KICKING HORSE

The Kicking Horse Resort is looking for people who consider adventure and fun as all part of a day’s work. Their culture is built on the core values of Fresh, Empowerment, Sustainability and Passion and they reward those who commit to bringing them to life at work every day. They offer seasonal and core staff a season pass, in addition to staff discounts on resort, to allow our employees to enjoy their own mountain experience in British Columbia!

Applicants to this resort need to be able to ski or board. The majority of ski runs here are intermediate to advanced terrain. You need to be 19 years of age or older. Training is offered to all applicants in all roles, but experience is required for specific roles. Some of the roles offered include:

• General Resort Information
• Cashier
• Cook
• Dishwasher
• Guest Services
• Mountain Operations Attendant
• Resort Crew
• Rental Technician
• Snowmaker

Size of resort: Employs over 175 staff during the winter season. This resort is not easy to get to…but once there…worth the effort!

Staff Housing: This location does not offer any staff accomodation. Accomodation needs to be sourced from the local township of Golden. Given this is not a large town, tracking down accomodation as early as possible is key! This would be your responsibility to source your own accommodation at this resort.

Nightlife: There is no night life at Kicking Horse. This resort is up the hill from the local township of Golden. Golden has various bars that do get quite ‘loose’ after a certain time of night…a fun place for sure!

Aussie saturation: Saturation of Aussies is small in comparison to other resorts and towns. You will get to meet more Canadians here!

Temperature: This place is cold during the winter. Can get down to -20 and way colder with wind chill!

Job roles on offer: Kicking Horse outdoor roles like Lift operations (must be able to ski to an intermediate level). Roles in food & beverage back and front of house, cashiers, retail, guest services & rentals. The range and number of roles on offer changes annually based on returning staff, check the website for more info.

Career progression: To progress up the management or responsibility ladder at this resort – means doing back to back winter seasons.

Ski Pass: This resort offers a free ski pass with your employment.

Size of Terrain: This resort has 2825 acres of skiable terrain. This is a big mountain with loads of vertical and a tonne of black and double black diamond runs. Strap-in!!! We would not suggest this location for absolute beginners.

Reciprocal pass options: Kicking Horse is part of the RCR (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies) company so your staff ski pass gives you reciprocal benefits at Nakiska, Kimberley & Fernie Mountains. These resorts are not especially close to Kicking Horse…and would be more of a ‘road trip’ mission than a day trip.

Location: Kicking Horse Resort sits above a township called Golden and is a 20min drive up the mountain. Golden town is much like a sleepy, alternate surf town in Australia. …pretty chill while the surf is low but as soon as the swell or in this case, the snow starts dumping the place goes nuts! The resort is roughly just over an hour to Lake louise, 2 hours to Banff and 3 hours to Calgary.

Ongoing employment: Kicking Horse operates in the summer and is taking advantage of the exponential interest in mountain bike tourism. They also have a grizzly bear enclosure here which is a major attraction in the summer (the bear enclosure is still there in the winter but the bear is hibernating)

Why go here? For the big mountain skiing on offer. If skiing down cliffs and chutes get you going…yup…this is where you want to be. The mountain is very vertical and when the powder is flying there is no place like it! Many crew we have sent here over the years have stayed for the summer and in to another winter they’ve loved it so much! Given its location, this resorts barely deals with crowds on pow days #winning – The staff retention here is huge as everyone who goes – loves it!

Why avoid this place? It is hard to get to. Also, if you’re a beginner, while there are some green runs and gentler slopes…the progression from beginner to intermediate is a tough one. Housing is hard to track down and can be a major issue trying to organise from out of town let alone out of country! Getting up to the mountain from Golden can also prove to be an issue as the staff bus rarely operates forcing staff to ‘hitch’ up the hill!