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Star Mountain Resort
Silver Star Mountain Resort 22
km northeast of Vernon BC stands Silver Star Mountain Resort,
offering an unmatched mix of jaw dropping vertical, quaint village atmosphere, and wide ranging year round activities
without the huge crowds and long lines of other resorts. Silver Star is the ideal place to bring your family, season
after season, year after year! A colourful, Victorian inspired village complete with boarded sidewalks offers everything from hotels, boutique retail shops, restaurants, and cafés, to an international ski hostel, award-winning vacation homes, and suites and condos to suite every taste. The mid-mountain village is pedestrian only, providing complete ski-in, ski-out access. Visitors can choose from over 2,300 beds on-mountain, with eight hotels, and more than 100 vacation homes. With five lifts including the "six pack express" with a capacity for 6 people per chair, two T-bars, and two "Beginners Magic Carpets", not to mention the tube lifts, Silver Star has a total uphill capacity of 13,000 skiers/boarders per hour and a vertical drop of 760m. There are over 3,065 ski able acres of terrain on two very different mountain faces, the Vance Creek and Putnam Creek (known as Silver Star's thrilling dark side). Complimentary ski, snowboard and cross country mountain tours are offered twice daily. There are 112 marked downhill trails, and the longest run is 8 km long. There are also 60 km of Nordic trails groomed and track set daily, 4 km of which are lit for night skiing.  The snow is one hundred
percent natural, with over 23 feet annual dry, featherlight, powder snowfall. The temperatures are comfortable, with
a daytime average of 13 C (27 F) that keeps the snow fluffy and you far from freezing. Silver Star employs an award-winning
grooming team so advanced, they groomed the Downhill and Super G courses at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The Snowsport
school is regarded as Canada's premier Ski and Board school, also featuring a fully licensed daycare facility. The
Telus Park features a half pipe, aerial training site, dual moguls race-course, race center, and a progressive terrain
park. The winter activities really are fun for the whole family. You can tube at Tube Town, skate on the natural outdoor skating pond, tour by snowmobile, snowshoe, sleigh ride, or helicopter, or even enjoy night skiing. Every night features a different fun (and free) event, such as carnival night, fireworks extravaganzas, movie night, bingo night, Taste of Silver Star, and live entertainment. Although Silver Star is known best as a winter ski and snowboard destination, it offers a diverse range of year-round activities and adventures like horseback riding, hiking and mountain biking. Silver Star has won numerous awards, including:
The History of Silver Star Mountain ResortA major fire in the early 1800's devastated the mountain and in 1894 Cornelius O'Keefe formed the Silver Star Mining Company. Nearly half of the park was again devoured in a 1929 forest fire, leaving a burn that is still visible today. Government policy was "if it costs more than $25.00 to fight the fire, then let it burn unless it threatens people or buildings". In 1930, Vernon resident Bert Thorburn became the first recorded skier on Silver Star. He rode his bike up to the end of the road, followed the trail to the lookout, spent the night and skied down the following day. Vernon citizens came up with enough money in 1939 to finish the last three miles of road. Between 1939 and 1945 skiing interest dropped because of the war and high gasoline prices. Then in 1946 the first rope tow was built powered by an old four-cylinder engine. For $0.50, you could ski all day. In 1958 the final three kilometers of road is pushed through and Silver Star Sports is formed. Two rope-tow lifts and a day lodge are built. A lift and ski school follow. Expansion continued, developing the modern Silver Star resort. |