Silver Star beckons skiers

A big dump of snow over the weekend means downhill skiing will commence on Silver Star Mountain in two days time.

“Mother Nature was really kind to us over the weekend, we received between 27 and 33 cm of snow around different areas of the mountain,” said Brad Baker, SilverStar Mountain Resort's director of operations. "We will open daily for alpine skiing and boarding starting this Wednesday at 08:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m."

Baker said 25 runs, a mix of beginner and intermediate terrain, will open and the Comet Express, Summit Chair and Silver Queen lifts will be operating with tickets at 50 per cent off.
"Presently our alpine base is 98 cms and the village base is 41 cms," Baker said, after inspecting the mountain on Monday morning. "We will add more terrain and lifts as more snow falls."
Cross country skiing began last week.

Meanwhile, the resort's ski patrol teams took part last week in specialized training for a lift evacuation, specifically a rope rescue.

“We had 50 members of our ski patrol take part and there were 12 members of (Vernon) Search and Rescue,” said Baker. “It's one of those things that you hope never happens but you are prepared if it does happen.”

The two groups believe it is beneficial to train together because emergency calls can overlap so they rely on one another for increased service to the public.