Cross-country Ski - Silver Star Provincial Park

On Thursday we drove from Seattle to Vernon, BC, stopping along the way to ski a few hours on the trails at the Overlander Ski Club south of Kamloops. Snow there was thin but cold and the skiing and trails were fun.

On Friday we skied at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club, a 25 minute drive from Vernon. A stellar day of skiing: the trails, the snow, the grooming, the huts, all were a delight.

Saturday we skied at SilverStar Mountain Resort, adjacent to and connected  with Sovereign Lake's trail system (together, the two areas have 105 km of groomed trails). A Nordic day pass at SilverStar includes two trips on the gondola to the top of Silver Star Mtn.; in the morning we used our gondola ride to ski the upper trails, and in the afternoon we used our second ride to ski from the top down to Sovereign Lake and then around the base of the mountain back to SilverStar. This made for another day of fun and interesting skiing, with some views from the top.

Sunday we returned to Sovereign Lake for a morning of skiing in heavy snowfall.

We left feeling that the skiing in Silver Star Park was entirely worth the drive, we would like to return, and Vernon made a good base.

Driving conditions were generally good except on Coquihalla Pass (between Hope and Merritt) where, on the drive up, snowfall and snow and ice on the road made for  overturned cars and trucks and jack-knifed semis; drivers should be prepared for the possibility of challenging driving conditions at Coquihalla.