Another winter season is coming to a close this weekend at Vagabond Lodge at Kicking Horse Resort.  Final day is April 17th.  It has been a surprisedly pretty good season for guests.  With overseas visitors' travelling again, we have had a good share of Germans, Brits and even some Australians.  And we also have had a good number of Americans coming to take advantage of our great conditions this winter.  And we have had good conditions and still do.  The video is from this week.  We have been going daily off-resort and still finding some good conditions especially at the top.  Nearing the bottom of the runs it can be a bit more challenging depending on whether it faces east or north but only for maybe the bottom 10%.  The top 90% has been outstanding and it has been staying cold with temperatures at the top -15C yesterday with a cold wind.  I could use some nice spring skiing weather but that doesn't look like it will happen. 
Vagabond will be closed until June when both the resort and Vagabond will reopen for the summer with a lot of great stuff to do. 
​We are taking booking for both this summer and next winter.  Give us a call at 250 344 2622 or email info@vagabondlodge.ca 

After a week or so of a dry spell and some warmer weather we are back to winter conditions.  It is still snowing and Kicking Horse is reporting about 20 cms in the past couple of days.  The snow is a welcome relief after skiing some hard packed stuff the past week.  The knees don't like that too much.  
Yesterday I went with friends Ken and Mathew for our usual off-piste  hike and it was so nice to ski soft stuff again although underneath is a firm layer of solid snow.  Once it warms up a bit, it will be even better but it was fun just the same. 
We have our final guests of the season coming  this week although the resort is open until April 17th.  The bulk of our clients are from either the US or overseas and they book well in advance. 
We are looking forward to a break and will be open again this summer starting in June.  You can book direct for the best rate from our website www.vagabondlodge.ca

When you think spring skiing, most think warm temperatures, slushy snow and sitting on the patio with a beer.  Skiing is secondary.  But not here. 
It is officially spring here and spring means more great soft snow.   We may get a day or two of spring skiing, but generally not.  When you get 4 thousand vertical you can get a little of everything.  It can be winter skiing at the top with nice fluffy snow, then you may go through a hard packed section and then soft spring skiing at the bottom. You certainly need to be prepared for a little of everything this time of the year.  And if you know where to go, it can be amazing until the end which is April 17th this season.
Along with friend Patrick we continue to explore in our area and continue to find some great powder. It seems even on a day when there is no new snow, wind sometimes helps and blows in the snow and covers up the previous days tracks. 
​Lately the top and middle sections have been outstanding with a few challenges as we get closer to the bottom when the  temperature changes have either created a crust over night or made it pretty heavy.  But as long as the knees hang in there, we will continue to do what we are doing.  Video is from March 20 and as you see it was pretty sweet. 
We are taking bookings for next winter.  Give us a call at 250 344 2622 or email info@vagabondlodge.  You can also book direct from our website.  

After close to a week without any new snow, it is back.  The weather certainly is changing as March brings a mixed bag.  It is  getting warmer with temperatures above 0C during the day.  We have had a few days of snow which has really helped.  The coverage is so amazing this winter but we get spoiled if we don't have powder everyday.  
Vagabond is open for a couple more weeks with the resort closing on April 17th which is the latest closing date we have had I believe.  
Vagabond will close about April 5th and then enjoy the last couple weeks of ski season and get things organized to reopen for the summer in June. 
We are taking bookings for next winter all ready and if you want the best price, book direct from our website or give us a call at 250 344 2622 or email info@vagabondlodge.ca 
Enjoy the video. Along with friends, Patrick, Ken and Marvin we did more exploring off-piste yesterday and this is what we found.  

We got a great treat.  The forecast was calling for maybe 1cm of snow yesterday.  Instead we got over 30cm with snow starting early morning and basically snowed all day.  Friend Patrick and I decided to head to our favourite powder hunting grounds.  It was a challenge getting there because we needed to boot hike for about 30 minutes or so and we were a couple of the first to do the hike.  Plenty of snow to step through which is tiring.  
Visibility was very marginal at the top and at a few places completely a white-out.  But once we got down off the top and into the tree line it was magical with knee deep powder. One of our best days this winter.  

