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September 1

We had an awesome adventure yesterday. We drove to Kinbasket Lake which is part of the Columbia River. It is about an hour drive north of Golden with most of the drive on a forestry road to a spot called Bush Harbour. The lake was created by a couple of dams downstream on the Columbia and I was in awe of what there was to see. Even some old tug boats that were used for logging a number of years ago laying on the beach. That tells you how big this lake is. It goes for a couple hundred miles I would think. From Bush Harbour we took another logging road that was pretty wild at times down one of the arms to the end. From there we hiked into a canyon on a river that flows into the Lake. We saw 2 cars in a 5 hour drive there and back. It is a no-man's land that is breathtaking. I definitely need to go back.

August 27

Some wild weather here at Kicking Horse. Last few days about 30C and then a storm rolled through last night and rained heavily. Woke up to fresh snow on the mountains and temperatures pretty cool. About 14C as a high today. Here are a few photos from the top of the mountain today. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Predictions are for a big snow year. Yeh!!!

August 16th

Weather has turned hot. And looks like it will stay this way for the rest of the week. Tried a new hike yesterday. Lower Bugaboo Falls. We were looking for something short and sweet. It was not that sweet. It is about a 45 minute drive south off Highway 95 to a little village of Spallimchen. We then crossed the Columbia river onto Westside road, which is a logging road. It is a pretty wild drive for the first few minutes. Very narrow along a steep canyon. Some places only room for 1 car. Hate to meet a logging truck. There is a small parking area where the hike begins. Unfortunately the mosquito's got the best of us. It turned into a run to the viewpoint(30 minutes) and then back. We sprayed before we left but that didn't last long. I will wait and go back after a frost. You are able to go down to the base of the falls but we couldn't last that long. I did managed to get a few shots of the falls for a short video. It will give you a good idea of what they look like. It must be pretty spectacular in the early summer with all the runoff. You can get more info on the hike at http://www.goldenhikes.ca/Lower_Bugaboo_Falls.html

August 4th

Some exciting news for Kicking Horse in the past few days. We knew they are going to do it but they made it official. "Super-bowl" will be a controlled portion of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort this coming winter. The bowl is to the South of the Gondola. It has been an out of bounds area up to now with certainly a lot of people going in there from time to time "looking for adventure." But over the summer the resort made a wide trail from the Gondola right into the Bowl. It will involve some walking if you are a snowboarder and side-stepping probably for skiers. Should take probably about 15 minutes maybe to get in. Here is a link to the official announcement and the new trail map. Yesterday I did a hike into the bowl to check it out. Here is the video.

July 27

Great Weather. About 30C and looks like it will stay like this for a few days. A great hike in the area is Gorman Lake. It is about a 45 minute drive from Vagabond Lodge down a forestry road to a small parking area. Then you hike for about 45 minutes over a moraine where there is a gorgeous lake with a small picnic area and campsite. The lake also has some fish and today there were a few people out there trying their luck. Even a few patches of snow you have to cross to get to the lake. Great spot and one of the many hidden gems in the area.

July 11

Great weekend at Vagabond Lodge. Beautiful Weather. It was about 30C and a great group of people. We had a hiking group take over the Lodge. They had a great time. One day they did a ridge hike at Kicking Horse and then did some other hikes in the area on Saturday.Lots of stuff to do in this area. One of the adrenalin-rushing activities you can do is Tandem Paragliding with Altitude Adventures. They take off from Mount 7 which is across the valley from us and then land at the Eco Ranch which is just south of Golden. I had never been there until today. Our son Kori and his fiance Elaine treated themselves to a tandem paragliding trip and shared some photos. Maybe one day. Looks like a great thing to do. Here is video I have put together on their trip.

