Great skiing, scenery, a program for senior skiers, as well as everyone else, and a hot tub waiting at the end of the day. These are just some of the reasons our Ski and Dive Editor, Yvette Cardozo loved returning to Ski SilverStar Resort in British Columbia, Canada.

Silver Star Resort – photo by Amanda Wallace for Silver Star Resort.

Honestly, I didn’t remember Silver Star Mountain being that big. When my husband Bill and I drove up from Seattle to the resort in Canada’s British Columbia some 20 years ago, it was billed as a family mountain with an old west theme.

Main Street was straight out of a movie set for some late 1800‘s cowboy flick. The runs were mellow. Very, very mellow. And there weren’t all that many of them. There was also an arcade where I played Pong, which was out of date even then.

Fast forward to the 21st Century at SilverStar Resort

SilverStar added an adrenaline-fueled back side and juiced up its building shades to a rotating five… green, red, blue, yellow, and a kind of rich mustard, all of which glisten in the sun. Yes, the main street still has a bit of old west vibe. But that’s where the original Silver Star ends.

In addition to that backside with its decidedly expert runs, there’s a brand new gondola that had its first winter last season (2018/19). It provides quicker access from the main village to Alpine Meadows, Vance Creek and Powder Gulch. And also gives improved access for beginners, and warm access to the upper XC Trails for Nordic skiers so they don’t have to ride open chairlifts.

Perfect powder at Silver Star. Photo by Dave Heath for the Resort.

As for that Nordic terrain, 55 km of groomed trails that link to another 50 km at nearby Sovereign Lake make it the largest daily groomed Nordic network in Canada. January, 2019, USA Today ranked the SilverStar/Sovereign Lake trail network among the Top Ten Cross-country ski destinations in North America, the only Canadian Resort to make the list.

But back to SilverStar’s SIZE. It’s now BC’s third largest ski area with 3,282 skiable acres, four mountain faces and 132 runs. The back side, alone, has 1,900 acres of steep and deep. Mid-mountain is a mile high (5,280 feet) with plenty of ski in-ski out lodging.

The other standout? SilverStar is seriously senior friendly. There’s Masters’ Mondays, a two day Masters’ Clinic and a yearly Over the Hill Downhill race where folks dig out their ancient skis and old one piece suits.

The result is nearly two thirds of the resort’s season passes are bought by folks 65+. But more amazingly, half of that figure goes to the band of Young@Heart skiers who are 81+.

And these are guys (yes, mostly guys in the Silver Star group) who ski hard. In fact, Mike, 83, didn’t stick around long enough for me to even introduce myself. He wanted to get back to that off-piste powder.

The rest admitted they’ve slowed a bit. If you can call what Ernie did last Feb. 1 “slowing.” He hit 46 mph, skied a total of 25.5 miles with 22,145 vertical feet – all over the space of four hours.

“I usually quit after lunch,” he said.

As do most of the seniors, leaving the wide open cruiser runs, the powder, the back steeps to the rest of SilverStar’s crowd. As for me, after the day’s runs at the resort, it was dinner, then back to Snowbird Lodge where my condo had a nice sized hot tub on the deck. Yay, nudie dips after dark!

In for the night at Silver Star Resort. Photo by Yvette Cardozo.

Fast Facts about SilverStar Resort:

• SilverStar’s ski season runs late November to early April.
• Nine on-mountain hotels with 5,600 pillows and that seriously vibrant collection of building colors.
• Sixteen places to eat including two on mountain and a cabin reached via sleigh, along with a grocery store in the main village. Do NOT miss the Red Antler’s world class chili which, for some inexplicable reason, is called “meat and potatoes soup.” It’s chock full of meat, not too many beans and set in a thick, spicy base. And for a good show, there’s the Smoked Old Fashioned drink at the Den Bar & Bistro. Watching the bar guy torch wood chips and infuse the mellow whisky drink with smoke is an evening’s entertainment by itself.
• Total vertical drop of 2,500 feet with 15% beginner, 40% intermediate, 35% difficult and, yes, 10% extreme. Ten lifts with total capacity of 14,000 skiers per hour.
• Annual snowfall of 275 inches, average daytime temperature of 23 degrees.
• Non-ski activities include snowshoeing, fat cycling snowy trails on bikes with super wide tires, ice skating on the local pond, Tube Town with lift access to inner tube runs and riding a fenced track on mini Arctic Cat FireCat F120 snowmobiles for the 12 and under set.

You can snowshoe at the Resort too. Photo by Sam Egan for Silver Star Resort.

Getting to SilverStar Resort in British Columbia:

SilverStar is an hour’s drive north from Kelowna International Airport and the ski area runs shuttles to the resort. The nearest town is Vernon, 20 minutes down the road.

 Bottom Line:

• Great cruiser runs, great signage, easily accessed terrain.
• Daily pass: Adult (19-64) $99-$115, Senior (65+): $82 – $94.
• Season Pass: Adult (19-64) $779-$879, (Senior (65-80) $509-$579, Young @ Heart (81+) $289.50. Youth and student passes also available. All prices in Canadian dollars plus 5% GST.

The tubing hill. Photo by Jaclyn Tanemura for Silver Star Resort.

— Story by Yvette Cardozo

Hungry for more? Get the recipe for the Smoked Old Fashioned cocktail Yvette had when she visited. When she’s not skiing, Yvette can be found scuba diving in Barbados and horseback riding in the deserts of Arizona.

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