British Columbia — Frequent skiers and riders at Kicking Horse have been frustrated since early March, when a gondola cabin detachment occurred. After that incident, the gondola didn’t reopen for the rest of the ski season. The Golden Eagle Gondola services the majority of the lift-serviced terrain at Kicking Horse. When it’s closed, you can’t reach a big chunk of the terrain anymore without hiking. This resulted in a significant portion of their terrain being accessible only by hiking.
With the gondola still being closed, it’s been a similar situation for summer operations, with many mountain biking trails not being accessible by lifts. Its status for the 2025-26 season is uncertain, but there have been some positive developments recently.
Skiers and riders at Kicking Horse were excited by two social media posts shared by the ski resort this week. Kicking Horse revealed a few days ago that the hangar arms, which are needed for the lift to safely operate again, have been shipped. On Wednesday, they announced that the hangar arms have arrived, and work is underway on getting them installed. The original announcement had the shipping scheduled for the first week of August, so its arrival was a little ahead of schedule.
It’s safe to remain skeptical regarding its potential opening for the gondola, but these are good signs.
Situated near the town of Golden, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has a fascinating story. It started as Whitetooth ski area and was owned by the town of Golden. However, it featured only lift-accessible terrain on the lower mountain.
In the 1990s, investors were brought in to modernize the ski resort, which included a gondola to Eagle’s Eye. The new iteration of Whitetooth, Kicking Horse, opened during the 2000-01 season.
Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) bought the ski resort in 2011. This ownership group has made further improvements, including some terrain expansions. However, they have faced criticism for the lack of significant investment to lift infrastructure. The situation at Kicking Horse bears similarities to another RCR mountain, Mont-Sainte-Anne, although that Quebec ski resort did announce an infrastructure update plan with the province last year.
Image/Video Credits: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, JKP