July 2

Happy Canada Day and all that!! One of our favorite spots in the Rockies is Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park. It is about a 45 minute drive from here. Lori and I went there a couple days ago for a nice hike to Laughing Falls. We left Vagabond Lodge at about noon and were back home about 6pm. Spectacular scenery all the way in and with still a lot of snow at the higher elevations, the falls are awesome. Here is video of our trip there.

June 12

Gorgeous day today. One of the best for awhile with not a cloud in the sky. Lots of mountain bikers on the mountain. Farmer's market was held up in the plaza area too so nice to see people back on the mountain after a few months of nobody. Yesterday was the first day the Gondola was open for the summer. It is only open weekends for until June 25th and then will be open daily until end of August. We had made plans with some friends to go to the top for lunch. It was a wild day for weather. Rain off and on at the to bottom and snow off and on at the top. Great lunch in the Eagle's Eye Restaurant. Looks like a great menu. Boo the bear was out and saw him from the Gondola as we went over. Always an amazing view from the top of the mountain.

June 11

Weather starting to feel a lot more like summer. I hit the golf course with some friends yesterday afternoon for 9 holes. Golf wasn't great but there were a lot of laughs. Golden Golf Course is a hidden gem. Every hole has some spectacular scenery.

Here is video from yesterday.

June 8

Score Golf was in Golden last year and taped some footage for a segment they aired a couple weeks ago on TSN. Here is the segment they did on the Golden Golf Course.

June 7

Time to update my blog. It was a busy weekend at Vagabond Lodge. We had a wedding. Laura and Luke who live in Calgary but are from Ontario tied the knot on Saturday afternoon. What a perfect wedding for Vagabond Lodge. 19 people and they arrived on Thursday and basically spent the first couple days just hanging out and enjoying each other. Some went golfing, whitewater rafting and hiking. The wedding ended up in our back-yard and it was a perfect afternoon. They had hired Kalin who is the chef from Corks Restaurant next door to cook meals each night. What a great idea. And then he did the wedding dinner too. Steak or salmon. I sampled both (quality control) and it was great. I put together a video of their day, or most of it. I didn't bother staying up and partying all night long but you get the idea. We have a couple more scheduled for this summer but they will have a difficult time beating this one.

May 27

Finally getting around to updating my blog. An eventful Weekend at Vagabond Lodge. It was our Wine, Food and Music Long Weekend and it turned out great. A lot of old friends and new friends stayed with us. A great dinner next door on the Saturday night. Paul and Stacey are not at Copper Horse any longer which is sad. They have a little boy now and decided they needed a life and moved to Vancouver Island. They are still involved in the ownership but not hands-on, any longer. They hired Jeff from Banff who did a great job on Saturday. Sunday we had the Wine tasting here at Vagabond and had about 80 people come through. Some home-owners as well as friends from our wine group in Golden. A few friends have been getting together to play some music lately. Jeff Dolinsky(Golden Dentist and head of the Nordic Centre) his wife Joan, Jeff Moss who is retired school teacher and myself to play some jazz. We were joined by local Jane Fearing who is an awesome singer. We played a few songs for our guests Sunday afternoon. Too much fun!!

Here is hilight package. We will be touring soon!!!

May 19

Weather is changing for the better. It looks like we are going to have nice sunny weekend with temps about 18C for our Long Weekend. The Kicking Horse river is up about 2 feet in the last day so the Whitewater Rafting is supposed to be pretty good already. We have some guests this weekend who are booked. Looks like our Wine, Food, Music Party this weekend will be a good one. We still have a couple rooms available but I suspect we will fill those before the weekend hits. They have about 50 people booked next door for the Saturday Night Wine-Pairing dinner and we are going to have probably the same number Sunday afternoon for some wine tasting and music. I came across the mom and 3 cubs on the road up the hill from Golden last night. Pretty cool. Couldn't resist getting another video of them. Love to see the 2 young Grizzlies but nothing yet.

Here is video.

