SeniorsSkiing Guide: SilverStar—BC’s Uncrowded And “Happy” Ski Resort
Great Skiing And Social Life Makes SilverStar A Lively Scene For Seniors.
SilverStar Village is a mid-mountain, self-contained resort in itself with restaurants, shops and lodging.
Credit: SilverStar
[Editor Note: This review was written by Melbourne, Australia-based Marg Malkin, a retired ski industry veteran who spends February and March at SilverStar. She’s also the informal SilverStar liaison with a group of Ozzie skiers who travel to BC every winter. SeniorsSkiing.com welcomes her as our first Australian contributor. We hope to see more news from her.]
SilverStar Mountain Resort is a hidden gem, tucked up the northern end of the Okanagan Valley, B.C. I found this wonderful place 12 years ago and keep coming back to enjoy its magical village, breathtaking views, awesome terrain and uncrowded highways of ever reliable snow.
SilverStar is the third largest ski resort in BC with 131 runs, a 2500-foot vertical and, on average, 23 feet annually of champagne powder. Twelve lifts service over 3500 acres of skiing as well as 60 miles of Nordic trails, heli-skiing opportunities, and night skiing on Friday and Saturday, too.
Themed after an early 1900’s mining town, the mid-mountain village Main Street with its bakeries, restaurants and shops has real old world charm.
First impression on arrival in the Main Street of this mid-mountain village is that everyone is smiling. And little wonder; the joy and freedom of wide open, uncrowded slopes makes it a dream come true haven for safe, fast top-to-bottom skiing. It’s where you find long-time residents and local characters who give SilverStar its safe, “homey”, community feel. Just ask and you’ll find these locals willing to share their secrets that have kept them calling SilverStar home for so long. Tour the mountain with them, and you’ll find they are only too willing to share their knowledge of the best stashes and little known areas of the terrain.
That’s what makes SilverStar so special—a big mountain, a small town feel, with all the terrain you’d expect at a larger resort, without the crowds.
It’s why I keep coming back. The fabulous snow, the welcome by locals and to meet like-minded older skiers to socialize and ski with from all over the globe. I’m in my late 60’s, enjoy excellent health and thanks to my many times at Silver Star have a large network of skier friends with whom I spend six to eight weeks with each Feb and March. Many of these friends I have “gathered” during my times in the resort, where friendships are easily established because of its small and friendly village community. Hence, I have a real “collection” of like-minded skiers who make the most of their good health and freedom away from the everyday family obligations of home. I’d just like people—particularly single travelers and couples—to know there’s fun to be had at a ski resort without spending too much and having a great social circle.
Hawaiian party in BC? Sure. Social activities are frequent and fun at SilverStar.
Credit: Marg Malkin
We have such a great time. There’s always someone to ski with or have a coffee or drink with. There’s a variety of ski skills, some diehards who hit the slopes at 8:15 and ski until 2:30 every day of their time there! Others ski out at 10-ish through until 2-ish depending.
We’ve developed “progressive drinks night” social life where people take a turn at hosting a drinks night at their unit—everyone comes with a bottle and a plate to share, making for fun and hilarity. We also get to enjoy the many restaurants; Paradise Camp Dinner Tours in a Snow Cat, Horseman’s Cabin Snowshoe Dinner Tour are only a couple of night experiences. Tubing, ice skating and snow shoeing are wonderful apres activities, all included in the ski lift pass at Silver Star. And there’s fat tube biking! Also ten pin bowling! The list goes on.
Getting There: Fly into Kelowna International Airport, serviced by several US and Canadian air carriers. Then shuttle north about an hour to SilverStar.
For SilverStar trail maps, click here.
Bottom Line: Most visitors will take advantage of a variety of lodging and ski pass packages. To give you an idea of the value, though, a SilverStar M1Pass, good for three days of free skiing at each of 13 alliance partner ski areas, and which includes Nordic, family discounts, discounts at Whistler Blackcomb and lots of other savings opportunities is only $899 plus tax (2015-16) for seniors 65-plus. An Early Bird Senior Pass will be available after June 1 for $459 plus tax. That’s a season pass!
SilverStar has four mountain faces for skiing. Uncrowded, friendly, big snow. Plus lots of other snow sports!
Credit: SilverStar
Cycling Series: Finding And Riding The Lost Coast Trail
Senior Skiers Shift To Mountain Bikes To Ride Coast Of California.
Cycling By The Sea, the Lost Coast Trail has spectacular scenery.
Credit: Pat McCloskey
So, my ski buddy Eric says to me, “Patrick, let’s ride the Lost Coast of California”. The next thing I know I am winging westward to Sacramento with my mountain bike packed securely in my bike box and looking forward to a week of “van camping” with my good friend from Tahoe. Now when I say van, the vehicle is really a Sportsmobile—a van conversion that is an amazing off road vehicle equipped with everything including a pop up compartment on the roof which was my room for the week. We have used this vehicle for skiing, but it also serves to house two old guys wandering around the Lost Coast which is about 160 miles north of San Francisco.
