Successful opening weekend at Sun Peaks

SUN PEAKS, B.C. — The snow-making machines at Sun Peaks are working overtime as the resort opened for the season over the weekend.

“It was an interesting start from a weather perspective. We had really good early snow a few weeks ago,” Aidan Kelly, chief marketing officer for Sun Peaks Resort, said. “Last week, we definitely had an inversion which means the conditions are actually a bit better on the lower mountain than they are on the upper mountain.”

Skiers from all over the province and parts of the United States came out for the first run of the season.

According to Kelly, Saturday’s opening included all three mountains, eight lifts and more than 20 runs.

“As far as openings go for mid-November, that’s pretty good,” Kelly told CFJC News. “Lots of smiling faces around here. People are pretty excited to be back out on the mountains again — a bit of a different vibe compared to what we’ve seen the last couple of years.”

He said, after two years of pandemic restrictions and last year’s atmospheric river washing out highway travel, everyone seems a lot happier this season.

Despite less-than-ideal conditions leading up to the resort’s opening, Kelly is optimistic this week’s forecast will make for some gnarly powder.

“All in all, we view it as a really successful start to the year and [it] sets us up for a really good winter season ahead,” Kelly said.