Silver Star Blog

What’s happening opening day? Will you have any Park to shred? Will there be rails? will their be jumps? I want to shred! shred shred! You’ve heard rumors, I’ve got answers!

YES we will have features open, on opening day for jibbing! Our NEW beginner terrain park over on the lower half of Far Out will be in full swing! We’ll have up to eight features to session! Small boxes, Small rails, couple junk jibs, and a medium box will be over there to hit.

Have fun, see you there! Word up!

Dustin Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

Five after eight this morning, and I can hear the familiar click, click, pole tap, pole tap of the Leboes stepping into their skis on the skiway outside my house here on Monashee Rd. No matter how hard I try, they always beat me out the door. Ah yes, the lifts must be running again….

While the resort has been full of nordic skiers for a month, there is a different feel this morning as the lifts are set to open. Even the weather is cooperating as the cloud cover and warm temperatures of the last few days has lifted, giving us a gorgeous dramatic cloud and sunshine day to revel in lift assisted alpine skiing.

I manage to get out by 8:45 and chose a groomed Cloud Nine as my opener, mostly because I can ski right on to it without using a lift. Sunny and fast, I sneak into trees right and find Tuesday night’s freezing rain snow crust. I quickly come back to Cloud Nine’s groomed carpet. I think I’ll wait a bit for those trees.

The bottom of Silverwoods is surprisingly free of rocks and dirt. Great snow coverage for this time of year. Brad Baker is on the chair in front of me. Way to go Brad! Good to see you out checking things out….

The Comet chair welcomes me with its ‘couchy’ comfort. Nice to to return to the chit chat of the  Comet. A couple of zoomers on Whiskey Jack, Little Dipper and Milky Way and I feel like last winter never ended!! And the sunshine, oh the sunshine!!!!

I hook up with Dave, Pat, Hildi, Tom, Sandra and Lisa and we zoom down Over the Hill, meeting up with Maris Cat and Pip at the bottom. We are now officially a posse! A few more runs and the group splits up. For most, that will be all they ski today. Enough to get the legs going again, and enough to be able to talk about how great opening day was.

I’m off to a coaches session in preparation for the first Cross Country Camps, starting tomorrow. How much better does it get, when you can Alpine ski the morning and cross country ski the afternoon?

Glad I live at Silver Star!!!!

Denys Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

Well it’s over now, but…WHAT AN AMAZING OPENING DAY!!!! I was up here before the sun came up this morning to meet up with Bob & Jazz from Power 104. They were up here doing their breakfast show and unfortunately I had to pick up some fresh baked goods from Bugaboos to share with them…mmm. When I pulled into the village and saw the stars I knew it was going to be a great day. Turned out I wasn’t dissapointed. Bluebird, amazing snow, 47 runs open / 17 groomed, and tons of really excited people enjoying the slopes. There was such a positive vibe going around, lot’s of familiar faces (young and old), new staff enjoying the fact that they are now on the job, and of course that great feeling of sliding over the snow. Looking back at it now, it was a pretty perfect day! And to think there’s 137 more days that could be just as good.

See you out there – RB

Robin Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

Thanks to all those who stopped by a Silver Star collection site on the weekend and made a donation to the Salvation Army Food Bank.

-Alli

Allison Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

The Nordic season is well under way, can you believe we have been open for 20 days already.  The resort will see more and more Nordic skiers daily as we approach the www.xccamps.ca November 28-December 6 and the teams keep rolling in training for the Canadian Olympic Team trials at be held at Sovereign Lake December 12/13.

This is your weekend to Nordic ski at Silver Star; and have the resort to yourself.  All trails are groomed and are in amazing condition. Many people enjoy the month of Nordic at Silver Star before Alpine opens.  You can ski the upper trails without having to check for downhill traffic, it is all about Nordic right now.  Your favourite restaurants are open and we’re still offering early season rates on tickets.

Wax your xc skis and get to Silver Star this weekend!

Glenn Nordic

Only 10 days left until the season starts. My new ski gear has been staring at me for the last two weeks, just waiting to touch snow and all my ski movies have been watched so many times they’re starting to skip.

The events calendar is filling up and it’s looking to be a busy and exciting season. From rail jams to FIS cup races, winter carnival, and tons of fun stuff during the Olympics, Silver Star is the place to be —  if you’re not into the Vancouver 2010 hype.

First on the list; the new MSP ski movie “In Deep” showing in the NATC.  on opening day, November 28. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. I watched this movie last weekend. I was trying to hold out, but couldn’t put it off any longer. Let me tell you I was stoked! Once again the Matchstick Crew lived up to its reputation for being amongst the best in the film industry. The movie features some insane skiing from Sean Pettit, Abma, T.J. and many more. They’ve also got an awesome tribute to the late Shane McConkey. There’s not a skier out there that won’t like this movie. The event itself is going to be super fun and for any true McConkey fans we’re having a Saucer Boy contest, best costume takes home a Nintendo Wii. There’s an after-party in the Saloon and a sale in Ski Dazzle for any movie go’ers looking for some new winter gear.

For up-to-date information on any of our events please check out our events calendar on the Silver Star website or stay tuned for some more events blog action.

See you in the lift line!

