Every March I know one thing for certain is true in Kicking Horse Country “April Rains” brings fresh snow and a high chance of sunny days following a storm.ย In past years I have seen 57cms = 23 in. of champagne powder fall in less than 24 hours followed by bluebird at KHMR ( Kicking Horse Mountain Resort) This was also when Pocket Rockets were the ski, a full face meant you got hurt a lot, and Golden was a mill town waiting for skiers to take root in a trailer and wake up in skiers heaven.ย No crowds, loads of snow and steep techy terrain that will either cut you into a better skier or just straight cut you up!
Fast forward to March 13, 2013 myself and photographer Rylan Schoen head out from Bellingham, WA to my old stomping grounds to get some Purcell POW.ย Unfortunately for KHMR Jan/Feb were tough snow months along with Whistler and a whole lot of other interior snowpacks in BC and further South.ย This isn’t usually the case as Jan/Feb is chute storm skiing heaven as you have the run of mini couloirs, tight chutes and all the rock gnar you can muster.
We went right to work and my old lines came to mind and we skied bell to bell with no regard for our legs.ย 40,000 foot vertical days rolled by and the 4 days felt like home as KHMR always has that “rad” feeling we skiers search for.ย It was a little bumpy at first, but another coat of the WHITE set us up for turns upon turns with almost no competition.
Picking fresh line after fresh line, I remembered how to play the waiting game for the rolling openings at KHMR that allow you to slay every zone step by step.ย “It’s ok to follow patrollers as long as you talk snow, be respectful and offer to boot pack the tough spots.”ย It paid off and first lines on Glory……….well it’s called Glory for a reason.
Check out www.kickinghorseresort.comย ย for info, deals, and a new desktop image to get you through the next month of awaiting your first pow turn!
All footage was filmed and shot 100% in-bounds.ย For more Vids check out John’s Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/johnwellsma
Here are some bonus photos from Rylan Schoen. You can check out more of Rylan’sPhotosย at :ย ย https://www.facebook.com/OpticFlows
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