The summer season has officially arrived at SilverStar Mountain Resort in Vernon.
The season kicked off with the opening of the bike park Friday, June 23, and on Saturday the parking lot was full with people on mountain bikes, hiking trails, restaurant patios and in front of a massive stage hosting live music all day.
On Saturday guests were treated to the Polson Artisan Market in the village, and some took part in a trail running race. Bands organized by Local Losers, as well as some DJs, played the main stage.
Tomorrow, June 25, is the Hike for Hospice event up at the mountain in support of the North Okanagan Hospice Society. Hikers can choose from easy, moderate and experienced trails during the event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will also be a free midday concert by Daniel James McFadyen.
Michelle Leroux, public relations person for Destination Silver Star, said there鈥檚 plenty to look forward to this season at the mountain, including the first stop of the 2023 Canada Cup Series mountain bike race, which is running alongside the B.C. Cup and B.C. Downhill Mountain Bike Provincial Championships. Those races take place July 8-9.
鈥淎nd then we have Crankworx, which is the biggest freeride mountain bike festival in the world,鈥� said Leroux. The second stop of the Crankworx Summer Series Canada takes place at SilverStar Aug. 4-6, bringing some of the world鈥檚 best riders to the bike park for three days of racing. New this year is a female category of the freestyle slope-style event, which will see female riders take on huge jumps doing a ton of tricks.
After the racing is done, it鈥檚 time for a culinary experience. SilverStar鈥檚 annual Wine Festival returns Aug. 10-13, bringing together some of the region鈥檚 most renowned winemakers. The festival is devoted exclusively to B.C. wineries. Wine seminars, wine dinners and the signature walk-around tasting event are on tap Saturday, Aug. 12. The weekend will also feature live music and a Polson Park Artisan Market pop-up featuring local vendors.
Leroux notes the wine seminars are a new feature of the festival this year, and there will be wines from 25 regional wineries to sample.
Then on Sept. 9, SilverStar will host a beer and cider festival.
鈥淪ome people don鈥檛 like wine, but with beer and cider you鈥檙e going to hit the mark with everyone, and a cider festival is kind of unique, you don鈥檛 hear of them that often,鈥� said Leroux. 鈥淎nd because this region has so many orchards, amazing cideries, why wouldn鈥檛 we highlight them as well?鈥�
Shuttle buses will be coming to and from Vernon during the wine, beer and cider festivals, which can be added onto your ticket.
Leroux said this will be the first summer that鈥檚 fully 鈥渂ack to normal鈥� after COVID-19, which only adds to the excitement.
鈥淚 think there was a bit of a hangover (after COVID). We鈥檝e had an amazing winter season, record-breaking snow, and then you roll into a new summer season where everything is normal, tourism is returning, it鈥檚 come back so strong. So I think that鈥檚 the excitement there.鈥�
On opening day, 95 per cent of the mountains bike trails were open, 鈥渨hich is incredible after the amount of snow we had,鈥� said Jennifer Edwards, marketing manager for Destination Silver Star.
Edwards says the turnout for opening weekend has been great, with the restaurants full and people enjoying the different activities on offer.
Cassandra Zerebeski, executive director of Destination Silver Star, says some of the trails have been updated this year to make them more accessible and suitable for all skill levels.
鈥淭rails like Challenger, which are green trails, those trails were just updated to be more beginner ready. As well you can cut out and do blue sections too, so whether you鈥檙e more progressing in your riding or you鈥檙e new and just wanting to check it out, they鈥檙e ready,鈥� she said.
Camping is about to get a lot more popular on the mountain, too. Zerebeski says SilverStar obtained $775,000 in funding from the province this spring to build a campground, as well as do some beautification in the village. The campground will have 100 campsites, including about a dozen year-round sites, which will provide increased parking capacity in the winter when the bulk of the campsites aren鈥檛 in use. Zerebeski said the campground will be ready by the middle of next summer.
There are already plenty of campers making use of SilverStar鈥檚 existing campsites.
鈥淟ast night it was great to see all the campers come in and hanging out for the weekend. People come from across the region and across the province,鈥� said Zerebeski.
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