Snow Has Landed in the Okanagan!

Snow has officially fallen in the Okanagan Valley as a fresh dump of the white stuff has landed up at Silver Star Mountain Resort.

Winter has arrived at Silver Star much to the excitement of those who work at the resort as it signals the beginning of an exciting upcoming season. The winter season at Silver Star generally begins in late November and runs until early April. The mountain resort boasts the third largest ski area in the province and has 130 marked trails, which already have fresh snow on them.

While it will be a while until there is enough snow on the mountain to allow for the resort to open for the season, a significant amount has already landed on the ground.

Brad Baker, Director of Operations, says that when he arrived at work Thursday morning he was surprised to see about two centimetres of snow in the village.

"There was 4.5 centimetres at the summit elevation," said Baker. "This is early for it to fall and stick, some years we get snowfall every month but they don't always stay, but this one came in earnest and has stuck around."

Baker is anticipating a November 26th opening date for alpine and cross-country will open during the first week of November.

"We're well on track. The white stuff is the bread and butter falling from the sky and an important ingredient," Baker said happily. "We've got all these El Nino naysayers saying it is going to be warm and wet, well it's going to be white, sorry to tell you."

Silver Star is the latest BC mountain resort to receive a fresh dusting of snow, as of Wednesday, both Revelstoke and Whistler saw snow at their peaks. Big White Ski Resort did see a few flakes fall Wednesday afternoon but nothing like what Silver Star Mountain has.