Kicking Horse Reviews & Ratings

I love this mountain! There are rarely crowds and if there is a lift line the slopes are still empty. There is so much to explore and the resorts attracts some amazing riders! The terrain here is like no other and truly puts you out of your element.

Very minimal lineups, great powder and tons of big mountain terrain. While lift network is minimal it’s enough to avoid lineups and keeps the powder lasting day(s).

We just spent two days at Kicking Horse after 15cm and 10cm dumps each day. The available terrain here is nothing like I’ve seen anywhere else I have skied including Whistle, Zermat or any of the Big There patrolled areas. The level of extreme is beyond anything you can imagine until you experience Kicking Horse. You can literally ski at any level possible ON RESORT. The Stairway to Heaven lift does exactly as the name says. With a 10-30 min hike up the mountain ridge you can drop into any level of expert terrain and the snow was amazing.

This is NOT a family resort. Anyone that cannot handle a black ungroommed run should not visit this resort unless they want to take the same “easy way down” for each run. There is a small lift at the bottom that services an ok sized green area but after a few hours the will tire of the 6-7 runs that lift hits.

KH is by far the most difficult resort I have ever skied. If you’re up for a challenge and your legs are in great shape I highly recommend.

Mountain always challenges all levels of skier/snowboarder. Lots of terrain, lines, and snow to be found. Also not super busy no long waits at lifts even on pow days

Kicking Horse is a serious skiiers resort. If you can't ski single and double blacks it's probably not for you. If you are, then boy this is an awesome place to push your envelope and your muscles too. There are four bowls, two immediately accessible from the bottom to top single gondola, with other two requiring a mix of either a bit of uphill walking and/ or a shush along a narrow track designated single blacks.
The base area has three cafe/ bars and we found Double Black the best with a selection of tasty food, hot drinks and draught beers.

The views, stunning.
The snow, amazing.
Terrain, well the world freeride tour skis in bounds if you like that terrain.
Bit still amazing grooming and not a bad beginners area at all, above average.
Town is sleepy but still beautiful.
The hill is not in town but not a bad little 15km drive.

Easily the most butt puckering resort in Canada. The best in bounds chutes, bowls and views in Canada. Be ready to boot-pack to reach the best lines and lap the gondola all day however you often find yourself alone on lines and can find fresh tracks days after storms.

Really solid conditions as always, although we didn't venture too far off of the Stairway chair. Found some great groomers and some solid glades, but not much powder.

Kicking Horse is probably the most intense resort I’ve been to in North America. If you’re looking to challenge yourself, and seeking some of the gnarliest terrain, there’s really nothing better. It probably isn’t the most family friendly resort. If you are up for a little bit of hiking, I highly recommend going out to Terminator and going up the stairs to Whitewall and Ozone. The only issue is that there’s a single gondola that takes you to the top, so it becomes somewhat of a bottleneck. There are two other chairs but the gondola is the main through line. However, I didn’t find wait times that bad, and I was there on a powder day on the weekend. Part of me doesn’t want to write this review. I want this place to stay less known. Let the others go to Louise and Sunshine.

Kicking horse is some of the promo powder bowl skiing in the interior. Golden l, a very charming town.

Not inexpensive, but worth the money, and if you can get an Airbnb or time share nearby, it’s all very accessible.

Lots of fresh snow, generally great weather, and pretty quiet out in the backcountry if you are skilled enough to handle it!

Highly recommended.

Excellent getaway still not crowded and well worth value, mountain has terrain for all skier and boarder levels

My favorite resort of all time. Definitely not for the best for beginners or maybe in an immediate but if you can do blood diamond off east train this is your spot. We can get so much vertical and variety given the open bowls stairway to Heaven, etc. I just visited after it’s been basically dry in Canada for two weeks and this had the best chalky, workable snow out of everywhere else I’ve visited , they had totally iced over.

I love Kickinghorse, steep and fast! Always a fun ski visit! Downtown golden is probably my favorite fun ski town!

Incredible resort. Not the best for absolute beginners but their groomed and green runs are just as incredible as the rest of the mountain. The bowls, glades, and powder areas are like nothing I've ever seen when the resort gets a good dumping!

Amazing terrain. Requires some short hikes and steep technical sections to access a large part of the resort boundary. Feels like a step towards backcountry but patrolled and avalanche controlled.

Always Lots to do there. The ski out ski in are absolutely beautiful. Love everything about the mountain.

Great off piste and tree Lyne best for advanced skiers. Overall a solid ski resort world 100% recommend to anyone. Best to get a ski pass as daily passes are crazy expensive

Had a sunshine and a perfect bluebird one day. Then just dumped on for snow. Was skiing the trees in waist deep powder for days.

Its a great place if your an above average skier lots of exciting runs right out of the gondola and lot of slack country options

Kicking Horse is one of the most difficult resorts in Canada (if not the world!). As an intermediate skier, I found the runs very intimidating but two full days at the ski school helped me improve immensely. There’s really only one green run which is a long cat track, the rest are blues and up. For advanced riders who want to challenge themselves, there are a lot of bootpacking runs and countless places to drop in and really send it. We loved being able to get a ton of runs in each day because there were no lines (though we did go mid-week so not sure if the weekends get busier). The difficultly and the fact that it’s 3 hours from the nearest big city (Calgary) probably helps keep the crowds down. I did two full days at the ski school and ended up essentially getting private lessons as no one else signed up. I had different instructors for the two lessons and both were super supportive and knowledgeable, I saw great progress in my skills with their instruction.

Overall, I would recommend Kicking Horse for anyone wanting a challenge as the elevation, terrain, price, and low crowds can’t be beat. However if you’re looking for a party town with lots of apres and dining options this probably isn’t the resort for you.