Svin Events

A great article by Dawn Walton in the Globe and Mail yesterday about the rising dependency on food banks. Our great province of British Columbia is one of the hardest hit.

Here are some interesting stats from the article:

• Last March, 794,738 people received help from a food program, according to Food Banks Canada, a national charity and umbrella group, which released its annual HungerCount Tuesday. That’s an 18-per-cent jump over the same month in 2008 – the largest increase on record and halting a four-year slide.

• Nova Scotia had a 20-per-cent increase, followed by 19 per cent in Ontario, 18 per cent in Manitoba and 15 per cent in British Columbia.

• The report noted that the bulk of the national increase in sheer numbers was concentrated in the three provinces most weakened by the recession – Ontario, Quebec and B.C. – which also accounted for three-quarters of the total food bank use.

• More than 72,000 people, or almost one in 10 of those looking to food banks for help, did so for the first time.

• And of the total, almost 300,000, or 37 per cent, were children …

• The study found that 28 per cent of food banks don’t have enough funding and 31 per cent don’t have enough food.

The perception of who uses a food bank and the reality are obviously quite different. Families that had two incomes, now faced with a the loss of one of those paycheques, are recipients. Perhaps the most troubling statistic is the amount of children dependent on the kindness of others.

Silver Star will be collecting food and donations Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22 at four locations:

• Save-On-Foods at the Village Green Mall

• The Super Store on Anderson Way

• Safeway in the Vernon Square Mall

• Coopers Foods on 43rd Avenue

We will also be collecting donations at the Downtown Vernon Association’s annual Light Up celebrations November 27.

For every $20 cash donation or the equivalent in non-perishable food items, you receive a FREE lift ticket valid either day of opening weekend.

All donations will be greatly appreciated. Please help us spread the word.

Tim Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

A number of staff, including myself, will be in Vernon next week raising cash and non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army Food Bank.

In my previous working life, I was a reporter and photographer for The Morning Star in Vernon. Christmas was always one of the more hectic times around the paper. As most of you know, advertisers drive community newspapers. The more they purchased, the bigger the paper. So the holiday season meant more pages for editorial. The holiday season (my attempts to be politically correct) is also a busy time for “grip and grins.”  A donation of  $1,000 or more means an organization or business receives their picture in the paper. It’s a fantastic tool to promote your event and make the public aware of a cause. The Morning Star, to this day, does a spectacular job promoting the large number of charitable groups in the North Okanagan.

I’ve had the opportunity to experience the plight of Vernon’s food banks. I’ve toured the facility when shelves were bare. I’ve met, interviewed, and photographed those down on their luck. It was this part of my job that reminded me how lucky I really am. I’ve had the good fortune in my life to have friends and family to lean on when it was needed. But for those who don’t the option is the food bank, or seeking shelter at places like April House in Vernon. All to often, many of those who need help slip through the cracks. They’re the homeless people you see in the parks or wandering downtown.

I’m looking forward to next weekend, collecting cash and food items. It’s going to be nice to make some news instead of gathering it.

Hope to see you out next weekend and please help spread the word.

Tim Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

A couple more cm’s last night, but I’m still hoping for another 50cm dump of snow (like October 26^th).  I’ve finally accepted that it’s time to put the mountain bike away and pull out the skis.  Despite being somewhat terrified of spandex, I’ve been doing some Nordic skiing.  How many seasons can you say that you were skiing in October?  I’ve gotta admit that the first few times out were pretty funny.  I was not nearly as coordinated as I thought, and I had a couple of good crashes on the skinny skis last year.  It was after one particular yard sale and face plant that I really began to like cross country skiing.  I have this need for speed, and if you’ve only been downhill skiing or snowboarding, trying to go the same speed down a hill on little skinny skis without metal edges, and tiny boots that are not attached at the heels is a whole different ball game!

I haven’t given in to the spandex fashions I see whizzing by me on the nordic trails, but I’m having a blast with a bunch of other newbies to this sport.  Still, I can’t wait to pull out the fat skis for some powder turns … just a few more weeks!

-Alli

Allison Random Thoughts & Ski Shots

Silver Star Terrain Park 2009/2010

Hello, and what’s up snow shredders! Along with the first Terrain Park blog post underway, the features are coming as well. We’ve been busy in the shop, cooking up some new creations, and re-vamping some oldies but goodies. You can look for the C boxes to be back in business, a new Up Flat Rail, Street Rail, Flat Box with 45 degree angled sides, Skidder Tire, and a few other Junk-Style jibs.

For the 2009/2010 snow season we will be expanding our Terrain Park onto the lower half of Far Out, with a smaller rail/snow feature zone, for more intermediate to beginner riders. Don’t think we won’t still have the beginner zone in the big park though, because that would be just crazy. We are still going to have the riders right hand entrance for smaller features as well.

Along with the Far Out expansion, we will also have 3 smaller box features to session in the Discovery Carpet area from 4:30 til late, no pass required.

That’s not all. A Boarder Cross track is in the works for Milky Way. Come on up and race your buddies, family and friends

Have fun, see ya this winter!

You can also stay updated on Park info at:
Newschoolers
SSTerrainPark

Dustin Telus Terrain Park