6 Ways to Celebrate SilverStar’s 60th

Head to the Okanagan to celebrate SilverStar’s milestone birthday

It started with just a couple of rope tows and an A-frame day lodge in 1958. But SilverStar Mountain Resort has become B.C.’s third largest ski area, home to 11 lifts, a full-fledged mid-mountain village and much more. A short drive northeast of Vernon in the Okanagan Valley, this year-round destination can also brag about being the stomping ground of athletes like Paralympic skier Josh Dueck, Olympic snowboarder Kevin Hill and up-and-coming slopestyle skier Elena Gaskell. Then there are the awards, heaps of them, from the likes of Ski Canada and Okanagan Life magazines. Yeah, it’s time to pop the cork at SilverStar!

Just in time for spring break, here are six ways that you and your family can celebrate SilverStar’s big year…

1. Ride up in eco style

Kick-start your journey in Vernon by hopping in a luxury electric car for the 22-km jaunt up to the resort. Launched in 2017, Power Trips Okanagan Tesla Rentals is the first company in the region to offer the sleek, emission-free vehicle. Indeed, riding in silence takes on new meaning aboard a Tesla, where battery power and oh-so-smooth handling make for a pleasantly quiet ride. Still, expect “oohs” and “ahhs” from the backseat as the Model S navigates the road’s hairpin turns and straightaways with ease (careful, the car can zip from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds).

Good to go for about 425 km when fully charged, the Tesla has enough juice to see you up and down the mountain and then some. That you can control everything—from heated seats and sunroof to tunes and route map—via the dashboard’s 17-inch touchscreen makes the trip a breeze.

2. Ski and board down four mountain faces

Start on gentle slopes and open bowls before scooting off into secluded glades and sweet steeps—all covered in 100 per cent natural snow (no snow-making machines here!). With 133 runs over 1,328 hectares, SilverStar spreads out the terrain and the peeps—you’ll feel like you have the hill to yourself. After a snowfall, look forward to finding stashes of untouched powder all day, especially on tree-sheltered runs like Deer Park, Trinity Trees and Sherwood Forest.

Bonus: the family-friendly layout makes it easy for the clan to split up at the top (parents hit the bumps, kids schuss the trees) and meet at the bottom for the next ride up, whether on the front side’s six-person Comet Express or the back side’s Powder Gulch Express quad.

3. Flash the My1Pass for more fun

It’s not over till the fat tires roll at SilverStar. Your ski and boarding pass, called a My1Pass and Canada’s first all-inclusive lift ticket, grants you access to five other mountain activities—including fat biking on 16 km of dedicated trails. Having offered the sport for a few years, SilverStar has become the go-to source for other resorts looking to tap this mountain trend. Give it a go and feel your bike’s 3.75-inch-wide knobby tires grip their way over the snowy paths.

For workouts of a different kind, take to SilverStar’s 55 km of cross-country ski trails and 16 km of snowshoe trails. Or lace up the skates for a few spins around frozen Brewers Pond. Rather sit back and enjoy the ride? Head to Tube Town and its four hard-packed slides—complete with a magic-carpet lift back up to the top. All you have to do is scream.

Fat bike, skate, cross-country and snowshoe are also available to rent.

4. Eat, drink and chill

After a final run down to the ski-in ski-out village, park your sticks and boards and make tracks to some well-deserved après-ski. Mixing Victorian charm with a mining town edge, the colourful boardwalk-lined village tempts with more than 18 kid-friendly dining spots.

Sip a cool Okanagan Dream cocktail (Okanagan Springs gin, lemon, mint and cucumber) over spicy fish tacos at the laidback Den Bar and Bistro. Duck into the warm ‘n’ cozy Long John’s Pub for hot chocolate, beer and burgers, or step it up at the slick 1609 Restaurant & Lounge for the largest craft beer selection on the hill—try the Rough and Dirty Red Ale from Vernon’s Marten Brewing Co. Then settle into bright leather chairs for a fireside feast at the Bulldog Grand Café, where B.C. Interior plates (pan-seared rainbow trout) meet Indonesian fare (rendang with prawns). Lastly, make like Nicole Kidman—the actress and her husband Keith Urban recently vacationed here—and momentarily escape the world in the new Aveda spa, Elevate at SilverStar.

5. Slip into a slope-side sanctuary

Hang the gang’s helmets for the night at one of SilverStar’s eight on-mountain lodgings, vacation homes and condos. Lounge among straight lines and earth tones in the modern Firelight Lodge‘s spacious suites, right beside Brewer’s Pond and above the bustling Pinheads Bowling. For a new twist on the ski chalet theme, check into the Snowbird Lodge with its leather couches and wood detailing. And bunk with a bit of Silver Star history at the original day lodge-turned-Pinnacles Suites Hotel.

There’s still time to book for spring break with March Madness and Celebrate Spring.

6. Dream about the new gondola

As your head hits one of the 5,600 pillows at SilverStar, you might fall asleep thinking about alpine flowers and hiking trails. That’s because you skied by the resort’s recently built gondola tower during the day and made a mental note to come back for the July 1 opening. With 21 eight-person cabins, the new gondola will whisk 1,200 guests per hour from the village to the summit. Floor-to-ceiling glass means mountain and valley views for all during the 4.5-minute ride up. Talk about the cherry on top for SilverStar’s 60th.

For more on SilverStar and other B.C. ski resorts, visit: www.hellobc.com