Ridge run, connecting skiers to the Burfield chair, will now officially be known as Munro Ridge. It was renamed in December 2015, after the passing of one of Sun Peaks’ founders, Donald Munro.
“It was kind of overdue from my perspective,” said Darcy Alexander, general manager of Sun Peaks Resort LLP (SPR). “There’s three main founders, Don Whyte, Gil Marini, and Don Munro. We have runs named for the other two. It’s not something we do all the time and it’s not something we do lightly.”
Alexander also said he understood it to be one of Munro’s favourite runs and that it may have originally been Munro Ridge, but shortened to Ridge over time.
After growing up in Kamloops and graduating from Kamloops Secondary School, Munro left the area for university before returning to work and raise his family.
Munro was one of 12 men who planned and funded the original Burfield chair which was completed in 1961. He also served as the first president of the Tod Mountain ski area, taking the inaugural ride on the two-person lift.
For a long time after that first ride, he taught his children and grandchildren to ski on the mountain while watching the resort grow. His daughter, Sandi Munro, was one of those children and was present with her mother and four generations of Munros on Jan. 1, 2016 when they celebrated at the resort.
“The Munro family is humbled and delighted that Sun Peaks has renamed Ridge run to Munro Ridge to honour Dad’s contribution,” she said. “Dad laid out many of the original runs and Ridge, in combination with Headwalls, was his favourite.”
“We can’t thank Sun Peaks enough!”
Munro passed away at the age of 90 in 2013 and was celebrated as key to the development of Sun Peaks and as a valued member of both the mountain’s and
Kamloops’ communities.
At the time, SPR published a statement describing Munro as “a bright spark and visionary to what has become a leading mountain resort and home to many”.
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