May 16

Nice warm weather in the past week so snow finally disappearing and everything starting to green-up. Need some rain though. Can't believe the number of bears around this year. It was like this when we were building Vagabond Lodge 7 years ago. I have gone down the road to Golden and have seen up to 6 bear. There is a mother with triplets and another one with twins and then a few singles. And now there are two young grizzlies around which I have yet to see although we have had friends and guests who have seen them. We are getting ready for our May Long Weekend. We have scaled things back this year but will still have some Wine Tasting and Wine Pairing dinner featuring BC Wines. We have a rep from Anderson and Sons from Kelowna coming for the event. He handles wines such as Ex Nihilo, Stoneboat, Therapy, Misconduct, Twisted Tree and a few more. He does a great job with his presentation so I am looking forward to the event. I am actually going to be playing some music too. Joined forces with some friends and going to play a few Jazz songs. Jeff on Cello, another Jeff on violin and his wife Joan on piano and trumpet and me on drums. We have a couple rooms available if you are looking for a getaway.

Here is short video of latest bear sighting.

May 6

Strange weather we have been having. It was really warm a couple weeks ago and most of the snow disappeared. But in the past week, we have been getting snow flurries rolling through daily. I suspect it is pretty good skiing up top. And the bears are starting to come out of hibernation. Yesterday I was headed to the Golf course for our first Men's League and just as you left the resort there was a mom and 3 cubs hanging around. A few hours later, they were still there. Hopefully they will stay there and not come up any further, but I suspect they will. No problem as long as there is no garbage around for them to find. Great seeing them though.

Here is video from Bear sighting and Golf.

 April 26

Still recovering from Ski Season. Certainly ended up Great. And the Golf Course is now open. I went out for 9 holes yesterday and today. Winter was really tough on the Golden Golf Course. Only 9 holes open and 4 temporary Greens. The Back 9 may not be open for a few more weeks because of damage to the greens. Still nice to go for a walk and hit a few balls though. One of of the last days of the ski season, April 10th, we hosted a "Opera Night" to raise money for a young Golden Boy who is fighting Cancer. The Theme was "James Bond" with a lot of our guests dressed up in theme outfits. It was Great. We managed to turn over almost $2000 to the young boy's family to help out. Thanks to everyone who came and showed their support. Singer's Charles Kalas and Angela Cavar, Jeff Moss on Cello and Sue Gould on Piano were fabulous. Here is video.

 April 18

Last day of skiing for the winter at Kicking Horse. It was a day similar to yesterday. Still warm. Temperatures about 18C with some high clouds coming through. Snow has deteriorated considerably and it was best to stick to the groomed runs. And that was fine as the knees were feeling 72 days of skiing this winter. I made a few runs in the morning and then headed up to the Eagle's Eye Restaurant for our last "church service" of the season where a number of us get together for a few beers, laughs and pray to the snow gods. They even had some live music to finish off the year. It was a fun ski season with some great guests which made it really special. We hope to see you back next year. Here is my final video of the Ski season.

April 17

It is "Bonus Weekend" at Kicking Horse. Resort reopened for today and tomorrow and you couldn't ask for a better day of Spring skiing. Great snow from top to bottom. A few patches of grass or dirt showing but nothing serious and it was really just at the bottom. Top part was amazing and with temperatures around 18C..wow. I made a few runs starting at 10.30 and then it really started to warm up. My last run down about 3.pm ..and it was getting really heavy but if you stayed on the groomed runs it was fine. Spent a couple hours up at the top of the mountain enjoying the view with the some friends. Doesn't get much better. And we get to do it all over again tomorrow.

Here is video.

April 9

One of the best days of the winter at Kicking Horse today. First they announced the resort was going to open next weekend for a bonus weekend. They are open April 18/19. We can ski and golf on the same day as the Golf course is supposed to open on April 16th. That is a great idea.

Conditions was fabulous today with about 15 cm of new snow in the past couple days. Some places it was knee high. It was also one of the colder days we have had for a while, probably about -5C the snow was the same from top to the bottom. My toes were actually getting cold which I haven't had since January. It was all good with very few people skiing.

