After a dozen snowless days in southeastern British Columbia, I was thrilled to arrive at the base of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort to find a light sprinkle of soft snow, beginning to fall from the cloud-covered sky.
My partner, Mathieu, and I hopped onto the Golden Eagle Express Gondola and shared the scenic ride up with some East Coasters who were equally as excited about the onset of a forecasted winter storm and the possibility of all this fresh snow starting to stack up.
Ogling out the windows, we scanned the surrounding terrain for signs of untracked lines as the gondola carried us towards the summit, bringing us to 2,347 meters (7700 feet) above sea level into the incredible Purcell Mountains, giving way to breathtaking Columbia Valley views and the spectacular, snow capped peaks that make Kicking Horse such a must-visit resort.
Certain that every square ounce of powder had been devoured by snow-starved locals and eager visitors, we warmed ourselves up with some wide open laps through the vast expanse of the Crystal Bowl before teeing into the Stairway to Heaven Chair and heading back up for more.
As we neared the top of the lift, we peered over Redemption Ridge to see some enticing stashes of untouched powder beckoning from the bottom of Ozone. The promise of even just a turn or two in some of that world-renowned Champagne Powder was all the nudge we needed to make our way up the aptly-named Stairway to Heaven staircase and onto the impeccably maintained bootpack.
Standing on top of Whitewall and looking down on the steep, double black diamond lines and distant couloirs etched into the dramatic snowy slopes, my heart skipped a beat.
“I can’t believe this terrain is in bounds.” I muttered to myself.
Making our way along the stunning traverse towards Ozone, our heads were on a constant swivel, soaking in all the beauty before continuing beyond to Rudi’s Bowl. As we stood – all alone – atop Middle Ridge, the clouds thinned, and the faint light of the sun shone down the perfect light into the bowl below, the falling snow sparkling in its rays.
“Where is everybody?” I asked Mat. “Over there,” he smiled, pointing back towards the chair.
We inched our way down the ridge until we found some perfectly preserved pockets of last week’s powder – and dropped in. The tips of our boards dipped in and out of sight, as the light, fluffy snow floated up around us.
We hooted, hollered and high fived our way down through Rudi’s and out onto the Feuz Ski out before linking up with Blaster and Downshift and riding the fresh dusting of morning snow all the way back to the base.
As we loaded ourselves onto the Eagle Express we smiled over at each other, completely – albeit – pleasantly surprised that our seemingly lofty dreams of untracked powder lines this long after a storm cycle could actually come true.
Photos & Words by @trip.longer
