Kicking Horse is 0pen!

Another season has started at Kicking Horse and it was the best opening day conditions I can remember and we have been here for 17 years.  Some of the opening dates though have been earlier.  They have had over 300cms at the top of the mountain and surprisingly good coverage at the bottom.  One more good dump and it will be good all the way.   Usually you have to pick you way around rocks near the bottom but not this year.  I went up with friend Patrick on opening day and was surprised by the great coverage.  We skied a couple of runs off the stairway to heaven chairlift and had some nice powder despite the fact we didn't start skiing until about 1. Kicking Horse did a good job I thought with the lift access.  It took about 30 minutes to get on the lift and there are a number of protocols in place depending on if you are skiing alone or with other people.  Check out their website for more detail.  BC Health mandates everyone in public space need to wear a mask.  From what I could see everyone was.  Some maybe not wearing it as well as they should be but they did have masks on.   Overall a good job. Food service will be a challenge.   In the evenings at the resort there really are only two places open for food, Winston Pub and Peaks Grill.  I suspect most people will do take-out which will be tough on the eating spots, since the profit is in liquor. BC health has asked for only essential travel until at least January 9th. Obviously that will mean a pretty quiet and lean Christmas for the tourism industry throughout the province.  Vagabond Lodge is deemed an essential service so we are allowed to be open with restrictions in place.   It is very confusing for the hotel industry in general.  On one hand everyone is asked to stay home, but we are allowed to be open.  For whom?   Our area has been very fortunate with very few cases of Covid.  The latest numbers by BC Health shows only 4 cases of residents in the past month in Golden.  With some newcomers into our area with the ski resort opening,  it will be interesting to see if that number stays low.   As long as people follow the guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing we hope cases will remain low.  
Enjoy the video from opening day. Be safe and stay healthy and wear a mask. #wearamask