Golden, British Columbia — After months of uncertainty, Kicking Horse’s workhorse is about to be back in action.
Today, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort announced that The Golden Eagle Express gondola will reopen on September 7th at 10 a.m. local time. This news follows a March gondola detachment, which closed the lift for roughly six months. After receiving and installing the necessary parts to repair the lift this summer, it received the thumbs up from the Safety Authority to reopen.
To celebrate, a Summer Community Day will be held on September 21st. This will include discounted tickets for Golden and Area A residents, a ski shop sale, and a summer BBQ.
However, Kicking Horse’s via ferrata, which typically operates when the gondola does, won’t operate this summer and fall. The Eagle Eye Restaurant is undergoing some renovations and won’t be open until September 15th.
Situated near the town of Golden, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has a fascinating history. It started as Whitetooth ski area (my dumbass referred to it as Whitewater the last time I did this write-up) 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 the construction of 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 in infrastructure (such as new lifts). 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 Credits: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
