Feuz Bowl this afternoon. The sun came out and with the dusting of snow its was a lot of fun. You have to watch for some rocks on the ridges but other than that, it was fine. Great day for some more photos. Canadian Dollar is $89.50 to the US. Great time to book your ski holiday here if you are from outside of Canada. Phone 250 344 2622 or email [email protected] We have been going through a dry-spell of no snow for the past week or so. Something that doesn't happen too often. We did get a few cms overnight which should soften things up considerably. Some big winds did some damage to some of the upper bowls a week or so ago, especially the likes of Whitewall, Terminator and T2. The wind created a hard crust at the top. Bottom parts of the resort is no problem and the coverage is really good except for the entrance into some of the chutes where you have to watch for rocks.
But having said that, there is still a lot to enjoy. I did a hike up to Terminator a couple days ago and enjoyed it considerably. Here a few photos of my trip. I was the only one up there. Pretty spectacular. Just a reminder if you are looking for a ski trip this winter, we still have some space available and are offering some incentives for March and April. Give us a call 250 344 2622 or email [email protected] and we can fill you in on the details. It was one of those great sky day here at Vagabond Lodge. The valley below us was plugged with low cloud cover and here it was a nice sunny day. I met up with Bob, a friend from Golden and we made a couple runs together. The second one, we decided to climb to the top of T2. And the climb up was beautiful. The run down was not that great especially the first part. We had some big wind a few days ago which wreaked havoc on some of the upper slopes and created quite a crust. That's what we experienced when we started our way down. But as we got lower down, the snow conditions improved dramatically and it was really nice for the most part. Love the climb no matter what the conditions are like. The views as you can see are stunning.
It has been a great week for snow. Something like 67 cms in the past 7 days and a lot of that came in the past few days. Today the snow stopped for the most part although the visibility was still pretty overcast. I wasn't able to get out yesterday but did manage to make my first climb to the top of Terminator this winter which is the peak to the south of the Gondola. It involves about a 20 minute climb and I ended up doing it twice which may have been 1 too many times. The first time the visibility was pretty good and I had a great line down in Knee-deep untracked powder. The second time the visibility was not great and the snow had started to firm up a bit, but still very enjoyable. I really enjoy the climbs sometimes more than the run itself. By the time I got to the bottom after the second, I was done. Here are a few photos of today's trips. We had a great group of 9 guys and 1 beautiful girl who rented the entire lodge for the past 3 days. They left today to go cat-skiing for a week. We really enjoyed their stay. They were from all over the US(Boston, Alabama to San Francisco) and get together for ski trips every year. Nice, nice kids..probably ranged from 30-40...so I still call them kids. They loved the place and the resort. We had a caterer come and cook dinners for them too. We have received over 43 cms of powder in the past 48 hours. It snowed pretty heavily two nights ago and woke up to over 20 cms yesterday morning. Son Kori and his fiancé Elaine and I headed up to check it out. And this is what we found. We have some rooms at Vagabond Lodge starting Tuesday. Give us a call 250 344 2622 or email [email protected]. More snow is predicted. We opened our doors at Vagabond Lodge almost 10 years ago and the snow forecast for the next 6 days is the largest I have ever seen for here. This forecast http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Kicking-Horse/6day/top is calling for 70-80 cms of snow on the way. I know...what does the weatherman know?? But something is coming for sure starting Saturday from the looks of it. It started snowing lightly yesterday with a few cms and today there is a light snowfall coming down.
Vagabond Lodge is full until Tuesday if you are interested in making a reservation. Give us a call toll free North America 1 866 944 2622 or 250 344 2622 or you can email me at [email protected] If you are from outside of Canada, you may be interested in the Canadian Dollar. It has been dropping for the past little while and is just over .92 to the US dollar which is the lowest since 2009. Great news for visitors from overseas. Today was my first climb up to T2 at Kicking Horse. It is the peak at the south edge of the Resort and within the boundary of Kicking Horse. I left the bottom on the gondola about 2pm and got back to the bottom about 3.30. The first part is a cat-track on the ridge for about 15 minutes. I usually leave my skis on for most of the way. The cat-track takes you to the entrance into "Superbowl". From there I climb to the top of T2 which can take anywhere from 20 minutes to half and hour. Today was probably half an hour as it was the first time this season and I stopped a number of times to catch my breath and take some photos. I was the only person on the climb and the only person at the top. But I found out quickly on the way down why I was by myself. The skiing was not great. There is lots of snow but with the cooler weather the last few days and no new snow, it had set up and was tough to break through the snow. Once I got about a quarter way down, it started to soften up and was better. The elevation change is over 4000 feet vertical, so it is a long run to the bottom. I love the climb to the top. The views are stunning and worth the climb and even the mediocre snow conditions.
I will be going up a lot in the next couple months as it is my favourite on the resort. I had a great day Skiing with Purcell Heli-skiing. Here is my video from my day with Rudi and his crew. |
KenKen along with his wife Lori are the owners and operators of Vagabond Lodge at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
|