Ski Hills

...are five star hotels, shops, and an outdoor skating rink.

Since the old days two new mountains, Sundance and Morrisey have been added giving the resort the second largest skiing area in BC behind Whistler/Blackcomb. The vertical is the longest in the interior of BC.

I love the upper part of Mount Tod. There is open powder skiing for all levels. There is a five mile run for begiiners and some open bowl skiing for intermediates off the Crystal Chair. After that there are many single black diamond runs, the Headwalls, Chief, Chute and many more. For expert skiers Expo, Freddy's Nightmare and the Challenger (once the longest steepest run in North America) to give them a workout.

The new hills include Sundance with an all terrain park and many blue and green runs. The Morrisey Peak offers blue coasting runs and some tough double blacks like Static Cling, Spin Cycle and Cover shot.

The area is dry and sunny and when it snows it is the light powder you dream of. This is a place to ski powder in sunshine.

The Summer provides a bike park, golf course, tennis courts, hiking and events.

For more information visit their website below.

...are various chairs. The Gem Lake Express and the Falcon Chair where two of my favourites. These black runs were work but not of the scary variety. Off of them though there were some blue runs that had some drop offs which made them more of a black run.

On the other side of the mountain there is the cliff chair which provides some of the steep exhillarating bowl skiing that you get at Whistler.

On the Village there is a small area with restaurants and some night life and on Saturday evenings there is a fireworks show. One great thing I found at the village was economy accomodation. I was able to get a room with a kitcheonette and a Murphy Bed for $65 per night. Rates depend on the season but at the highest time these suites are under $100.  

...lightest champagne powder snow imaginable. Smiles stretch from ear to ear, as locals and visitors alike hoot and holler amongst the glades & open terrain, leaving clouds of powder snow to lightly settle behind them. With an average temperature of -4º C, Apex receives about 600 cm of dry "Okanagan" powder each season.

Accommodations: Cabin, Condo & Town Home Rentals www.stayatapex.com  Hostel www.doublediamondhostel.com  Stay with on mountain accommodations and receive discounted lift tickets.

...weather during our 1 week stay at Spring Break was awesome.It snowed most of the evenings and sunshine in the morning. We were lucky enough to experience a variety of types of skiing, including downhill skiing, classic and skate skiing. Some of our favourite downhill runs were; Milkey Way, Whiskey Jack, Middle Dipper, Christmas Bowl. My son’s favourite is the Peanut Trail, full of bumps traversing through the trees.

Star Kids offers a fantastic kids camp for private and group lessons. My son enjoyed skiing with other kids while we had a few hours to explore the Nordic trails.

We enjoyed taking the Alpine Meadows Chair or Summit Chair to the top and skiing over to Sovereign Lakes Nordic Centre. With more than 100kms of trail between Silver Star and Sovereign Lakes, there is something for everyone.

The village was small and quaint but had just enough stores and restaurants without being too commercial. Our favourite lunch and coffee place was Bugaboo’s. Fantastic home-made soups, sandwiches and the delicious baked treats!Between the incredible spring ski conditions, variety of downhill and nordic trails and all the other great family activities—tube town, skating pond, kid friendly restaurants.

Silver Star really is one of the perfect places for a family vacation.

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...Getting there is quick and easy and does not put as much wear and tear on your car as most ski roads. The runs although short have enough bumps and vertical to give you a good workout.

Grouse also has an excellent lodge for lunch or taking a break while taking in spectacular views.

It may not be Whistler but it is as being as easy as going to play tennis or going for a swim and the Y2Play passes are under $300 a season.