SilverStar, BC

[RacehorseStu]

Back at school after a short trip to Sovereign Lake/SilverStar. My timing was good - rain that had closed the xc trails after a brief opening, but by the 15th that had given way to snow again. Sovereign Lake is steadily opening more trails, there are enough groomed now for a good day of skiing. You can check conditions at https://www.sovereignlake.com/conditions/trail-report/

What got me REALLY excited was the snow on the SilverStar side of the mountain. According to Troy at the nordic centre the downhill runs are still a week away from opening BUT there is definitely enough snow on the runs to get in some fantastic nordic BC turns. The cross-country Super Camp (master blaster orgy) is on right now which means they're grooming a lot of the trails that run across the mountain. These make for really nice ways to get up closer to the top of runs. After skiing across the mountain you can work your way higher up whichever run you want, this just means packing in a pretty steep track - almost too steep for fishscales. The snow up the mountain is fantastic though. Lots of depth and light enough for effortless turns. Alternately, you can hop off the groomed trails and ski the lower half of the mountain. If you do this, beware that the snow towards the bottom of the lifts gets really wet and heavy. This makes you have to really fight for the turns, and the ski back up through wet unpacked snow will be....character building.

The best part of it all - you'll be the only person on the runs. In 2 hours of skiing I got in 3 or 4 laps. Anyone in the Okanagan who wants to get in some backcountry nordic skiing in should check out SilverStar before they start running the lifts.

Wish I had taken some photos or videos...if I don't get the chance to go up to Cape Breton later this year that may have been my best ski day already done.

Skis: Rossignol BC110
Bindings: Voile 3-pin cable
Boots: Heierling leathers (thrift store treasures)

Afterword:
Turns out my dad did the xc Super Camp at SilverStar in the 80's...I had no idea it had been running that long! Would love to hear if anyone else has stories of the Camp from back before I was around!