What's new for the 2005 Season!!

Silver Star Mountain Resort Announces new Silver Woods High Speed Quad, Related Slopeworks & Phase One of Snowbird Lodge Opening for the 2005 Season.  Saturday, February 19th, 2005

Skiers and snowboarders visiting this intimate, family-friendly northern Okanagan resort will now have over 400 acres of new skiable terrain to explore next season, serviced by a $4.5 M Leitner-Poma high-speed detachable quad. The vertical drop in this area will be 341 metres (1,120 vertical feet) with seven new trails and gladed ‘tree islands’ that will offer fabulous champagne powder skiing on north-east facing slopes. The lift will top out on the current Roller Coaster trail, and would further extend the Vance Creek's vertical drop by about 130 metres (429 vertical feet) below the base of the Comet Express. The high speed quad will whisk skiers and snowboarders to the top in less than five minutes! Silver Wood's terrain mix will be 80% intermediate and 20% beginner.

Silver Star Mountain Resort also announced today the Comet Express, Canada's largest six passenger chairlift, will be open daily from July 1 to September 5, 2005 for summer mountain bike operations and scenic rides. A massive expansion of the existing bike park is being developed and a number of new trails are planned to be ready in time for the July 1 opening. There will be five dedicated staff members to build the new trails and bike park features to beginner, intermediate and expert standards. The expansion of mountain bike trails and the operation of the Comet Six-Pack marks an additional $300,000 commitment by Silver Star and will give users access to over 1,800 vertical feet of mountain biking terrain - some of the most in Canada . The high-speed detachable lift will be fitted with roll-on bike carriers and will have a ride-time of 7.5 minutes.

The Schumann family has invested in excess of $39 million since their November 2001 purchase of Silver Star Mountain Resort, near Vernon, BC. After the initial purchase, further capital expenditures have included over $15 million in lift infrastructure, $4.5 million in resort services including new restaurants, a new retail shop, substantial reshaping of ski runs, grooming equipment, earthworks for parking and well drilling, preparation and development of fully-serviced five star accommodation lots to attract international visitors, reshaping the beginner ski area and the tube park, and maintaining and upgrading existing buildings. An additional $75 million (retail value) will be injected into the local economy in new accommodation and investors from around the world are showing great interest in purchasing these new Resort 5-star homes.