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| In the West Bowl - by Sigi White |
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| My window onto the Sun Peaks world at Sun Peaks Lodge |
Sitting in a prime window niche at Sun Peaks Lodge having breakfast,
watching people skiing down Main Street among the Tyrolean buildings towards
the ski lift hub just 50 yards from my centrally-situated hotel. I’ll be out
there joining them in half an hour but for now it’s a vicarious pleasure
watching their Peak
and Patagonia progress towards
ski school and sensing their anticipation. My plan is a downhill day on the sunny
slopes with Mayor
Al Raine with coffee at Bolacco’s
with Sun Peak’s skiing - and Senate - sensation, Nancy Greene Raine.
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| Day Lodge at Sun Peaks Resort |
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| Skiing in to Sun Peaks Lodge |
If you have never been to Sun Peaks, you must include it on
your wintersports wishlist (and summer scenery bucket list). Wow factors are
immediate from its authentic Austrian architecture to the horseshoe-shaped
slopes surrounding the village. The central Main Street is wide enough for
horse-drawn carriages, groomed for skiing to hotels, restaurants, bars and
shops as well as to the ski lifts. The whole village is uniquely wrapped on
three sides by the 4,270 acres
of the ski map – the second largest ski area in Canada.
With around 400,000
skier visits per winter and a resident population climbing towards 900, real estate prices are on the up with bidding wars starting over
commodious condos and tantalizing townhomes. The
town’s progress has been pioneered since 2010 by Mayor Al Raine, who has a
varied background in ski racing, coaching and ski resort development. Always at
his side, is wife and partner, Canada’s most recent Tourism
Hall of Fame inductee and Olympic Champion,
Nancy Greene Raine. With this kind of ski royalty at the helm, this ritzy-rural
resort is being sensibly steered to create the perfect balance between
residency and tourism needs.
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| Al Raine (right) with me and Rupert (left) |
That first day we skied 9-2 with Al – it might be his last
term as Mayor, but he still has oodles of energy! So slick and fast on his all-mountain
skis, he’s impossible to catch or overtake. He was just recovering, he said,
from a weekend of being skied out by his two grandsons who had come up from
nearby Vernon. Mid-morning we had a coffee stop at locals’ fave, Bolacco’s to catch
up with Nancy who had errands to run that day. Bolacco’s, tucked away in the
lower level of the Sundance Coast Hotel since 1997, is favoured by the resort’s
Aussie population drawn by the authentic Italian coffees. Full of ideas, potential
projects, and acute observations, Nancy looked exactly the same as when we last
saw her around 10 years ago. I want some of that mountain lifestyle to make me
stay so lively and youthful!
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| Nancy Greene Raine - courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort |
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| Nancy Greene Raine tribute at Nancy Greene's Cahilty Hotel & Suites |
Al had been recently watching a professional technician from Switzerland – one of the only people in the trade who can do this - splicing the cable for a new lift about to be launched for Christmas holidays. “They literally have to trim some of the threads from each end of the cable and then weave the remaining threads to make a perfect join,” Al described. Sounded like vein or artery surgery to me – and just as important! The new quad chair is only going up to the halfway mark this season but will go even higher in the future - guaranteeing that newer developments in the upper village will be ski in/ski out. Really important to keep that concept for all new accommodation here. New this season, too, is the trendy pod hostel, The Burfield; basic but beautifully furnished and finished, it also has suites and will be joined by a sister building next season.
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| Nancy Greene's Cahilty Hotel & Suites |
To feel part of the history and persona of Sun Peaks, you can stay at the Nancy Greene Cahilty Hotel & Suites
– Al and Nancy’s original condo-style hotel with 168 rooms which they built and
operated. They still live there and also have a home in Kamloops. There’s a
neat museum display of all Nancy’s racing achievements and also regular Sunday Welcome Receptions for visitors to meet
both her and Al.
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| Great groomers at Sun Peaks Resort |
Second day we got to ski for an hour with Ski School
Technical Director Ron Betts.
