Crashed Gondola To Remain Closed for Weeks at Canadian Ski Resort
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) is one of Canada's best ski resorts. With thousands of acres of steep, big mountain terrain, KHMR's reputation as an alpine haven is well-known. It's why the Freeride World Tour makes an annual stop to sample the goods on Ozone or T1 when conditions allow.KHMR made international headlines when a cabin of its Golden Eagle Express gondola came crashing to the ground on March 10, 2025. The cabin was loaded with eight people, but only fell a short distance as it was leaving the bottom terminal. Nobody was seriously injured in the incident.Want to keep up with the best stories and photos in skiing? Subscribe to the new Powder To The People newsletter for weekly updates.The Golden Eagle Express is an essential lift at KHMR. It runs from the resort's village to the Eagle Eye Restaurant, a whopping 11,266 feet long and more than 3,500 vertical feet high. Skiers use it to access the large majority of terrain, and to reach the mountain's highest lift, The Stairway to Heaven Chairlift.KHMR confirmed on Thursday, March 13, 2025 that the Golden Eagle Express will remain closed for at least the next two weeks while the lift manufacturer (Leitner Poma) and Technical Safety BC investigate the accident."This investigation is going to be extremely thorough, as we want it to be, with no determined length of time for this process to be completed," writes KHMR in a social media post. "As such, we are unable to provide you with an update on when the Golden Eagle Express Gondola will be able to return to service."
This poses a problem for Kicking Horse skiers, as the Golden Eagle Express is essential for reaching a large swath of terrain, but KHMR has pivoted to an unusual operations plan that is being well-received.With the Gondola down, KHMR is opening an uphill route from the top of the Pioneer Chairlift to the base of The Stairway to Heaven Chairlift on Saturday, March 15, 2025. The length of this uphill route has not been disclosed, but KHMR has invited guests to either boot pack or skin up the route using a touring setup."The Stairway to Heaven Chairlift will be in operation from 10:00 a.m. through to 3:30 p.m. to allow skiing and riding in the high alpine terrain. The ongoing schedule for this service will be determined following our first weekend of operation, but if all proves successful, we will look to provide this service daily," writes KHMR.An ideal solution would be to reopen the Golden Eagle Express, but considering the lengthy investigation required to diagnose the issue, KHMR is making lemonade out of lemons. Plus, with the increase in popularity of ski touring and backcountry setups in recent years, we have no doubt that plenty of skiers will take KHMR up on their offer to access The Stairway to Heaven Chairlift with a little effort.Kicking Horse will provide the next status update for the Golden Eagle Express on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. POWDER will continue to cover this story.
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