feature - Kick-start your winter

Kick-start your winter

NOVEMBER 2006 — VOLUME 4 ISSUE 11

It’s never too early to start preparing for the ski and snowboard season.

With mornings getting frosty and mountaintops covered with snow, many enthusiasts are getting their gear ready for what the Farmer’s Almanac predicts to be a winter with above normal snowfall—music to any skier’s ears. Sun Peaks is gearing up for the upcoming season too, with an array of new services and events lined up.

The return of the Austrian National Ski Team for pre-season training will mark the inauguration of the new Elevation chairlift on Tod Mountain. The quad chair, an 8-minute ride from the bottom of the Cariboo Run to the top of the Sunburst Chair, should improve the resort experience, as Corey Wiwchar, internet supervisor at Sun Peaks Resort Corporation explains in his “What the Blog” chronicle at www.sunpeaksresort.com.

“The Elevation Chair will decrease Sunburst and Sundance lift line times during peak periods,” notes Wiwchar. “It will increase safety for beginners on the 5 Mile run by allowing skiers and boarders the option to head back up to the top without having to go down the 5 Mile.” In addition to the new chairlift, Sun Peaks will see an expansion of its terrain with four new intermediate runs on the lower part of the Orient Ridge. The latest runs to be cut resemble some of the terrain on Mt. Morrisey—speckled with tree islands deep in powder snow. As well, the Rambler run on Sundance Mountain will be widened to offer a larger novice teaching terrain. Both enhancements will provide easier access to the new East Village and Mt. Morrisey.

The terrain park will also see some transformation. Toby Ianson, this year’s new terrain park lead hand, explains that even though the budget was very limited, he was able to bring about some changes that will improve the park, benefiting both beginners and advanced riders.

“We were able to purchase three new rails,” says Ianson, “and we’ll also be building a big quarter pipe that will lead up to a wall ride.”

Ianson will be assisted this winter by one other resort staff member and a team of 14 volunteers, and plans to put the resort’s new Park Bully groomer to good use.

“The whole team is really stoked about the terrain park. We’ll be doing a lot of hand work which will permit us to be more accurate with the standards, and the groomer will allow us to maintain the park better by providing higher quality features,” enthuses Ianson.

The alpine terrain isn’t the only part of the resort that will see developments this upcoming season. Sun Peaks real estate will see two new developments added to the market in the late fall or beginning of the winter. Realtor Bill Hanrahan and his team at RE/MAX Alpine Resort Realty Corp. will be listing homes in the new developments.

“We expect a more or less similar year to last year, which was very successful,” says Hanrahan. “We’ve had a strong response to new products offered—Phase 2 of Lookout Ridge, a residential lot subdivision will be introduced, as well as the Bridge Gate development situated on the 15th fairway in the East Village,” Hanrahan adds.

When asked whether he feels the cost of housing will rise or remain stable, Hanrahan notes that he expects to see a modest increase on each project as the resort grows. With champagne snow, mild weather and plenty of things to do, this winter season is going to be the best Sun Peaks has seen yet.

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