As I expected my digestive disorder was temporary and I was ready to ski again Sunday. I decided to stay out of trouble by skiing with the local Sun Guide snowhosts. They were quite excited by the 4 inches of new snow and spent the early morning in lightly tracked runs, occasionally dipping into the trees on either side. After lunch we skied a circuit covering all 3 mountains. Weather was overcast and temps in the 15F range.
The 2 main mountains (Sunburst and Sundance) are south facing above the village base, but everything was packed powder Sunday with no hint of hard or crusty subsurfaces. In midwinter the cold temps and frequent cloud cover preserve the snow just as well up there as north exposure does here in the U.S. I have observed this same weather and conditions with south exposure at Lake Louise, Big White and The Big Mountain. The new mountain (Morrissey, opened 3 years ago) is on the other side of the village and faces north. All 3 are primarily intermediate in pitch, but with a few steeper lines.
Above Sunburst is Tod Mountain (the original name of the ski area) which has maybe 700 vertical above timberline. This area was fogged in Sunday so the guides didn't go up there. The Tod alpine is also accessible from the Burfield chair, which takes 22 minutes to climb about 2,700 vertical. Burfield will eventually be split into 2 chairs probably also upgraded to high speed.
On Monday it warmed up to the 20's early morning and around freezing by noon when I had to leave to catch my flight. I headed directly to the alpine, which was now below the clouds but was raked by strong crosswinds. The winds played havoc with the alpine snow, which varied from turn to turn among pack, loose sift and breakable crust. The lower half of Burfield is Sun Peaks most difficult terrain, so I skied Challenger to sample that. The snow down there was thick but easier to manage than the alpine. As I reached the bottom of Burfield the snow became heavier with the warmer temps despite it still being overcast. So, as one of the Sunday guides alluded, by March the south exposure can affect the snow conditions.
I have similar impression here as with my visits to Big White and Silver Star in 1999. All of these are outstanding family resorts with uncrowded slopes and nearly all the lodging has ski-in-ski-out convenience. And prices are still much less than the popular (and busier) Colorado areas along I-70 with similar terrain. SunPeaks is definitely the biggest with 3000+ acres, probably as much terrain as Big White and Silver Star combined. Big White gets the most snow of the 3. Silver Star's strength is the backside north facing Putnam Creek, which is comparable to Telluride's chair 9. Steep fall lines are shorter at Big White and less favorably exposed at Sun Peaks.
The 2 main mountains (Sunburst and Sundance) are south facing above the village base, but everything was packed powder Sunday with no hint of hard or crusty subsurfaces. In midwinter the cold temps and frequent cloud cover preserve the snow just as well up there as north exposure does here in the U.S. I have observed this same weather and conditions with south exposure at Lake Louise, Big White and The Big Mountain. The new mountain (Morrissey, opened 3 years ago) is on the other side of the village and faces north. All 3 are primarily intermediate in pitch, but with a few steeper lines.
Above Sunburst is Tod Mountain (the original name of the ski area) which has maybe 700 vertical above timberline. This area was fogged in Sunday so the guides didn't go up there. The Tod alpine is also accessible from the Burfield chair, which takes 22 minutes to climb about 2,700 vertical. Burfield will eventually be split into 2 chairs probably also upgraded to high speed.
On Monday it warmed up to the 20's early morning and around freezing by noon when I had to leave to catch my flight. I headed directly to the alpine, which was now below the clouds but was raked by strong crosswinds. The winds played havoc with the alpine snow, which varied from turn to turn among pack, loose sift and breakable crust. The lower half of Burfield is Sun Peaks most difficult terrain, so I skied Challenger to sample that. The snow down there was thick but easier to manage than the alpine. As I reached the bottom of Burfield the snow became heavier with the warmer temps despite it still being overcast. So, as one of the Sunday guides alluded, by March the south exposure can affect the snow conditions.
I have similar impression here as with my visits to Big White and Silver Star in 1999. All of these are outstanding family resorts with uncrowded slopes and nearly all the lodging has ski-in-ski-out convenience. And prices are still much less than the popular (and busier) Colorado areas along I-70 with similar terrain. SunPeaks is definitely the biggest with 3000+ acres, probably as much terrain as Big White and Silver Star combined. Big White gets the most snow of the 3. Silver Star's strength is the backside north facing Putnam Creek, which is comparable to Telluride's chair 9. Steep fall lines are shorter at Big White and less favorably exposed at Sun Peaks.