Fast forward: We have our RV spot right on the ocean in Fort Bragg, CA., and are ready to ride 150 miles of single and double track which is easily accessed from the camp site. Most of the trails are in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Woodlands State Park, and Big River State Park. We were amazed at the variety of trails which are loamy and smooth and give you a great appreciation for Redwood trees which are ever present and ancient. You can even ride through an old Redwood which is called “The Drive Through Tree,” a fun diversion from the standard mountain bike trail.
SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Pat McCloskey switched a mountain bike for his skis and headed out up the Lost Coast Trail.
Credit: Pat McCloskey
The amazing thing about riding in this area is the lack of riders and general feeling of remoteness. The only riders we encountered were the original designers of the trail and are the current trail stewards. They are all in the late 60s and 70s—amazing senior mountain bike riders. Jack Columbe, a 74-year-old ex fireman and World Senior Games champion and Roo Harris have mapped out, carved out, and maintained this 150 mile network of trails that stretch from Mendocino to Ft. Bragg. At 48,652 acres, Jackson State Demonstration Forest is one of California’s crown jewels and is maintained by CalFire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection). In speaking with Pam Linstedt, a 24-year veteran of CalFire, we learned that although tourism is replacing some of jobs lost after the 2002 closing of the GP lumber mill in Ft. Bragg, research and logging are still first and foremost priority in the California forests. With the efforts of the senior cycling community under the guidance of Jack and Roo, mountain biking is becoming an attraction which they hope will once again put Ft. Bragg and Mendocino on the map for riders all over the world.
The amazing advantage of riding in this area is that you have access to the coastal mountains but you can camp or stay right on the ocean in Ft. Bragg or Mendocino. Lots of available bed and breakfast options as well as an abundance of RV parks which seems to be the preferred way for Californians to see the coast inexpensively.
As we made our way northward, we rode a trail called Paradise Royale near the Lost Cove area in Humboldt County. The trail is filled with berms and features and one wonders who maintains this nationally known trail literally in the middle of nowhere. After finishing our time in Lost Cove, we drove our way through the Redwood National Forest which was truly a visual cornucopia of thousand year old gigantic trees. Camping out under those behemoths really make you understand that you are only passing through life in a very short time period. These giants have been around for over a thousand years and still flourish today under the California sunshine and coastal mists.
Lot to Trails
From any campsite or Bed and Breakfast on the coast, the access is available by bike in only a matter of a few miles. We rode to the McDonald’s for breakfast in Ft. Bragg and were on the trails in less than 15 minutes.
Terrain
None of the trails in this area are overly technical. I would rate them intermediate with the exception of the Paradise Royale trail which had a killer of a climb stretching over 4 miles of vertical ascent.
For More Information
Fort Bragg Cyclery (707-964-3509) can provide rentals and accessories like complete maps to the area. Most of the rides are currently on MTBProject.com
Also, Mendocino Bike Sprite can provide tours at a nominal fee. 707-962-4602. Ask for Amy.
Not too often can a couple of 62 year olds van camp and ride trails as pristine as these, and the only guys we ran into were older than us. Senior riders rule!
Remote and beautiful, the Lost Coast Trail had few other cyclists.
Credit: Pat McCloskey
Final Ski Run In New England
May Skiing In Maine? Who Knew?
Boston Globe’s Stan Grossfeld reports on May skiing at Sunday River, ME.
Credit: Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
The hardcore showed up in the first weekend of May this year to take their last licks on the…ahem…snow. As we all know, it has been a bad, bad season in the East, but the miracle snowmakers and groomers have managed to salvage a tendril of a season.
Here’s a story from the May 3 Boston Globe by Stan Grossfeld. He describes how Sunday River, Newry, ME., managed to create a season for its skiers. We quote:
After having its third-earliest start in history, Sunday River received just 60 inches of natural snow, compared with an average of 167.
But just because this is not Vail, it doesn’t mean that skiing has to fail. Sunday River came out with guns blazing. Snow guns, that is. Its 2,200 guns converted 400 million gallons of water into snow this winter. It even won an award for exceptional snowmaking capabilities in an online vote.
Grossfeld reported that there were spring conditions at the top and mid-sections of the mountain, but there was a “mild meltdown” down by the lifts. He writes that 600 skiers showed up on May 1, about half of them getting a free ride for the day. He quotes one visitor, “Considering that it’s May 1, and we didn’t get any snow this year, the snow is really good.”
Once again, kudos to the snowmakers and groomers all over New England. Oh, and Killington will still have a trail open on weekends until the bitter end.
The Globe reports about 600 skiers showed up for a final fling before Black Fly season.
Credit: Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
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