Sun Peaks Resort saw a stable 2025/2026 winter season despite challenging snow conditions, marking the year as the second highest visitation on record.
While the weather delayed opening about a week, the resort’s use of Snow Secure on Tod Mountain along the lower half of the OSV trail to the Elevation lift base, helped hold onto last year’s snow for early-season training. Additionally, tourism and marketing initiatives, such as Netflix’s My Secret Santa, which was filmed in the village, contributed to a boost in name recognition.
“We were amazed at how many times they name-dropped Sun Peaks in the film, so I think it was incredible for the destination, and also gave a bit of a boost in terms of awareness of the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel,” said Amy Blakeney, chief operating officer for Sun Peaks Resort LLP.
February remained the busiest month for the resort with occupancy reaching 87 per cent, Blakeney said. She also noted that since last year, occupancy rates increased from December to March with December having the highest increase of 14 per cent. January saw a 10 per cent increase, February four per cent and March a five per cent increase.
Day tickets were also up, she added.
Locals were the majority of season pass holders, with 70 to 75 per cent hailing from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Although season pass sales were comparable to the previous year, usage per pass was down 10 to 15 per cent on average, likely due to weather conditions, Blakeney speculated.
Sun Peaks Resort was added to the Ikon pass in 2023, which gives skiers and snowboarders access to over 60 resorts all around the world including North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.
“We certainly attribute a lot of that growth to our affiliation with the Ikon Pass,” Blakeney said.
Of this group, 21 per cent came from the U.S., a four per cent increase from the previous year and 21 per cent came from Ontario, representing a five per cent increase.
The season’s challenges
While the resort held high visitation levels, the season did not go without its challenges.
“Weather was probably the biggest challenge,” Blakeney said.
Due to the snow preservation from the previous season, the race centre was able to open right on time without any issues on Nov 8. The one Snow Secure storage blanket already on the mountain retained 80 per cent of last year’s snow, and two more blankets were purchased this year, with hopes to expedite next season’s opening.
“The groomers did an amazing job, so we were really pleased with the ski product we had, and that was certainly the feedback we got from our guests as well,” Blankeney said.
Next season
The resort already has a strong hotel booking pace for the next winter season with positive early numbers from Sun Peaks Grand Hotel and summer reservations suggesting continued tourism growth heading into next winter, Blakeney said.
Despite the challenging weather conditions from last season, season pass sales remain strong with healthy bookings and tour operations seeing a high demand.
“People are excited for next winter season,” Blakeney stated.
The resort’s Best Buy sales period ended on April 30 and with around 80 per cent of season passes being sold, sales were right in line which Blakeney describes as encouraging for winter 2026/2027.
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