His peak pedigree encompasses 17 years with Mike
Wiegele Heliskiing and 15 years with SilverStar,
before moving to Kamloops – the nearest big town to Sun Peaks - where his wife is from. A
fellow writer for Ski Canada magazine,
Ron met editor Iain
MacMillan while working for Wiegele and went on to document gear testing
for four years. If you’re a Ski Canada reader, you’ll recognise him as a
regular feature writer, including a Crans
Montana article in the 47th #2 issue. Ripping up some gentle pow
on the Morrissey area, I could see that Ron has a similar quirky sense of
humour to Iain – you can detect it in his writing as well as his personality on
the hill. While sharing a chairlift with a renowned Sun Peaks’ skier, Ron pounced on the
potential interviewee, employing all his powers of persuasion. But the guy turned
the tables, asking us questions instead, and declining immortality in SPIN
on the premise that it “might jeopardize a future run for political office”.
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| Pedestrian Main Street at Sun Peaks Resort |
The next day we skied with Anne Terwiel - a CSIA Level 4 ski
instructor at Sun Peaks, ski
tester for Ski Canada mag,
and a professor at Thompson Rivers University
at Kamloops. Coincidentally, she is considering using our book, Winter
Sport Tourism for her new mountain adventure course coming to TRU next
semester. If her tourism teaching is anything like her swift-but-smooth skiing,
then she must be a very motivational and accomplished prof.
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| Snow Ghosts at Sun Peaks Resort |
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| Meat feast at The Steakhouse at Sun Peaks Lodge |
Dinner that night was with local Rachel Roberts - who works
as Media Relations and
Communications Specialist for Tourism Sun Peaks - at the sizzling
Steakhouse
at Sun Peaks Lodge. The Sun Peaks
Lodge, itself, epitomizes the resort’s Tyrolean theme, designed by Ecosign’s Paul Mathews, with a delightful
European feel from the chalet-style exterior to the charming olde-worlde ambiance and the German accents of the owners.
We indulged in a feast of fabulous
cheeses and charcuterie, followed by tender Canadian beef tenderloin medallions
with beautiful BC wines, including a full bodied cab sav from Black Sage Vineyards. Having a
gluten-free vegan with us didn’t faze the meat specialists - they customized
the risotto for him, adding lots of vegetables. Although they couldn’t help
with vegan desserts, next morning Rupert was able to find a GF vegan brownie at Vertical Café which is really
specializing in today’s new food and wellness trends – for example, paleo
powershots, energy bowls, and chocolate quinoa cake. We also found gluten-free
pizza later that week at Mountain High and GF handcrafted crepes at Tod
Mountain Café – Tod Mountain being the original name of the resort before
becoming Sun Peaks.
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| The Steakhouse at Sun Peaks Lodge |
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| Untrammeled Sun Peaks' snow by Sigi White |
Tod
Mountain Café proprietor, Meagan Mason, also owns Twisted Goat Coffee Roasters in Kamloops
which provides the private label coffee for the café. Entertaining visitors
from all over the world, Meagan is amazed at how far people travel to the sunny
ski hill. “I think that really says something about
Sun Peaks,” she says. “We have great snow conditions, three mountains
with a variety of runs to choose from, a beautiful village with lots of dining
options and the hill is perfect for families looking for a winter vacation.”
These international visitors partly inspired the café’s private label coffee: “After
owning the café for a year we really wanted to serve a coffee that was local to
the area. We have many customers coming to the hill with very high coffee
standards and did not want to disappoint!”
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| Bushwacker organic coffee from Tod Mountain Café |
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| Cahilty Creek Kitchen & Taproom |
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| Bottoms Bar at Sun Peaks Resort by Kelly Funk |
What would a ski resort be without an Irish pub? Sun Peaks has Morrisey’s
which attracts local workers with its lively comedy nights, pub fare (including
amazing fries: crinkly and to crave for), and the usual array of beers and
bottles. Bottoms is another youthful
hangout, with a panoramic patio right off the slopes at the main gondola base.
“The cheapest wine in town,” said Sydney, the chatty bar server. The people
next to us were drinking tequila bowls with upside down beer bottles in them –
what I discovered were called Bulldogs. It looked as lethal as it sounds – a
Mexico beach party on the pistes. For dinner, it took us a couple of nights to get a table,
but Powder Hounds was worth the
wait – particularly the curry which had the vital vegan and GF allure for my
son.
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| Sunburst Lodge Starlight Fondue - by Adam Stein |
My absolute favourite meal at Sun Peaks, though, was the
three-course fondue up the mountain at Sunburst
Lodge. Reached by a 6pm gondola, it really is three courses of fondue: big cheese fondue starter, followed by fondue chinoise with various meats; and then
chocolate fondue with fruit and shortbread dippers for dessert. The speed of
the ski down should have been augmented by the weight of all that food, but I
think we were all being careful due to the darkness and the amount of vino
consumed at the convivial communal table with a Brit, Canadians and Kiwi mix.
