Discover the Magic of Silver Star this Winter
Packed with Powder-Filled Adventures
Festivals, Epic Culinary Experiences and Live Music Return this Season
Destination Silver Star is delighted to welcome the world to the North Okanagan’s undiscovered treasure located on the Shuswap Highland of the Monashee Mountain range. The resort enjoyed an early opening thanks to an already impressive snowfall of 244cm (average annual is 700cm+). Silver Star offers diverse terrain and an impressive bucket list of winter activities to discover. Powder-filled adventures aside, the schedule is packed with all kinds of mountain, recreation, art, cultural activities and events to look forward to this winter. It all kicks off this weekend with the annual Light Up ceremony, BC Winter Games torch lighting and the opening of the mountain’s newest fine dining Italian restaurant, D’Argento, on December 10.
Silver Star Winter Festivals Line Up:
December 10 – Silver Star Light Up and BC Winter Games Torch Lighting
Lights, fire, action! The annual Light Up celebration is a community tradition that kicks off winter with an illuminating and festive light display. This year’s event features fireworks, fire dancers, the Polson Artisan Christmas market and more. Festivities will be all the more special with the addition of the BC Winter Games Torch lighting ceremony.
February 3 to 5 – Winter Carnival: Reconnecting in the North Okanagan
Winter Carnival in February will see the addition of new programming from the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. 7 Celebrations – Reconnecting in the Thompson Okanagan is an invitation to revisit the sights, sounds, people and culture through a region-wide celebration. The Winter Carnival celebrations connect visitors to North Okanagan culture via live performances, interactive experiences, local food, ice sculpting, and artisan markets.
March 9 to 12 – Peak Pride
The hugely popular Peak Pride event is back at Silver Star in 2023. It’s a long weekend of fun events, colourful displays and friendship. Produced by the Rebellious Unicorns to celebrate supportive and inclusive environments, this sell-out event promises to be one of the best weekends of the winter.
March 23 to 26 – BC Winter Games
BC Winter Games will have athletic achievement on full display this March as Silver Star and the Greater Vernon area co-host the games. The four-day event brings BC’s emerging high performance athletes together for healthy competition as a stepping stone toward higher level sport competitions.
March – SEISMIC Festival
A celebration of sport, mountain culture, and community. The spring mountain festival is meant to bring together everyone from sport, business, art, culture, and the community to experience unforgettable moments on the slopes before the winter ski season comes to an end in mid-April.
April 1 to 2 – Sovereign2SilverStar Ski Marathon
The second annual marathon that was thirty years in the making is expected to have 1,000 passionate cross-country registrants from all corners of the globe. The event is a point-to-party event with two of everything: two styles (classic and free), two distances each day (42km and 21km), and two ski areas (start at Sovereign Lake and finish on Main Street of SilverStar village).
Winter Adventure Awaits
Silver Star’s seemingly bottomless champagne powder promises snow sport lovers the best time ever – from skiing and snowboarding to tubing, skating, fat biking, and snowshoeing. There’s a reason Canadian ski pioneers, Olympians, and world champions across the globe call Silver Star home. SilverStar Mountain Resort is home to MY1PASS, the inclusive ticket that provides access to seven activities: downhill skiing, cross country skiing (XC), night skiing, tubing, snowshoeing, skating and fat biking. Prices start at $95+GST and can be bought here.
Discover the most expansive cross-country trail network in North America with 105km of nordic trails that connect the top of SilverStar Mountain Resort to Sovereign Lake down in the subalpine below. Cross country skiers can progress skills while exploring the largest continuous groomed XC trail network and rub shoulders with elite athletes at two industry-leading Nordic venues. The area has a reputation for being one of North America’s top Nordic skiing destinations on the international circuit. Protip: Get a fondue to-go from Isidore’s and hit the trails for a night adventure to a warming hut for a uniquely Silver Star experience.
SIlver Star Mountain Resort is fun for the whole family, one where parents often say ”kids can just be kids.” With less crowding, wide open runs, and easy-to-navigate terrain, parents and kids of all ages can swoosh and glide down the mountain at their own pace. New this year and even easier for parents managing busy schedules – complimentary early drop-off and late child pick up for snow school. Aprés-ski families will also enjoy tubing at Tube Town, skating on Brewer’s Pond (a 2.5-acre natural ice rink), and mini snowmobiling. Silver Star is home to an array of uniquely themed family-friendly dining establishments, ranging from grab-and-go eateries to sit-down meals with kids’ menus. Plus, ski-in/ski-out accommodation is a dream for parents.
Woofs of fun at Silver Star, four-legged friends are most definitely invited.
Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre offers a pooch pass with the “Zuma’s” trails dedicated to the four-legged family members who aim to keep up with their XC humans. Experience the beauty and depth of SilverStar Mountain Resort on snowshoes with pups alongside. The multi-use 16km of dog-friendly trails make the mountain accessible for as many folks (and four-legged friends) as possible. Over at Silver Star Provincial Park, there is a section of trails where snowshoeing is free and dogs are allowed.
*Note – While Sovereign Lake has XC dog friendly trails, snowshoeing with pups here is a no go.
Silver Star is magic, an adoring term often used by locals to describe Silver Star’s unique blend of adventure, charm and quirkiness. Whether it’s being whisked away on a snow cat to a luxurious dinner at Paradise Camp atop the mountain, gliding through boot-deep powder on some of the best terrain on the mountain on newly reopened Alder Point, sampling Okanagan cuisine at one of eighteen eateries, easing sore muscles at Elevate Spa, visiting Canada’s highest art gallery,, picking up a game of ice hockey on Brewer’s Pond, or enjoying s’mores at the community fire pit – one thing is for certain, planning a ski trip to this gem of a resort is a must this winter.
Silver Star is only 22km from Vernon and 65km from Kelowna airport, making it the fastest Okanagan ski resort to access from YLW.
About Destination Silver Star
Centrally located in the heart of BC’s Okanagan Valley rests Silver Star Mountain in the Monashee Mountain Range. The vibrant village is a beacon for adventure in the mountains and the people are its heart and soul. Big ideas and boundless energy inspired by the “Silver Queen’’ mine and first ski turns in the early 1930s. Nearly a century later, the same spirit is championing a thriving destination resort on the cusp of its next chapter.
Founded in 2021, Destination Silver Star is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization representing accommodations, attractions, restaurants, retail and homeowners.
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Media release and images provided by Krista Lochhead, Hatch Hospitality.