Here is video from today.

April 8

It was a wild one at Kicking Horse today. Woke up to a major blizzard and kept up for most of the day. Guests at lunch said the skiing was fabulous when you could see. I headed up about 1pm just when the wind really started to howl. Wind started about half-way up and the Gondola was swinging more than I have ever seen it. They are doing a great job on windy days trying to keep it going. Instead of stopping and starting they are able to slow it down and then speed it up depending on the speed of the wind I guess?? Anyway's it took me about 30 minutes to get to the top. I managed to drop down into CPR ridge but really couldn't see anything much. I have never seen the wind blowing like it was today. Even in the bowl it was howling with drifts all over. I took bubbly to the bottom and it was great snow. I was hoping to get back up, but they shut the gondola for the afternoon. It is going to be a great closing weekend with all this new snow. There was some talk the resort was going to open for next weekend too but have decided not to. Too bad considering all the snow. We could have skied and golfed the same day as the Golf course is supposed to open on April 16th.

Here is video from today.

April 4

I went up first thing in the morning, which is a bit unusual. Sunny and cool. After a cruiser, we went into Feuz Bowl which was so great yesterday. The snow had set up a bit so not as soft but still good. And visibility was not a problem. One week until the ski season ends here at Kicking Horse.

Here is video from today.

March 24

Gorgeous Spring Skiing day. Temperatures at Vagabond Lodge were about 12C when I went up about 2pm. And what a day it turned out to be. The south facing slopes had softened up just perfect. About 4 or 5 cm of soft snow and it was like skiing powder. And nobody on the slopes. And the bottom runs were not too soft. And beautiful sunny sky's. One of the quietest weeks I have seen for awhile. I made about 3 runs off the ridge into Crystal Bowl and then into Bowl Over and then Double-header. Great day.

March 22

Nice sunny day with a skiff of new snow. I went up for a few runs about 2pm and really enjoyed it. Nobody on the hill and with the warmer weather, top to bottom was nice and soft. Ran into some friends from Golden and we made a run together and ended up at Eagle's Eye Restaurant for an afternoon beverage. Great time of the year. We have guests from England, Canada as well as Switzerland and they are enjoying the skiing.

Here is video.

March 16

Warm at Kicking Horse. Got up to about 12C. I went up to Stairway to Heaven for a few runs and it was great. They didn't groom. So nice soft bumps down the middle. Really nice. And the south facing slope under the Chair softened up and it was like skiing powder with about 6 cm of snow. Ended up in Feuz Bowl and the snow is a lot colder. Great afternoon. We had a great dinner with all our guests in the evening. We had a couple from Germany who had stayed with us us for 15 days and were heading home tomorrow. I did burgers for 12 people. Lots of laughs. The went Heli-Skiing with Great Canadian for 3 days and loved it.

Here is video.

March 12

It was the day we have been waiting for. Sorry you weren't here Bill!!! Woke up to about 20cm of powder and it puked all day. Windy and blizzard conditions at the top kept the Gondola from operating at full speed but that was okay for me. I went up for a couple runs about 1pm and met up with a group of locals and away we went. The bump runs were filled in with knee-deep powder and it was too much fun blasting through the snow without worrying about speed or edges. The bottom was a lot heavier and was getting warmer as the day progressed which really took a lot out of me knees. This snow will keep us in good stead for awhile and looks like some more next week. If you are thinking of coming for a trip in March we are offering a 3 night stay and 3 day of skiing at $272 per night based on double occupancy. Taxes not included.

Here is video. enjoy.

March 10

No New Snow but a beautiful sunny day and there was still some untracked snow from a few days ago we managed to find in Feuz Bowl. I went for a run about 2.30 with Jeff, a guest from Australia along with Maria from CMH Nordic in Sweden and Don who is a ski instructor at the Resort.

