We just endured a hefty stint of high pressure weather. It was nice at the beginning. But close to the end, when the only thing that could "freshen" our hill was a favourable wind, the self-diagnosis to get the @#%$ out of town is easy to make.

Strangely enough, we turn our backs on the first bonafide powder day that Kicking Horse has had in over a month. The decision is counterintuitive, but the idea of making tracks on an unfamiliar hill points us south towards Castle Mountain.

In the morning, the -18 temperature reminds us that we"re in the Rocky Mountains. But we're motivated by the pow turns that we can see from the window at the Hostel. Holy fall line! Castle Mountain looks like good times!

Three of us are virgins to the Castle storming experience, so we scan the trail map for juicy-looking bits. There's lots-the whole place even. The stuff off the Red Chair looks fun, so we go there.
It is fun!

The wind seems to have decided where the skiing will be amazing and where it will absolutely suck. Without local knowledge, we find ourselves in all sorts of conditions.
Some of them�`Very nice!`Others�`Not so nice!

We don't care though. We try to cover as much ground as we can. The visibility's good enough to see what this place has to offer. Lots!

There's some serious gnar off the part of the trail map entitled "Backcountry Extreme". We can't even see the summit of Mount Haig, but it looks like a great place to ride the fine line between death and fun times. Maybe in the spring.

Our last run of the day is through the new terrain park. We even see some local brosefs jibonking a tree on the chair ride up. Outrageous!

There's a whole run strewn with jumps and rails- lots of places to wreck yourself. But it's a terrain park, so I guess that's the point. You can tell that the mountain takes pride in the park- it's laid out really nicely and everything's well maintained.

Despite efforts to suspend ourselves in space and time, our day comes to an end. It's time to leave this wonderful place where the lifties give hugs instead of checking tickets. We cushion the blow with boozy coffees in the daylodge. Delicious!