The owners of Kicking Horse have spent huge sums on a seven year project to transform the former provincial Whitetooth resort into a major destination resort. Kicking Horse opened in 2000, the first 'new' Alpine resort in the Canada Rockies for 25 years. The project has proved highly successful with investors from all over the world snapping up property as its construction is announced.
The resort is located in the Golden Valley region of British Columbia in an area that embraces two rivers, three mountain ranges and six National Parks. Kicking Horse Mountain Resort offers a part of the Canadian wilderness that was previously only accessible by helicopter (or extremely athletic individuals).
On the mountain the renaissance began with the installation of a Poma-built eight-passenger gondola with floor-to-ceiling glass and the construction of additional quad chairs. These have given Kicking Horse the second biggest vertical in North America. A restaurant, the Eagle's Eye, Canada's highest, has been built at the gondola's top station.
The resort is named after Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, which itself is named after a kicking horse that is now famous in the Canadian West.
The history goes that in 1858, the Imperial Government sent one John Palliser out to find a feasible route through the mountains for the railway. A geologist, named Sir James Hector, was among those on the expedition team.
Hector was camped out at the Great Divide when one of the team's packhorses got loose and crossed the river. Sir James jumped into the water and swam after it, eventually rounding the horse up. While trying to tie it to a tree near his own horse, the two animals became enraged and started fighting. During the ruckus, Sir James suffered a vicious kick from his own steed. After recovering, Sir James explored the valley and discovered the pass that became the route through the mountains. IT was named Kicking Horse after the event that led to its discovery.
Build-out of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort will be completed in 2010 including 3,000 bed units - a mix of town homes, single family residences, condominium lodges, hotels and B&Bs - as well as a multitude of shops, bars, restaurants, other commercial amenities, additional terrain and a variety of recreational opportunities.