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| Dazzling Decor at the Sun Peaks Grand |
The Sun Peaks Grand
dominates Main Street, with the sumptuous entrance near the ski slopes and the
hotel rooms and residences stretching from Mantles to Morriseys. We went in for
the Artisan
Holiday Market and were entranced by the grandeur of the two-floor foyer
linked by a sweeping staircase, ancestral-home motif, ancient looking pillars
and flagstones, huge chandeliers and fabulous fireplaces. Originally a Delta, it was
bought by the owners of Sun Peaks
four seasons ago and they’ve already spent a fortune on the 200-plus room
renovations. We got to check out the room renos, all done in a modern grey/cream/natural
colour palette, with fur throws decadently decorating the beds, and marble
accents. The two-bedroom suite with full kitchen and dining room was definitely a
winner, with enviable views onto the slopes. Could certainly imagine spending a
very luxurious entire season there, hosting a grand Christmas dinner for the
whole family, having guests visit regularly, throwing cocktail parties for
locals. Dream on: at $300 per night, one can only imagine what it would be for
the whole season! Show me the workers’ accom so I can get real!!
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| Sun Peaks Chape by Sigi White |
Another fun evening activity is the Cat Trax Groomer Ride which
I did with Sun Peaks’ youngest
groomer, Lukas Meertens. Just 18, Lukas loves his job – especially the 2pm to
midnight shift to which he was promoted after completing his snowmaking
apprenticeship on the more arduous midnight to 10am shift. Son of Sun Peaks’ Mountain Operations
Manager, Lukas has already had an impressive five years’ experience working as
a liftie and has been traveling in snowcats all his life. “Ever since I was
young, it has been a dream of mine to get in one of these things as the driver.
I have been doing it as a passenger with my dad since I was a baby of one or
two. The other operators are all older than me, in their 30s, and they say they
are grown men in big toys” – so, I guess I got the ‘toy boy’. Despite
reservations about his experience, I was impressed with his professionalism and
ability with the monstrous machine. Totally immersed in his operations career,
he’s also an expert in snowcat techie trivia. His short term ambition: to groom
during a full moon. And longer term: to move up the ladder to winch cats on the
steeper slopes like Sting and Spillway which I had skied that day. “It’ll be
three years of driving free cats though before I can move on to winch cats,” he
explained.
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| Masa's mac cheese with short ribs |
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| Sun Peaks' Sun Dog by Sigi White |
With a complete menu makeover - featuring veggie burgers
with GF buns and caramelized onions, guacamole, mac and cheese with short ribs
and a sensational goats cheese salad - Masa’s
was a fun spot for a leisurely loquacious lunch with Aidan Kelly, Chief
Marketing Officer at Sun Peaks.
Right by ski school, it’s easy to drop in during or after a ski day. Aidan used
to ski at Sun Peaks as a visitor
but has now been working there for five years. With a background in business
and tourism marketing, general management, event promotion and execution, he
instantly discovered a ski hill home truth: “Transitioning from general tourism
to the ski world, I realized that it doesn’t matter if I am the smartest
marketer in the world, it is all about the snow.” All ski resorts across BC, he
contends, are somewhat dependent on the snow conditions at high-profile
Whistler as the perception is that whatever Whistler has will be the same
across BC. However, the weather and snowfall is actually very regional across the mountainous province.
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| Skiing down Main Street at Family Friendly Sun Peaks Resort |
“Sun Peaks has
always been really big on the family market,” says Aidan. “We’re branching out
with third party events, expanding that brand vision.” It has a huge advantage
in that there is no chasm between residents and tourists. “There are many
resorts which have places where locals hang out and different places where
visitors go. I’ve yet to find or see that here. Sun Peaks is ‘where you belong’
whether you live here or got off the plane last night.” The culinary focus is
important, he says, as après and dining is where people cement their mountain
memories: “People are increasingly making decisions about skiing based on food.
It is really important now. Sun Peaks
was a little behind the curve than some other resorts, more focused on the
on-mountain experience, but now we’re catching up with a decent range of
diversity – Japanese sushi, German, Canadian, Italian, handful of cafés.” And
it is these independently-owned restaurants that are giving Sun Peaks its character, charisma, authenticity
and, ultimately, a better guest experience. “Our staff are like guests, too,”
Aidan acknowledges. “They are here on a long holiday and are recycling their
wages back into the system. We hired an employee experience manager a couple of
months ago as we know that if an employee has a good experience here that will
translate to the guests as well.”
