Kicking Horse off-piste & powder guide

British Columbia, Canada · 1175m to 2453m · 3 documented zones

Finding powder at Kicking Horse

Kicking Horse is built around steep inbounds chutes backed by a proper avalanche control programme, which is what lets a resort this extreme stay open to the public. The boundary matters here: inside it patrol closes terrain until control work is done, and outside it there is no control and no patrol rescue at all.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 1 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

CPR and Redemption Ridge

Redemption Ridge sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

Ridge lines running from the top of either the gondola or the Stairway to Heaven chair, and the most straightforward way into the Kicking Horse alpine.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Golden Eagle Express Gondola or Stairway to Heaven chairlift
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from either the gondola or the chair.
Getting back
Descends back into the resort lift network.
Known hazards
  • Exposed ridge terrain
  • Closed during avalanche control work

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

Ozone and Rudi's Bowl

Ozone sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

Ski Ozone and hug the ski area boundary above Middle Ridge to reach Rudi's Bowl, or take the alternative boot-pack up from the centre of Feuz Bowl.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Golden Eagle Express Gondola
Walk in
Either ski Ozone hugging the boundary above Middle Ridge, or boot-pack from the centre of Feuz Bowl.
Getting back
Descends back into the Kicking Horse lift network.
Known hazards
  • Steep inbounds chutes
  • Closed during avalanche control work

Terminator Peak

Terminator Ridge sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

Twenty minutes on foot up Terminator Ridge buys access to the peak and the terrain off it. The walk is short by Alpine standards and does a good job of thinning the crowds.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Stairway to Heaven chairlift
Walk in
20 min — A hike of around twenty minutes to the top of Terminator Ridge.
Getting back
Descends back into the resort lift network.
Known hazards
  • Steep exposed terrain
  • Closed during avalanche control work

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Kicking Horse snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in Canada