Trip: 2024 Sun Peaks, Kamloops
Accommodation: Woodhaven https://woodhaven.traveleto.com/index.php
In: Mon. Feb 9 Out: Fri. Feb 12
4 nights
U-Drive or Ride Share.
Victoria Alpine Ski Club
Sun Peaks 2024
How much bluebird is too much bluebird?
After passing over Sun Peaks for a couple of years the club decided to run a `short interior trip’
to this great resort for the Winter 2024 season. Sixteen members came together from Feb 12
to Feb 16 for a 4-day, sun-filled break from the unseasonably warm coastal air that’s giving us
such a crappy ski season this year. Arrival day, Monday, local skiers and lucky visitors woke to
sunshine and 10 cm of new interior powder. While most of us arrived too late for fresh tracks,
from the evidence left behind and verbal reports this was one of the better days for Sun Peaks
this season. Four club members who had booked parallel accommodation starting on Sunday
caught the dump and were duly rewarded for arriving a few hours ahead of the main pack!
Tuesday morning dawned – sunny -- with a cooling trend setting in. On and off-piste was
superb right out of the gate that morning – none of this `let’s wait until it softens up’ nonsense
we typically deal with on the coast. There were plenty of little stashes around for fresh lines if
you took the time to look for them. Grooming at Sun Peaks is international-first-class with
plenty of blue and light-black corduroy that stood up to the relatively light skier load well into
the morning. Lunch in the Annex or at Crystal Lodge is popular for the brown baggers and the
cafeteria crowd alike. Temps start dropping at about 3pm when many areas fall into shade. By
3:30-ish most skiers were back at condos heading for the hot tub as the evening crept in.
Tuesday night was the trip potluck with the usual amazing spread of yummy dishes and
decadent treats – Ardene D.’s little squares were a personal highlight. The four club refugees
(Rob D., Mick T., Steven H. and Richard B.) joined us making it a solid 20-strong VASC party --
almost like the old days.
Sun Peaks is a big resort (second largest in Canada, with 4,300 skiable acres, compared to WB at
8100 acres). The relatively light guest load and simple layout makes it easy to keep big groups
together, join your pals for lunch, switch mountains, then switch again, and so on. Kind of the
opposite of WB. Our accommodation was again in the Woodhaven complex, fast becoming a
club favourite. These are well-maintained 3-story condos that comfortably sleep 8 or 9 (yes,
some upper bunks, but decent ones) and large outdoor hot tubs. Kitchens are spacious and
well-appointed. There are plenty of bathrooms and an actual laundry room which is handy for
those joining from longer tours or if the weather turns wet. If you didn’t get a chance to ride
Burfield chair this trip, make a note for next time as it is purported to be the longest
conventional chair in the world (https://liftblog.com/burfield-sun-peaks-bc/) at nearly 10,000
feet and 21 minutes to ride, bottom to top. And almost in our backyard, so to speak!
Wednesday dawned sunny again. Colder, at minus 13C for the early risers, but the dry interior
air and relative calm kept it comfortable. A few of us were getting hungry for more fresh lines,
but they were becoming harder to find three days after the last snowfall. A bit of boot packing
and snooping around by Harald R., Saurabh R., Leslie F. and yours-truly yielded some decent
lines up in Gil’s meadow and a neat little boot pack called ‘mid-mountain’ accessed through a
little hidey-hole at the bottom of Toilet Bowl (keeping things vague here, on purpose). Once
again, the grooming crew had worked their magic overnight so there was plenty for the
corduroy lovers and even the chopped up off-piste was decent and holding up in the cooler
temps.
Thursday. Another bluebird day darn-it! Cooler temps still; more boot packing and corduroy
shredding to be had well into the afternoon. A group that was on a longer Silver Star/Sun Peaks
mash-up left mid-day, but really didn’t miss anything new. Yes, more glorious sunshine, but
slowly deteriorating snow conditions (late afternoon in the shade on Three Bears and Peek-a-
Boo was downright icy). A warm and generous shared dinner at the ladies’ condo helped us
clear out excess food and trade stories as we started to pack up for the Friday departure.
Nobody lift-skied Friday, but Leslie F. and yours truly tried a little Nordic skiing before noon
checkout. I got bigtime payback from the Norse gods who must have heard me dissing crosscountry
on multiple occasions. Suffice it to say I fell more times in 2 hours of Nordic than a full
season of downhill. Seriously humbled, I am. Ouch.
Other than wounded pride, there were no substantial injuries this week, a happy trend on
recent trips. One exception: a kind of VASC own-goal affair where Donna K. tangled with Terry
C. just off Sunburst near the entrance to Caribou. Both walked away. Fingers crossed for
upcoming trips.
I want to thank all participants for taking the initiative to join the trip last Fall and for being so
easy-going during the week and throughout the lead-up to the event, our third trip of 5 this
season. Hope to see many of you at Red Mountain in a few weeks, Trip 4.
Chris B.
SunPeaks24 trip coordinator.
U
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Two possible scenarios from our Sun Peaks trip:
1) Happy Face: I’m at Sun Peaks and there’s fresh powder
2) Unhappy Face: I waited too long and I missed my spot
Be number #1.....Don't miss out - Early Bird price ends at Midnight, Nov. 7
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Chris B, Trip Coordinator/Director:
For more information: victoriaskiclub@gmail.com
The fine print:
Know before you go: before purchase, please take a few minutes to review our cancellation/ refund policies under the ‘Forms ’tab on our website.
"Trip Cancellation and Refund policy" and
"Trip Cancellation Policy COVID Addition"
Why? Because we pre-pay the accommodation providers and our ability to refund cancelled spots on any trip is limited – unless we can re-sell that spot.
We encourage guests to look at buying private trip insurance as a safeguard.