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| Corduroy Carving at Sun Peaks Resort |
Sun Peaks is
booming, too, from a real estate perspective. “ Going back three or four
winters, townhouses - really nice places – were sitting on the market literally
for four-five years,” says Aidan. “Then overnight, someone just flicked the
switch, in came multiple offers, it all went like gangbusters. No matter how
much money you have I don’t think there is a single townhouse on the market now
in Sun Peaks.” There’s also a lot
of construction going on including a 48-unit complex in east village, condos
and townhomes to the west of the resort, and 80-bed staff accommodation which
is nearly finished. “There are single family homes too. Any vacant lots have
big houses going up,” Aidan adds. “We need to keep building – there’s a bit of
a challenge on rentable beds, which is good news, but also challenging for
growth.”
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| Kiddie Capers - Courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort |
Unlike many BC resorts which were communities first and ski resorts
second, Sun Peaks is a
purpose-built tourism destination which is now also evolving into a community.
“It’s cool, it’s giving the place character from this growing group of year-round
residents,” Aidan says. “To keep up, we have to build more and have to do it in
sustainable way so it doesn’t impact the destination in the longterm. We’re the
second largest ski area in Canada, but not the second largest bed base – so we have
the opportunity to build a lot more accommodation before the experience gets
degraded.” The controlled recreation area is 10,000 acres so there is plenty of
space for all this expansion. Although half the resident population is
retirees, lifestyle relocators of all ages are attracted to Sun Peaks and one of the next
projects under consideration is a co-working space. They’ve already got an Elementary School – ski in/ski out, like
everything else in Sun Peaks, it
is situated at the top of the magic carpet. With the school motto ‘Why
walk when you can ski’, every day’s a snow day here.
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| Ski in/out School at Sun Peaks Elementary |
Social Media Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunPeaksResort
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunPeaksResort
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunpeaksresort/
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| Sun Peaks Resort |
Mountain Stats
Winter Season
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Opening Day, November 17, 2018
Closing Day, April 14, 2019 |
Ski Area
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4,270 acres of terrain
Second largest ski area in Canada! |
Mt. Tod Summit Elevation
|
2,152m (7,060')
|
Burfield Chairlift Summit Elevation
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2,080m (6,824')
|
Village Base Elevation
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1,255m (4,116')
|
Skiable Vertical
|
882m (2,894')
|
Sunburst Express Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,255m (4,117')
Top Elevation 1,850m (6,069') |
Sundance Express Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,255m (4,117')
Top Elevation 1,730m (5,679') |
Elevation Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,550m (5,085')
Top Elevation 1,863m (6,112') |
Crystal Chairlift
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Base Elevation 1,766m (5,794')
Top Elevation 2,061m (6,762') |
Morrisey Express Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,277m (4,189')
Top Elevation 1,675m (5,495') |
Orient Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,277m (4,189')
Top Elevation 1,525m (5,003') |
Burfield Chairlift
|
Base Elevation 1,198m (3,930')
Top Elevation 2,080m (6,824') |
West Bowl T-Bar
|
Base Elevation 1,903m (6,243')
Top Elevation 2,069m (6,788') |
Bowls
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2 alpine bowls
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Longest Run
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Up to 8km (5 miles) long
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Trails & Glades
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137 trails, including 17 gladed areas
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Terrain Type
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10% novice (green circle)
58% intermediate (blue square) 32% advanced and expert (black diamond and double-black diamond) |
Rockstar Energy Terrain Park
|
10 acre terrain park with zones for all abilities
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Types of Lifts
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13 lifts, including 4 high speed quad chairlifts, 2 quad
chairlifts, 1 triple chairlift, and 6 surface lifts
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Lift Capacity
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13,600 riders per hour
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Annual Snowfall
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6m (237") of powder
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Nordic (Cross Country)
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37.8km of groomed and track set
17km of backcountry trails |
Sun
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On average over 2,000 hours of sunshine per year!
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Average Temperatures
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December -9.5ºC / 15ºF
January -6.7ºC / 20ºF February -6.1ºC / 21ºF March -3.9ºC / 25ºF April -1.1ºC / 30ºF |