The video is short but sweet.

March 9

Beautiful sunny sky's today and maybe one of the cooler days we have had for a long time it seems. Especially going up the Stairway to Heaven Chair, it was actually cold. This is what winter is supposed to be like. With the nice dump of snow from yesterday it was a real treat skiing the fresh snow in the sunshine. I went with a few friends and a guest, Jeff for a few runs. We had alot of fun in Feuz Bowl. Jeff is getting ready for a week of heli skiing so this was a good work-out for him. Feuz Bowl was definitely the best snow on the mountain.

Here is video.

January 31

Nice light snow-fall for most of the day. Not huge amounts, but probably about 5cm or so with temperatures around -1C. I didn't get to the top today. It was the annual Huckleberry Loppet Cross Country ski race at the Nordic trails at the Resort. They had over 120 people of every age group show up and it was just a perfect day. Little children went 1km, to the more competitive races going 20km. And they can motor. The Cross country trails here at Kicking Horse are fabulous and are a hidden gem. But every year we have been here they are getting more and more popular. Great break from the downhill skiing and especially on days when it may be a little busy on the slopes, you can get away from the crowds and go for a 3km loop. They have loops for every calibre too.

Here is video from the Loppet.

January 23

Fun Day yesterday. I didn't get out today although it looked like a great day with beautiful sunshine. We had a big group from Ski Independence, a company that specializes in ski trips out of England wrap up their stay with us with a fun ski race. There were close to 40 people in the group. And they had a blast and hopefully enjoyed Kicking Horse and Vagabond Lodge. I managed to put together a video of their race.

January 20

I had a nice treat yesterday. I went Heli-Skiing with Purcell Heli-Skiing which operates out of Golden. Rudi Gertsch has operated Purcell for 37 years and does a fabulous job. We have a number of guests each winter who go Heli-Skiing with Him. We had a great group including a young American from Colorado, German family and a couple of Japanese gentlemen. We did 4 runs in the Purcell's which are the mountains west of Kicking Horse. Rudi has a huge area he uses and can find some great powder. First run was a bit flat. Not much definition when you get off at the top of a mountain. But the day got better and better. The tree-skiing especially was amazing. Our guide Daniel showed us the dangers of getting stuck in a tree-well and the importance of always having 2 people ski together through the trees to watch out for each other. The avalanche danger is pretty high right now and they go through a great educational before we go skiing on the process of operating beacons and searching for someone who is buried. Scares the hell out of you but it is important. You could see slides all over the place but Daniel did a great job of putting us into the safest possible spots. Nothing is ever 100% safe heli-skiing but you certainly feel safe going with them.

Great day. If you are ever looking for that something special for yourself, We recommend Purcell Heli Skiing.

Here is my video.

January 17

It has been quite a weekend of skiing/snowboarding at Kicking Horse. Certainly the best skiing in the Canadian Rockies right now after getting over 50 cm in the past few days and today some more snow was coming down off and on. A group of us get together every sunday for a gathering at the Bar at the Eagle's Eye Restaurant commonly called the Copper Ridge Run to pray to the Snow Gods and have a few beers. Only a few!! It seemed to have worked. Lots of fun.

January 15

Best skiing of the year today. It was an epic day at Kicking Horse. Woke up to a white-out blizzard that lasted all day. By late in the afternoon I was skiing powder past my knees. I ended up making a couple of runs with friends of one of my sons, Clay and Jay. One snowboarder and one skier. We had a lot of fun especially when I told them they would be on my video on my blog.

here is video.

January 1 2010

Happy new Decade!!! Yesterday was a record setting day for skiers at Kicking Horse. I didn't get out. Today, a small crowd. I guess lots of hang overs. It snowed during the night and woke up to about 6 or 7 cms of fresh snow and it snowed most of the day. I went out about 10am with my youngest son Shane who is a great snowboarder. We had a blast finding powder everywhere.

Here is video.

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