Base tops out in mid March most years. More sunshine, longer days, milder temps. Down side is there is a lot of south aspect at SS, so sun affect and refreeze is more widespread than some resorts. Pretty darn nice though.
Silver Star has a cool intermingling of alpine and XC trails. Never really seen anything else like it. You can even buy a single ride ticket to the top of the mountain and ski the high elevation XC trails for a while before downloading or skiing down. Better yet, the ride to the top is in a gondola, so light XC clothing is fine and you won't shiver like you would riding a chairlift.
Had a nice weekend at SS. Dry spell ended as I arrived, could feel lots of melt-freeze from sun affect in the base. But then 8-10 cm in an hour and a half blanked most of that out, never fails to surprise me. More snow Sunday morning so we had minor tracks all morning. My friends from Vernon showed me a few lines I hadn't seen before - I didn't know about the long, long beginner trees of Deer Park and BX. Would have loved to have terrain like that back in my teaching days. Best black run of the trip: Freefall. Best ripper: Lone Star. Best deal: two day reciprocal pass with Apex. Sign waiver, show pass and ID, away you go. No taxes or admin fees, zero dollars.
@EquatorBunny . Please PM me about Silver star. Once I get back from a Trekking Trip in Morocco and start getting back into fitness training in Late April 2020 for the 2020 Ozstriyan XC ski season then I will be looking at doing a XC ski trip to North America in Jan. 2021. The sort of trip you have done to Silver Star in Jan. 2020 seems to be my kind of thing. I want to know about self catering arrangements and accommodation options as well as the ideal time span to spend there i.e. a week or two of XC skiing 20 kms a day until I have almost skied myself to bits.
Thought you had a girlfriend in NY state or thereabouts. Some good xc options in that area. But Silver Star sounds great. I think some EMC/Ajays staff have been over there (again). NVS.
I am off to Morocco next month but yes I do have a GF in NYC and she has invited me to visit her and stay at her place. I am thinking of some indoor sport ;-P in NYC, a XC ski trip to Lake Placid as well as a XC ski visit to Silver Star and a tourist trip to SF and Mendocino in CA. These are ideas that will be better explored once I get back to Ozstriya in late April and get fit for our XC ski season.
Run out after the trees was so shreddable we went back a couple of times. Dug some serious trench in the S turns under the bridge.
My ripper was FIS to running on empty and down to Silverwoods nonstop top to bottom. Lonestar is now called Jimmys home run.
I'll PM you re SS. It was a great trip for us, even having to deal with a 14-month old while trying to ski 20km daily
Silverstar just announced that the mountain will be closed for a week. Those thinking of coming to Canada check before you leave, it is getting very uncertain.
I dont know about that. Most of them seem to be at least 1.5 to 2m apart. The foreshortening in the top photo makes it seem worse than it is.
Bit of a long shot but does anyone know someone with a property/rental at SS they won't be able to use this season due to the travel ban? I'm looking for a season long rental option up on the hill.
Check out the Silverstar Facebook page. Season rentals tend to get snapped up quickly by Canadians. Good luck getting there if you are not already in Canada. Season passes sold out and restrictions on number of skiers will be in force.
Sad alright, I am getting to the end of my ski life, not getting any younger, cannot afford to miss a season.
A good time (post Covid) to take a ski sabbatical? Manage a lodge, just ski for 2-3 hrs on the best days. Not do this mad punter thing, dashing to lifts for a long day (well we do in Melbourne). By ones mid 50s it’s exhausting after a few weekends. just a thought, it’s about skiing smarter not harder. FWIW: Have never liked skiing against a clock or Counting runs per day... good luck KD.
This is what he does anyway....skis the best conditions on the best runs and really enjoys them. Then back to the lodge for soup, coffee and 1st person shooter games for the afternoon.
Yes, first lift 8:30, coffee at Paradise Camp 9:45,ski until lunch, maybe longer if there has been a good snowfall then time for a Nana's nap.