Silver Star

The small, purpose-built resort of Silver Star has slopes for all, but its compact size means it is worth combining this resort with a stay at a nearby ski area.

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Current conditions:

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15%Easy

40%Beginner

35%Intermediate

10%Advanced

Vertical drop

Pistes

Runs

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Terrain by difficulty

Located just outside of the town of Vernon in British Columbia, Silver Star is a compact ski area offering great variety and is one of Canada’s best places to learn to ski powder.

Getting here does require a long drive from Calgary or Vancouver, or a short internal flight to Kelowna, but once in the resort, the quality of the snow and the varied terrain will more than make up for this. In the form of Powder Gulch, Silver Star is home to one of the best ski bowls and tree skiing in BC.

You could stay down in the town of Vernon, but we’d recommend basing yourself up in the resort village itself. It has been tastefully designed to resemble a 19th Century mining town, has some great amenities and is very family-friendly.

Unusually it sits at mid-mountain level, so the ski in ski out convenience is excellent.

Beginner
Fast lifts
Intermediate
Resort Activities
Advanced
Aprés
Snow
Value

Pros and cons

Excellent snow record and lots of light powder
Powder Gulch is a large varied bowl filled with great tree skiing
Village is at mid-mountain making both the start and end of the day very simple to navigate

Small resort village and it is quiet at night
No bowl skiing above the treeline here
Hard to get to – you’ll want to visit here as part of a multi-resort trip

On the Slopes

The Silver Queen learning area is a great place for first timers to start out.

Progression on to longer greens is then excellent – every lift has a top to bottom green run and there are some great blues located off the recently built gondola. On piste challenges can be found in Powder Gulch – ask ski patrol each morning what has been freshly groomed to get the best of the crisp, steep corduroy.

Off the sides of the runs and in the glades lies Silver Star’s best terrain however. After fresh snowfall, the fairly mellow gradient and protection from the trees makes this a great place to develop your powder skills even if visibility is bad, as the trees provide good definition in a white out. You are slightly struggling here for very steep runs (the mountain is not like Whistler or Revelstoke), but on a powder day all but the most expert skiers and boarders will enjoy the terrain.

Total Pistes: 3282 acres
Beginner: 15%
Intermediate: 40%
Advanced: 35%
Expert: 10%
Lifts: 7
Altitude: 1155m – 1915m

In the Resort

The resort was tastefully developed to resemble an old Canadian mining town and its traffic-free centre is a great place to stroll around after a day on the slopes. There are some bars and restaurants to choose from, but a lot of accommodation is in self-catered condos, so the atmosphere in the evenings is generally quiet. Alternatively you could base yourself in the town of Vernon down in the valley, which has a greater choice of dining options.
Cross country skiing is a big attraction here and there are some excellent groomed trails at Sovereign Lake just below the resort.

Getting to Silver Star

Getting here is tricky, involving two flights to get to Kelowna (one hour away) or long drives from Calgary (seven hours) and Vancouver (six hours). We’d therefore recommend coming here as part of a Canadian roadtrip, taking in other resorts such as Banff, Whistler or Big_White.

Kelowna airport: 1 hour
Calgary airport: 7 hours
Vancouver airport: 6 hours