Paddling on the Kicking Horse River

Kicking Horse River - This is in essence a steep, gnarly rock filled ditch. Sounds fun right. This is technically the headwaters of the Kicking Horse River and runs for a short and steep 'pitch' right beside the Trans Canada Highway. Bring a full face, elbow pads and your best pinball technique for this one.

Kicking Horse River - Class five section of boulder garden leading into a must make move over a curler to avoid a big hole.

Kicking Horse River - A rock and roll III+ run that is a Rockies classic. If you have never paddled the Kickinghorse River it is glacier fed and so can be a milky colour and due to the consistent gradient and volume is more pushy than many other rivers in the area. It paddles a bit more like bigger volume rivers. Holes can be quite sticky and sometimes harder to see. The run is filled with big waves, and some demanding paddling. However other than Portage/Shotgun the two major rapids it is for the most part straightforward. This is the run that if most often done by the rafting companies in Golden, BC. The first major rapid on this run is under an old cable car crossing. A class III. The next rapid is Hoppies Hole, large hole River right indicated by a large rock outcrop. It is a little while before you reach Portage/Shotgun two larger class IV rapids. You scout and portage on river left and there is even a sign above a big eddy there. The challenge with Portage/Shotgun is the length and the size of a few of the holes in the rapid. Worth a look. After this I recall it mellowing out a bit again. It picks up for a bit underneath the large road bridge where at the certain water levels there are two big standing waves they call the 'Twin Towers'. The run finishes at the Kicking Horse Rest Area. The takeout is on river left and very obvious.

Kicking Horse River - Continuous white water, pretty full on in spring and early summer. As the water level drops this section of the river becomes manageable for a myriad of ability levels. From Paddling ABC: A demanding big water river run full of pushy currents and large holes. It is pretty much non-stop action from the put in for a few kilometers. The beginning of the run is a few back to back Class IV rapids. As the water level rises in the spring eddies disappear and you need to use micro eddies and the train tracks on river right to scout and portage. It can be tricky to see features as the water is usually milky due to silt. Underneath one of the train bridges is a play wave that comes in at moderate water levels. The last couple of kilometers into town are more mellow class II water. Definitely a run where a solid roll is key.

Kicking Horse River - This secion is used for some of the raft companies float trip section. Overall it is mainly continuous Class II, the first rapid right of the hop though is pretty pushy with water in it and is considered Class III. Overall a tree dodge, braided float trip with the odd fun eddy line, wave and feature.