New season, new systems!
How to smooth out your first day on the slopes.

Well, here we are! 

We’ve made it to another ski season during a pandemic, and while some regulations will stay the same as last season, we are also dealing with a few new ones. Here are some guidelines to help make your first day out in the mountains as smooth as possible for you and your family.

Request your Season Pass or Direct to Lift Card in advance

If you have purchased a season pass, you should have received an email requesting your upload your QR code/proof of immunization online. Please upload your information and request your pass be sent to you as soon as possible. Ensuring your pass gets into our printing queue as soon as possible allows you the best chance of receiving your pass ahead of your first visit. If you have not received your email requesting proof of immunization, please feel free to reach out to our guest services team to request one by emailing information@skircr.com. If you have requested your pass but have not received it before your first day, you will need to visit the resort Guest Services building to receive a day ticket and show proof of immunization.  If you are having problems with our system accepting your Proof of Immunization please refer to our FAQ’s to find out why.

Mind our Know Before you Go updates

While many of our guidelines have stayed the same, a key update this season is the requirement to be fully vaccinated to access our resort lifts and facilities. Please refer to the information above on how to provide this ahead of your visit.

Bring your QR Code on your first few visits

To ensure we have record of your information, we encourage you to have your QR Code and government-issued photo id with you on your first few trips. If you purchase day tickets, you will need to show proof of immunization when picking up your lift tickets each time you visit.

Limit your baggage and prepare for a few lineups

We will not be allowing bags to be stored unattended in our daylodge or common areas. Please ensure you’re leaving any unnecessary baggage in your car or purchase a locker. While requiring proof of immunization should help alleviate some lineups at our lifts and facilities, please note that some people may still choose to stay distanced from others; we ask you to respect the wishes of those around you.

Be kind

As always, we ask you to be kind to our fellow guests and also our staff. Please realize our front-line staff are working hard to ensure you enjoy your experience and share your passion for the mountains. Let’s all work together to make our mountain experience an enjoyable one.

Well our 2019 selves would have never thought our 2020 selves would be in this position, but here we are.  The return of another winter season brings us to a new era of winter activities – the social distanced type of activities.  While skiing and snowboarding is a great way to get outdoors, enjoy the mountains and keep our social bubbles intact, there are a variety of other outdoor activities to enjoy in our communities as well.

To top it off, we’ve done the research for you and put together some recommendations;

Fat Biking around Trickle Creek Golf Resort

Fat Biking is one winter sport that just keeps on rising in popularity.  At Kimberley Alpine Resort you can take a guided Fat Bike tour around Trickle Creek Golf Resort by staying in your social cohort.  Your tour is topped off by sitting around a fir and enjoying S’mores.  The quintessential winter day!

Shop, Hang and Drink Local

Kimberley is home to a quaint pedestrian platzl located right in the heart of the town. Visit the inside and outside of this block not only for some great Instagram worthy selfie ops but also for local restaurants and shops with an unmistakable alpine vibe.  Stop into The Shed for a laid back restaurant and bar with delicious worldly food creations and eclectic rotating beer selection. Check out the Arrow & Axe General store to find tried and testing outdoor and camping gear as well as ‘good vibes’ jewelry, outdoor fashion and local products.  Pop over to Overtime Beerworks to sample the lagers, pales and ales from the only local brewery in Kimberley (outdoor seating available).  But that’s not all, when looking at the platzl on google maps you’ll see a whole smattering of spots in one little area to explore all day long.

Snowshoe with Fondue & Night Skiing

Being a resort with night skiing, our running chairlift and lit up ski run provide the unique opportunity to enjoy the mountain by night.  If you’re not into skiing under the lights and the stars (and even if you are and just want to mix things up a bit), take a fondue snowshoe tour.  Wind through the forest atop the mountain under the stars, work up that appetite to enjoy a spread of fruits and pastries to dip in the chocolate fondue pot in the cozy warmth on our mountain top Kootenay Haus.

In the words of arguably the most famous woman in the world, Queen Elizabeth – ‘‘Around the world we have seen heartwarming stories of people coming together to help others’, Kimberley (as we knew it would be) is of course, no exception.  

We are all facing the most difficult time the world has ever seen, for most of us in a lifetime.  And no doubt everyone has noticed the changes it has made to our daily lives. And while these times are challenging, it’s time like these that show us what we’re made of and allows us to appreciate the things we do have and to realize that we are all in this together, it’s through the support of each other we will get through this and come out the other end with a renewed appreciation for what surrounds us.  

