The plans have been made. The excitement is rising. Your upcoming ski vacation in British Columbia is going to be awesome – until it isn’t. What do you do when an injury derails your ski time? You discover all of the many other things you can do at your destination. And that’s what writer Yvette Cardozo did with her two-part series, Sun Peaks Resort for Non-Skiers.

A horse-drawn sleigh ride at Sun Peaks. Photo by Kelly Funk for Sun Peaks.

I had waited two years to return to Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada. I was all set to drive up from my home outside Seattle for some blissful days on the ski slopes. And then I broke my ankle on my third day skiing. What, was I to do?

Well, there are so many non-ski activities – things I had dismissed over the years because I was too busy skiing! I had a buddy who still wanted to go (heck, SHE could ski). I had winterized my car. So early last March, with me still wearing a medical boot, we headed up the Coquihalla Highway, which bisects interior British Columbia in Canada. And luck shined on us. The notoriously fickle highway (there’s even a TV show on the Weather Channel that focuses on teams rescuing 18 wheel trucks from ditches every winter) was just fine. In fact for us, the road was actually bare and dry. DRY! We made it to the resort in a record seven hours.

I decided I was going to focus on four things: dog sledding, ice fishing, a program called Snow Limo and a cat groomer ride. There’s much more, but I had limited time. See the list at the end of this story for some of the other options. Here, in Part 1, I’ll tell you about dog sledding and ice fishing. You’ll find out about the Snow Limo and cat groomer ride in Part 2.

Sun Peaks Resort for Non-Skiers – Dog Sledding 

First, the puppies. OK, nobody says “mush.” Nobody, outside of maybe movies, has EVER said “mush,” though the folks who drive sleds are often called “mushers.” Mostly, people who run dogsleds just say, “Go!” And the dogs aren’t Siberian Huskies. Your average sled dog is something mushers call Alaskan huskies. They are lean and small with long legs and bred to run. In the case of Chris Schwanke’s pups at Mountain Man Adventures, they’re a combo of greyhound or German short hair pointer and … well, who knows what. Chris had, at the time, 50 working dogs and three puppies and all were really friendly. That’s on purpose, so guests can interact with the dogs.

Dog sled tour with Mountain Man Dog Sled Adventures at Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada. Guests ride in the sled pulled by dogs. And they are given a chance to drive the sled during the tour. Most sled dogs are NOT Siberian Huskies but, rather are a crossbreed of many dogs that are lean and fast. The crossbreed is called Alaskan Husky.

At the end of a sled dog tour with Mountain Man Dog Sled Adventures, the dogs are tossed chunks of meat fat, which they need in winter for fuel. Most sled dogs are NOT Siberian Huskies but, rather are a crossbreed of many dogs that are lean and fast. The crossbreed is called Alaskan Husky.

My friend and I arrived and first got to pet the dogs and say hello. Then we loaded into sleds, normally two people in a sled with a guide on back. The ride is 10 km (a bit over six miles) and lasts about 90 minutes. We were off through the woods, along a lake, across a snow-covered golf course, then back into the woods. It can be a semi-wild ride, as snow-caked trees whiz by from doggie level, hardly two feet off the ground.

But what made this trip different from those I’ve done in the past was the chance to run the sled ourselves. Yow! You stand on the runners behind the sled, which are wider set than you expect if you are a skier. And, explained our guide, Destiny, you just say “go” to start, “easy” to slow and “whoa” to stop. “Bend your knees a bit and stay flexible,” she added. Kind of like skiing. Or riding a snowmobile. Or a dirt bike. It’s go with the flow. And, before we knew it, we were back at the start, among the dog kennels and other pups.

Now came more fun. As a treat after a run, the dogs get chunks of fat to fuel them and keep them warm. You toss the chunk in the air and the dog jumps, mouth wide open, teeth flashing in the sunlight. It makes for a killer photograph.

Finally, to wrap up, we went into the puppy pen, where five-month-old Pirate, Sailor and Captain were waiting to have their ears scratched. It’s not only fun, it helps socialize the dogs from an early age.

Sun Peaks Resort for Non-Skiers – Ice Fishing

Some folks fish for sport. Some for relaxation. Some to “just get away.” I fish to eat. If I can’t eventually put it in a fry pan, I’m not really interested. So enter Elevated Fishing Adventures, where you get all three. Especially the eating part. “Probably half the people who come out with us cook their fish that night,” said owner/guide Campbell Bryk.

Campbell picked my friend, Nancy, and me up at 7am and we drove out to nearby Heffley Lake, which at this point in the year, was covered with 20 inches of ice. A few hundred yards out, Campbell set up his fishing tent, got a portable heater going and redrilled three of his fishing holes. Then he baited our hooks with natural looking lures that not only wriggle, they glow in the dark water below the ice.

Ice fishing on Heffley Lake near Sun Peaks Resort with Elevated Fishing Adventures. The lake is stocked with rainbow trout, a mild fish that makes great eating. Here, the guide and guest try their hand at outdoors holes. The tent behind them is nice and heated for shelter when it’s cold and snowing.

This is really popular with families that have kids. “As soon as you see fish down there, you can get kids to sit for hours,” Campbell said. And anybody … ANYbody … can catch a fish, he insisted, describing one morning where a mom was breast feeding her infant with one hand, and hooking fish with the other. “Her three-year-old caught a 24-inch fish,” he added.

