Silver Star Mountain Resort is a small mountain village set in one of the most beautiful parts of British Columbia, Canada and only an hour away from Kelowna Airport.
When I first began researching Silver Star Mountain Resort for mine and Mya’s next adventure I had an enormous amount of people recommending trails, and telling me about how great the skiing and snowboarding is. What no one told me about was that the one thing you remember most from your trip wouldn’t be the snow or the ski trails – instead, it would be the people.
When Mya and I first arrived and walked into the village, we ran into a local who was working there for the season. As we’d only just arrived, she offered to walk us to the office. At this point in time I thought she was just a really nice person, but as the afternoon went on, I met more and more really friendly and hospitable people. Before long I realised that this resort was, by far, the most welcoming community we have come across to date.
Accomodation
While I’m more than happy to share the doona with Mya at night (Figuratively speaking – Mya isn’t allowed in my bed), coming from Australia it can be tricky at times to find a hotel that is just as willing. Luckily for us, the friendly crew at the Vance Creek Hotel were absolutely pawsome in accommodating furry guests – even blowing Mya away with a pet welcome pack, filled with dog bowls and treats upon check in. Oh, and Mya would want me to note that there’s a cosy fireplace that she enjoyed snuggling up next to. The hotel offers pet friendly self-contained one and two bedroom units right in the centre of the ski village, making it super easy to ski right out your front door of a morning, and join in all the activities at night.
Activities
When I heard Silver Star offered fat-biking as a snow activity, I decided it was something Mya and I should definitely give a go – after all, it allowed me to combine several passions of mine; the snow, dogs and mountain bikes. For those of you that don’t know, a fat-bike is a mountain bike with over-sized tires, typically 3.75” or wider. Greg from the rental store hooked us up with a fat-bike and walked us down to the dog-friendly multi-use trail, explaining that fat-bikers and dogs needed to stick to the right of the track. Mya was stoked to be able to run again and as we rode along the trail we saw Nordic cross-country skiers, snowshoe walkers and other fat-bike riders. Proving that the trails truly offer something for everyone.
Durring our stay, we also went snow shoeing to the Mountain View Cabin and I realised that previously when I had travelled to mountain resorts all I had ever done was ski or snowboard. Now I had Mya with me, I was looking for activities that we could do together and it was showing me a whole new side to the resort that I would have never seen otherwise.
As for the skiing, Silver Star offered a variety of terrain that kept me entertained during our stay and seemed like a great place to bring the family. I loved taking the summit chair and seeing the beautiful inversion over the valley, it felt like I was in the heavens. Unfortunately because our visit was at the start of the season, the backside of the resort was not open yet, but not to worry this will be my excuse to head back there someday soon.
Highlights
I could go on and on with things to do in Silver Star (and I pretty much already have above), my biggest recommendation is to take the time to watch a Canadian sunset. One of the highlights from the trip has got to be the incredible views of the sun setting as you drive down the mountain from the village to Vernon. While photos don’t do it justice, I can promise you it’s worth seeing.
Mya’s Mates:
Visit: Silver Star Mountain Resort | @silverstarmtnresort
Stay: Vance Creek Hotel | @vancecreekhotel
Eat: 1609 Restaurant & Lounge| @1609ssm
