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Sweet snapshots from the Powder Highway
Dave Quinn
Just the name of this place alone – The Powder Highway – conjures up images of you and your friends skiing or riding long lines, leaving a wake of fluffy powder in your happy trails. Then ending the day, kicking back at one of the slope-side restaurants or bars.
Here are some photos from the Powder Highway that will have you packing your bags this winter to check out the on- and off-slope fun.
Fernie Alpine Resort’s Polar Peak
Photo:
Dave Heath
For some, just looking up at Fernie Alpine Resort’s Polar Peak Express Chair is enough to get the nerves rattling. But on a clear day, nothing beats the view from the top of the Lizard Range. Bumper to bumper peaks to the Southern Rockies horizon in all directions beats bumper to bumper 401 traffic any day. Even if the nerves are unwilling, just remember there is a cat track back down, albeit a steep one, and if the nerves are steel, you can ride some of the steepest, deepest lift accessed powder around.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort: Eagle’s Eye Restaurant
Photo:
Joanne Elves
The Eagle’s Eye Restaurant at the top of Golden’s Kicking Horse Resort is a memorable stop on the Powder Highway. From its lofty perch at 2,346 metres above sea level, the CN tower would look like a tiny pin, nearly 2,000 metres below you. Like the CN Tower’s 360 Restaurant, Eagle’s Eye offers lunch and dinner options, but for a real treat book an overnight in the Eagle Eye Suite at the mountain’s summit, an evening that comes complete with your own butler and chef.
Fisher Peak, from Kimberley Alpine Resort
Photo:
Janice Strong
Jutting out from the classic Rocky Mountains across the valley from Kimberley Alpine Resort, Fisher Peak commands your attention and your imagination as you try to make sense of the 200-kilometre Rocky Mountain view that rolls out from the U.S. border to the south, and northwards towards the town of Fairmont. From this vista you can either drop in towards the Rockies to carve up some of Kimberley’s legendary, thigh-burning groomers, or drop in to backside for some of the resort’s hidden, steep, fall-line powder gems. Stops like this on the Powder Highway burn themselves into your memory forever.
Super Bowl Sunday at Golden’s Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
This commute will not leave you banging your head on your steering wheel in frustration. This traverse into Kicking Horse’s Super Bowl area is a reminder that sometimes the journey matters as much, if not more, than the end. Take five on this traverse and stop to look out across the Upper Columbia River and the Columbia Wetlands, some of the longest, intact wetlands in North America. Elk, wolves, coyotes, and moose thrive in the valley below, while grizzly and black bears snooze the winter away in the Rockies across the valley. All this wild beauty, and you still get an epic ski run at the end of it all. Another perfect moment on the Powder Highway.
Another Day Stuck in Powder: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
Few things will help get you through another slow, stuck-in-traffic commute than the memories of a few days stuck in the epic Kootenay Cold Smoke of the Powder Highway. Basically, everything about deep powder, like the stuff at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, is the exact opposite of a frustrating drive to work. The faster you try to go, the more face-shots you get. A crash is often a soft, welcome end to an out-of-control flail. No crusty boss here, and only a warm smile and cold beer await your arrival at the end of your journey. The best part is you get to do it all over again at the end of the ride. Just another joyful kind of daily grind on the Powder Highway.
If You Go
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