The BC government each year stocks Heffley with 5,000 rainbow trout, a fish that Campbell claims, “Anybody can cook and virtually everybody likes because it’s so mild tasting.” The best fishing, he explained, is just before Christmas. The most any group has caught in a day is 36, though folks are limited to keeping only five per person. And the largest fish anyone’s ever caught was 30 inches … big enough to feed six people. The lake has both wild and stocked fish. The wild ones are dark red and green, the stocked ones are shiny but they both taste the same, so we were told.

Ice fishing on Heffley Lake near Sun Peaks Resort with Elevated Fishing Adventures. The lake is stocked with rainbow trout, a mild fish that makes great eating. The red glow is sunlight coming through the red canvas tent.

As for us, we were pushing the end of the season. And the fish were nowhere to be found. Have any groups ever come up completely dry? Only two out of 50 trips. Campbell invited them to come back the next day, free of charge. Okay, we were running out of time.

And then, with maybe 15 minutes before we had to pack up, something nibbled Nancy’s line. She set the hook and reeled it in. It was cute. It was tiny. It was too small to keep. So we went back to fishing and now, with merely five minutes to go, Nancy got another one (I was busy taking pictures). Again she hooked it. Again she reeled. Again it came up. And this time it was over a foot long, one of the stocked fish, holding a good pound of edible meat. A keeper. Campbell filleted the fish and delivered it to us later that day.

As for the cooking part, we removed what tiny bones remained, cut the fish so it lay flat, tossed it into a frying pan with lots of butter, garlic, a bit of salt and a splash of lime juice. Even I, someone who joyfully eats but doesn’t necessarily cook fish, did a yummy job.

Next year, Campbell said, he will have a permit to fish on Paul Lake, which is stocked with landlocked sockeye salmon, called Kokanee in these parts. He’ll be making salmon sashimi for those who want it and cooking lunch. Nancy and I WILL be back.

Resources for Sun Peaks Resort 

Sun Peaks’ winter season usually runs from mid November to mid-April. In addition to its 135 ski trails across three mountains with its 4,270 acres of skiing and 2,891-foot vertical drop, there’s a long list of non-ski activities.

For general information – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com

* Mountain Man Dog Sled Tours – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/dog-sled-tours
* Guided Ice Fishing – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/guided-ice-fishing

For other non ski activities:
* Bungee trampoline – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/bungee-trampoline
* Fat Cycling on snowy trails – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/fat-biking
* Midweek fondue dinner, where skiers come down at night but non-skiers can ride the lift or a Snow Limo down – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/alpine-fondue-starlight-descent
* Guided Ice Fishing – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/guided-ice-fishing
* Horse drawn sleigh ride – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/horse-drawn-sleigh-rides
* Ice skating – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/skating-rink
* Skibike – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/skibike
* Snowmobile tours – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/snowmobiling
* Snowshoe rental and tours – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/snowshoe-rentals-tours
* Tube park – https://www.sunpeaksresort.com/events-things-to-do/winter-activities/tube-park

How I came to break my foot right before a big ski trip

Ouch! It was a break, definitely not just a sprain.

Ok, we’re told time and time again – if you are tired skiing, DON’T do that last run. Stop and head for the hot chocolate. And of course, nobody does this. Including me.

How many times had I done “just one more” and yes, even another. So I WAS tired. It was snowing. It was foggy. And then, when one more curve would have brought me literally within site of the lodge, I caught an edge. And I was too pooped to save myself. Next thing I knew, I was on my back. My right ski lying somewhere else in the snow and the other leg bent awkwardly. Of course, it was a ski cliche.

My ski buddy came up and got my left ski off. I was sure that was the injury but knew enough not to try and stand. So we called the patrol. They came, strapped me into a toboggan and down we went. Me, head first, on my back. If I could have gotten to my cell phone, I would have videoed the trip down. The view was like being in a soupy blender.

At the lodge, we got my boots off and decided the injury was to my right ankle… probably a bad sprain. I went home, actually driving myself. And went to a business event in downtown Seattle that night. Driving. In the rain. I still thought it was just a sprain. Two days later, I gave up and went to a doctor. Indeed, it was not a sprain. It was a break. He called it a distal fracture. All these years skiing, all these crashes and I had never broken anything before. And this was an ankle. I didn’t know that was even possible with modern ski boot tech. Ankle breaks are the stuff of 1950’s ski lodge pictures… a guy in front of the fireplace with his leg in a cast, resting on a pillow. But, I had just left a message for my boot fitter days before, saying my boots were getting loose. He came back into town and said, yup, we should work on them. And also, yup, you certainly can break an ankle today skiing. He’s got three pins and a plate in his ankle to prove it.

My medical boot, nicknamed Igor.

The good news is I was not in a cast, not on crutches, didn’t need surgery. I was just wearing a medical boot (I named it Igor) for eight weeks. The bad news – my ski season was over three days after it began. Yeah, at age 73 I don’t bounce like I used to. And yeah, I’m grateful it wasn’t a knee. Ankles heal. Knees are another matter.

Here are the lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Don’t get sloppy about your gear. If you think your boots need re-fitting or your bindings need a check or your skis need tuning, do it NOW.
2. If you just want to do “one more run” and you are really tired, DON’T.
3. Don’t assume you know what the injury is but if it’s swollen and getting black and blue, it may very well be a break. GET AN XRAY. SEE A DOCTOR.
4. And don’t grind your teeth too much. Get back into the gym or on your bike or walking or whatever when you can and get back into shape.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Yvette’s article on Sun Peaks Resort for Non-Skiers.

Hungry for more? Yvette knows A LOT about British Columbia. Here’s her article about Where to Eat, and her article on Prawn Fishing.