Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, Golden, BC
Oberti Resort Design developed the original vision, master plan and design guidelines for Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR). Located at the portal of the Canadian National Parks near Golden, British Columbia, KHMR was the first new ski resort in Canada for over 20 years when it was first designed and opened in 2000. It’s early success, including rave reviews in the New York Times, resulted in a major expansion of its master plan to create a project that will have a value approaching $2 billion at build-out.
The 2009 Master Plan outlines a year-round destination resort including a signature golf course, a densification of the resort base and major improvements to the ski area. The expansion, which is underway, is centred on an expanded ski area that will include a total of 14 ski lifts at build-out. The base area development will include 18,080 visitor bed units and an additional 2,009 (10%) employee housing bed units for a total of 20,089 bed units built over four phases.
Oberti Resort Design and Pheidias Project Management Corp. created the vision for the project, developed the master plans, managed to project through British Columbia’s complex approval processes, and managed the design and construction of the opening phase of the project. Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design designed a number of prominent buildings at the resort, including the Eagle’s Eye restaurant which is notable for being the highest restaurant in Canada.
The project is also notable for its unique approach (in North America) to mountain design, by the provision of access to the resort’s entire vertical via a single gondola lift, permitting year round sightseeing and true top-to-bottom skiing. KHMR’s vertical drop is the fourth highest in North America.
KHMR has maintained the highest mountain resort real estate prices in Canada for the past decade and the project was a recipient of a Gold Georgie Award.