We are also fortunate here to live where we are.   As the winter continues, so does our skiing.  We had a dry spell and some colder weather but we also got a nice dump of snow and it turned out to be a pretty good dump of about 24cms in a couple days of nice light powder. 
And of course we had to do some quality control  and make sure it is suitable.  It passed with flying colours. Along with son Kori and friend Patrick we had some great powder skiing not far off the resort.  
Vagabond Lodge is pretty solidly booked for the next couple weeks but things start to quiet down the middle of March. 
Book direct for the best rate. 

It has been such a treat to have repeat guests at Vagabond Lodge.  It has been busier than I would have predicted  with overseas visitors back for the first time since March 2020.  Germans, Swedes, Brits and Aussies along with of course great guests from Canada and the US. 
One of our favourite is Mischa from Switzerland.  He has been joining us for a few years now and spends a few days with us  before heading heliskiing with Great Canadian Heliskiing just down the road from us.   When he is not exploring the outdoors, he is a french horn player for  Tonhalle Orchester Zürich
He loves to go off piste and along with friend Patrick we took him on a bit of an adventure recently finding some fabulous terrain. 

We are at the end of the longest dry spell this winter without snow for the past week but it looks like it is ending today with snow forecast over the next few days here at Vagabond Lodge at Kicking Horse Resort.  But the lack of snow for the past few days doesn't mean the skiing isn't any good.  You just have to look a little harder and for us that means some exploring off piste. 
After a busy stretch things are quieting down for a the next week and then ramps up in February.  We are still getting a nice number of overseas guests and even have a couple of Aussies who are with us for 3 weeks which is the longest stay in our 18 years here.  They will leave better skiers, you can count on that. Video is from earlier in the week with friend Patrick and son Kori and his wife Elaine.  We found some nice powder.  

We have an amazing backyard at Vagabond Lodge.  Kicking Horse Resort is so good on its own.  But with a little extra effort, along with an experienced guide the backcountry skiing is virtually unlimited. 
The video is just a taste of what we have.  You can also do extensive back-country skiing in the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park which is very popular.  
Unless you are knowledgeable about snowpack and snow conditions hire a guide. 
We are getting ready for a busy time here at Vagabond Lodge with guests from around the world again making their way here.  A number are going heliskiing with CMH or Great Canadian and many are also cat skiing with Chattercreek. Another popular destination are one of the great backcountry lodges we have in our area such as Golden Alpine Holidays or Mistaya Lodge  where they cater to ski touring groups.  
We have a covid protocol in place at Vagabond and guests must be fully vaccinated in order to stay here.
Book direct for best rate.  We do have a number of sold out dates. 
Video is from our favourite area not far from Kicking Horse.  It is as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. 

It has been quite the amazing past few weeks for snow here at Kicking Horse Resort.  We certainly had some cold days over Christmas but even on those days, it was snowing.  Champagne powder at its finest.  There continues to be a lot of challenges everyday due to covid but we have been pleasantly surprised with guests who have been loyal to us.   We have some regulars who come throughout the winter which is awesome.
And we even had some overseas visitors and more scheduled throughout the winter. 
Food service is probably the biggest challenge for the resort with staffing issues resulting in some eating facilities closing for a few days or shortening their hours of operation.  But I think our guests realize this, and have been able to adapt.
The resort has been doing a great job of trying to get the message across to all the skiers to make sure they wear their masks on the gondola and in the lift lines.  And because the resort only allows skiers who are fully vaccinated has really been awesome. We have really had no long lift lines at all. 
It has been pretty sweet powder skiing and I have managed to get out and about doing some quality control. 
The other day I did some off-resort skiing with some friends and we found some great terrain.  I had only been down this run once before.  I was doing great until I wasn't.  Coming over a small knoll I found a small stand of trees in front of me.  The result??  See for yourself in the video.  
All is well.  No after effects.  
Be safe.