Here are just a few of the awesome initiatives going on in our community;

Facebook Social Distancing Cooking Class
Started by our very own Rob from Buckhorn & Main Mountain Eatery!  This Facebook group is open to everyone – a place to share recipes and cooking videos to help everyone with ideas for what to cook your family for meals as well as maybe pick up a few new skills.  Join the group today.  

Photo from The Socially Distant Cooking Class

The Kimberley Front Porch Project
Local photographer Chelsea from Meadowsweet Photography has started a Facebook group to feature the people and businesses of Kimberley to show the way people are being affected during these times, in exchange for being featured there is an optional GoFundMe page set up for donations that will be given to the Kimberley Food Bank.  To date there has already been over $5000 raised!  To have Chelsea stop by and feature your family and/or business, check out the Facebook group page for contact info, to donate directly go to the Go Fund Me.

Photo from the Kimberley Front Porch Project Facebook group

Paws in the Window
Another fun way to raise donations is the Paws in the Window initiative, set up by the Kimberley Kritters store. They ask you to make a piece of pawprint art, put it on display in your window, take a picture and send it to the Facebook page.  For every picture received Kimberley Kritters will donate $1 raising funds to support free pet food and supplies to those who need it in the community. See the art and get inspired on the Facebook group page.

Photo from the PAWS in the Window Facebook group

Care Packages from Food & Beverage
When we unexpectedly shut down on March 15th, as you can imagine one of the side effects of this was having a surplus of food in danger of going to waste.  Our Food & Beverage Director, Shawna, along with colleagues Chef Jenn and Sous Chef Kasey thought quickly and put together care packages for our team to take home avoiding food waste and making sure it was well used.

Bagging up care packages in The Stemwinder

Sparks Kimberley Birthday Parades
The longer the situation continues, the more birthdays we’re celebrating at a physical distance.  The Sparks Youth Centre has come up with a fun solution to that. Let them know when your birthday is in their Facebook group and you might even get a parade for your birthday to enjoy from your home!  

Photo from the Spark’s Kimberley Birthday Parade Facebook group

Our outdoor adventures may be on hold, but rest assured they will still be there for us to enjoy in the future and until then, we’ll continue to support each other.  And so to quote The Queen one more time – ‘we will meet again.’ 

*If you know of someone doing something great for your community message us through our Facebook page and let us know!

Off the beaten path? Yes. Easy to get to? Also Yes.

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘off the beaten track’ and it might not apply to many places as much as it does Kimberley. Having to leave the main highway to take a side highway to get to the town is part of it, however that’s not the only way to Kimberley.

A lesser known way to get to Kimberley (yet even easier and faster), is through air. Kimberley is the closest ski resort in the region to an international airport – about a half hour away!

The Canadian Rockies International Airport (YXC), is just a short drive down the road, and the great news is, it’s serviced by major airlines such as West Jet and Pacific Coastal Airlines. With daily flights flying in from airports all over Canada as well as from the United States, Kimberley no longer needs to be looked at as ‘off the beaten path’ (although it does still have that charm). A huge bonus – if you’re staying at Trickle Creek Lodge, Kimberley Alpine Resort’s premiere ski in/ski out hotel property, they’ll even send a shuttle to pick you up right from the airport – for FREE! This is one place you can really fly & ski all in one day.

Kimberley Alpine Resort and the town of Kimberley B.C hold a certain small town vibe about them. They both have a distinct Canadian feel while architecturally European looking, they’re like no other place in B.C (or Canada). Skiing of course being one of the many popular activities to experience in Kimberley, it certainly doesn’t stop there. It’s well known for being a family friendly resort with appropriate terrain (and perfect purcell powder), apres activities for kids and the only resort in the area with night skiing, however it’s also an awesome time for of agers – Americans take note, our drinking age is 19 up here ;-). There’s live music every weekend in The Stemwinder Bar & Grill at the resort located just a few steps away from Buckhorn & Main Mountain Eatery and even pop up craft beer stations to check out while you’re riding the powder. On top of that, Kimberley hosts fun events all the time with everything from ski races to outdoor concerts and parties.

