Sun Peaks first mountain open in B.C.
Between 3,500 and 4,000 skiers and snowboarders alike visited Sun Peaks Resort LLP Nov. 17 and 18 for opening weekend.
But for three lifelong Sun Peaks skiers the wait for their favourite mountain to open was too much. They were found camping out overnight at the Sunburst lift to ensure they’d be the first chair Saturday morning.
“It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, so we finally decided to do it,” said Gavin Coyne.
Equipped with a catalytic heater, camp stove and an ice fishing tent the trio was cooking breakfast sausages before the crowds started to arrive.
“We’re trying to bring back something, back in the ‘70s people used to camp out all the time and skiing’s been getting pretty serious and we figured let’s start something fun and maybe join in on it,” said Dayon Traynor.
The trio wasn’t the only group with dreams of being the first group riding up the lift on opening day and were woken up by their tent being vigorously shaken around 5 a.m. by members of the Sun Peaks Freestyle team who were determined to be the first chair.
“We’ve got a bunch of young kids who have challenged us to first chair (next year), everyone, that morning was excited,” said Traynor
Sun Peaks Resort was the first resort in British Columbia to open for winter operations with 21 runs open Saturday morning.
“Lunchtime on Saturday we got the bottom of Five Mile open to the base. We now have skiing down, so some people downloaded on Saturday morning but then by Saturday afternoon all through Sunday there’s now skiing right to the base,” said Adian Kelly, chief marketing officer for SPR.
He explained SPR needed to make snow with a few nights of consistent cool temperatures to create a wide enough run so skiing to the village would be safe.
“We got that. The temperatures were good Thursday, Friday and Saturday night the temperatures were nice and cool back towards seasonal temperatures, which we haven’t really been seeing lately,” said Kelly. “The crew did a really really good job in terms of pulling that off and getting us a product to the bottom. I think it’s getting better by the day.”
Being able to be the first mountain open in B.C. was a testament to the operations crew and the work they were able to do in order to get a quality skiing product, said Kelly.
For the opening chair trio, the bluebird day was the perfect start to their ski season with knee deep powder in the alpine. Starting their day on Spillway they were able to get close to 10 runs in on opening day.
“Points straight down the hill just got going as fast as I could and it was amazing. I’ve been waiting six months for that,” said Patrick Gravelle.
Chasing powder all day the group was eager for what the ski season will bring and is already making plans to be first in line when the new Orient chairlift opens in December.
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