Photo: Sean Phillips
Four seasons of trails
SilverStar trails: ski, Nordic, bike and hike
Downhill runs, a huge daily groomed cross-country network and a summer bike park.
Home › SilverStar trails: ski, Nordic, bike and hike
SilverStar is really four mountains of fun in one: downhill skiing, a huge cross-country network, snowshoe and fat-bike trails, and in summer one of Canada’s best-known bike parks. Here’s the lay of the land.
Downhill skiing and riding
Vance Creek is loved for its wide-open, perfectly groomed runs. The high-speed Putnam Express quad takes stronger skiers to the back side’s double blacks and steep chutes, where the grooming team runs winch-cats every night. Terrain splits roughly 15% easiest (plus the Silver Queen beginners’ area with its own quad chair), 40% intermediate, 35% most difficult and 10% extreme. There are three terrain parks, and night skiing runs until 8:30 p.m.
All of it is natural snow: the resort says no snowmaking is needed.
Cross-country skiing
SilverStar grooms about 55 km of Nordic trails every day, from green to black, with a night loop for evening skiing, warming huts along the way and some dog-friendly trails. Its trails link with neighbouring Sovereign Lake; add a Sovereign Lake day ticket or season-pass add-on and the combined network reaches 105 km, which the resort calls the largest daily groomed cross-country network in Canada. Sovereign Lake has hosted FIS World Cup cross-country racing, including in December 2005.
Snowshoe and fat bike
About 16 km of snowshoe singletrack weaves through the forest around the mountain, and about 15 km of single and double track is set aside for fat bikes. Dogs aren’t allowed on Sovereign Lake’s snowshoe trails, so check trail rules if your dog is coming along.
Summer: bike park, hiking and gondola rides
The SilverStar Bike Park has been built by riders for riders since 1994, with flow trails, technical lines, jump zones, wood features and three skills areas. The Beowulf loop is an IMBA EPIC: 35 km of ridgelines, cedar forest and meadows that starts and ends in the village. Not a rider? Take a gondola ride to the mountain-top trails, walk some of the 16 km of hiking and running trails, join the wildflower walk or let the kids loose on the Bear Byway and the Gnome Roam.
The trails in neighbouring Silver Star Provincial Park open to hiking in summer, and mountain biking is allowed on designated trails. BC Parks asks that pets stay on a leash.
Trail photos
Photos and art: Sean Phillips. Tap any photo to see it large and swipe through.
Quick answers
How many runs and lifts does SilverStar have?
SilverStar lists 3,304 acres (1,337 hectares) with 133 marked runs, 13 gladed areas and 10 lifts, and a 760 m (2,500 ft) vertical drop.
How big is the cross-country network?
SilverStar grooms about 55 km of Nordic trails daily. Add a Sovereign Lake day ticket or season pass add-on and you can ski the full 105 km network, which the resort calls the largest daily groomed cross-country network in Canada.
Does SilverStar make snow?
No. The resort reports an average of 700 cm or more of natural snow a season and says no snowmaking is needed.
How big is the SilverStar Bike Park?
The resort lists 69 km of downhill trails, 70 km of cross-country trails, about 400 dirt jumps, 551 m of vertical and the 35 km Beowulf loop, an IMBA EPIC ride.
Decided SilverStar is the place?
When you’re ready to own a piece of the mountain
This guide is about life up here. Sean’s other SilverStar site, Real Estate SilverStar, is for people who have made up their minds: every home for sale, building-by-building reports, ski-in/ski-out scores, strata fees and the real costs of owning. Want to ski straight to your door? See the ski-in/ski-out score.