If all that ski hill fun isn’t enough, the town of Kimberley is less than a 5 minute drive away and has an incredibly quaint walking plaza with multiple shops and a craft brewery, it’s like an awesome pub crawl but barely having to move!

If you’re looking for even more ideas on what to do in Kimberley, here are some other helpful spots to check out;
4 Epic Winter Adventures to Have in the Canadian Rockies (Besides the Obvious)
Winter Activities & Heli Skiing at Kimberley Alpine Resort
If you’re looking for even more terrain to hit, Fernie Alpine Resort is just about an hour away from Kimberley and perfect for a little day jaunt to check out a different mountain.

So what are you waiting for? Go on, book your trip to Kimberley now!
Visit the Canadian Rockies International Airport website for flight info.
Book your flight through West Jet.
Pair flights with your hotel and lift tickets through RCR Vacations.

Photos by Prestige Tours, The Real McKenzie Photography, Michael Scraper, Cole Pellerin

Kimberley, B.C. is sometimes referred to as ‘off the beaten path’, but the truth is it’s actually super easy and extremely convenient to get to, given its close proximity to YXC – the Canadian Rockies International Airport.  Yes, you read that right, it’s that close to an international airport.  You don’t need to fly into Calgary and rent a car to get there, just fly right into YXC and grab a cab or shuttle to Kimberley (Trickle Creek Lodge has a free one if you’re a guest there).  Being less than 30 minutes away, you’ll be in Kimberley before you know it (most people who live right in Calgary aren’t even that close to YYC, Calgary’s International Airport)!

Making things even easier is the addition of more flights to YXC through Pacific Coastal Airlines as part of their spring/summer schedule.  Increase in flights and scheduling includes 7-day a week service, same day business travel options, flights twice daily between YXC & YVR and enhanced connections between regularly scheduled destinations within Pacific Coastal. 

Don’t know much about Kimberley?  Looking for a good reason to visit the area?  Here are 5(ish) of the best reasons.

So much Golf!
‘A Golfer’s Dream’ is Trickle Creek Golf Resort’s slogan, but really it can apply to the whole region of Kimberley and its nearby towns, since there are so many golf courses to choose from!  Try to fit them all in on one trip – you won’t be able to!  But that’s okay, just another great reason to make the easy trip back.

Food & Craft Beer
If you’re one of those hipsters who travels around trying all the craft beer, fancy coffee and delicious food you can (and even if you aren’t), Kimberley is a stop you will want to make.  There no shortage of unique and delicious options.  Start the day off at the Kimberley City Bakery, all you have to do is read some of the rave reviews on their Facebook page and you’ll be convinced to stop in.  You can easily spend the rest of the day bouncing around the restaurants in and around the downtown Platzl, try The Shed for a delicious lunch and craft beer, pop into Overtime Beer Works for a local brewery experience, try Pedal and Tap (so good it’s only open for dinner) and if you’re still thirsty after that, head to Buckhorn & Main that has great daily features (located right in your hotel, Trickle Creek Lodge).

The town of Festivals
The festivals in Kimberley just don’t stop!  With something fun going on just about every weekend, in summer it starts with Marysville Daze at the beginning on June and continues with First Saturdays, Julyfest (the best of the fests), Round the Mountain, Kimberley Kaleidoscope (and a lot more)!

Outdoorsy Things – Hiking, Biking, Fishing, Kayaking
Kimberley truly is an outdoorsy town with a huge variety of outdoor fun, from strenuous to recreational.  Is hiking and/or biking your thing?  We’ve got trails from easy to hard, from forests to waterfalls and even an old train route turned bike/pedestrian path from Kimberley to Cranbrook called Rails to Trails.  Prefer fishing?  Kimberley is surrounded by mountain lakes and rivers and is known for it’s ‘feisty fish’.  Looking for something a little gentler and to leisurely take in the surrounding scenery?  Try kayaking down a quiet stream.

Quaint town to explore
For a ‘small ski town’ there is actually a ton to do in Kimberley, especially for families.  Kids and adults will enjoy the aquatic centre, skate park, climbing centre and exploring the nature park (to name a few).

More about the new Pacific Coastal service see the Press Release on their website.
More information about activities, festivals and dining in town on the Tourism Kimberley website
More information about resort activities throughout our website
Main photo: Pacific Coastal Facebook
Other photos courtesy of Trickle Creek Golf Resort, The Shed and Tourism Kimberley