 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Snowheads, I am thinking of doing a tour of a small part of British Columbia next march. I wondered if any one had skied any of these resorts. Big White, Sun peaks, Silver Star. What did you think of them? Any good aparthotels? I skied Kimberly, Lake Louise, sunshine, and Mount Norquay, last year. I loved the isolation of Kimberly both on and off the mountain. The back bowls of Lake Louise were great. Sunshine was good,Norquay every run the same, but great grooming.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We have been going back to Silver Star and Big White every year since 2000. Great skiing, great people, quite slopes. Great grooming if that's your thing, and great non-groomed as well- and _lots_ of glades. We usually stay in Putnam Inn at Silver Star, and the Inn or Chateux at Big White (Inn has a pool). If you are going for 2 weeks, then it costs into buy a season pass before 18th September.
Sun Peaks we're not been to since Mt Morrissey was opened. Was a bit tame before then, but a friend has emigrated there this year and tells us that Morrissey has transformed the resort. [A different friend has become Vicar at Red Mountain this year - but that's another story!]
The first trip we did over that way was Big White->Apex->Sun Peaks->Silver Star: a hell of an intro to the Okanagan.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Other hotel style options at Silver Star are Vance Creek/Silver Creek/Chilcoot (collectively known as Silver Star Club Resort) at Silver Star - which are a little less quirky (but IMHO less fun) than Putnam Station. Best place to drink is Long John's (or downstairs in Putnam if you want a quieter type of ambience). Look out for the various specials/buffet nights at the different hotels, usually pretty good value.
At Big White the other main hotel, not mentioned by RobW is the White Crystal. White Crystal has the nicest bar of the BW hotels, and is the easiest to ski back to during the day if you need to - also one of the best places for a lunch stop. Best place to eat in the evenings isn't actually in any of the hotels, but upstairs in Snowshoe Sams (also best bar/pub in the resort downstairs, with decent bar food). Upstairs in Sams don't miss the gunbarrel coffee.
If you want any more info about BW or the Star, do ask - after several years as season pass holders at both we know them pretty well.
AS RobW says - look into the early bird season passes, as you'll also get a discount on accomodation booked through the resort central reservations (10% I think) if you're a season pass holder.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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RobW, Okanagan, Thank you for your advice, sounds just like I imagined. I also looked at apex whats that like?thanks again Clive 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Apex is smaller, and definately no frills - probably wouldn't justify more than a couple of days stay. Best place to stay is Sheeprock Lodge or Saddleback Lodge is also nice. Skiing tends to be a bit of the green or black variety - there are a couple of trails which meander round the hill, and various points to take short cuts from top to bottom - the nearer to the lift the steeper they are.
When are you thinking of going Clive?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Okanagan, Having been to kimberly and Banff in Januaury last year -26 some days. I thought March might be a bit warmer. 
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clive ward, the Okanagan Valley resorts are generally quite a bit warmer than the Banff area (and quite a bit less prone to rain than Whistler come to that). Typically in late Jan/early Feb it would be unusual to get anything less than about -10 during the day. And more often it's only a couple of degrees below by mid morning. Rarely goes above zero then though, which it may well do in late March.
Typical Weather conditions for the area:
Vernon - town below Silver Star
Kelowna, nearest town to Big White
Kamloops, nearest town to Sun Peaks
Compare these to
Banff
e.g. Vernon in January has an average daily max/min of -1.6/-6.7
Banff in January has an average daily max/min of -4.6/-14.1
Obviously a bit colder on the mountains though!
Loads more data - down to day to day figures - available from the Canadaian Weather Office
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