Powdr has purchased SilverStar Mountain Resort from owner Jane Cann, marking the Park City-based firm’s first foray into Canada. Located in British Columbia’s Okanagan region, SilverStar operates seven modern lifts including a brand new gondola on 3,282 acres. “SilverStar is a world-class destination that fits well with who Powdr is, what our properties are community favorites—and our commitment to protecting and enhancing the authentic year-round adventure experience for generations to come,” said Justin Sibley, Powdr co-president. “The resort team is impressive and they have an incredibly strong relationship with the community, which we hope to build upon.”
“I am thrilled to pass the torch to such a competent and qualified operator as Powdr, who shares the same mission and beliefs for the SilverStar resort community and is committed to delivering memorable experiences and enhancing people’s lives,” said Jane Cann, whose father developed both SilverStar and nearby Big White into leading destination resorts. “Powdr is an enduring company focused on patiently making each of its destinations the best version of itself locally. I am confident that their scale and expertise will be beneficial in working toward the realization of SilverStar’s newly approved Master Plan.” Current season pass partnerships will remain in place for the 2019-20 season.
Powdr has been investing heavily in its properties of late and now operates eleven resorts in six US states plus one Canadian province. Alterra Mountain Company, Boyne Resorts and Vail Resorts all also compete in the British Columbia market.
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Silver star is no longer listed as a powder alliance member on the powder alliance web site and hasnt been since the end of last season. I hope im wrong.
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Thanks for the correction. Current pass partners are listed as Sun Peaks, Apex and Mt. Seymour.
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Powdr bought at the right time with the CD$/US$ exchange rate the way it is. Buy low, sell high. And Silver Star is a well run resort. But what does Alterra own in BC?
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No lifts but Alterra operates 12 heli-skiing lodges in BC through its CMH subsidiary.
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Here’s Silver Star’s master plan that Jane Cann refers to: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/all-seasons-resorts/silverstar_lowres_masterplan_july_4th_2017.pdf
See Page 147 for the proposed lifts and page 151 for a map.
If I could sum it up, it creates a massive expansion of the backside area, and a few smaller expansions on the front side.
Overall, it proposes five new high speed quads, one new high speed six pack, and three fixed grip quads.
Phase I projects include the follows:
* A pair of high speed quads, dubbed Lower Vance and Upper Vance. The Lower Vance Express lift would service new terrain around the Silver Meadows trail, and the Upper Vance Express would be placed to the east of the terrain park, and supplement the existing Comet Express. (Some pages refer to these as fixed-grip quads. I don’t know if that’s an error or not. I think high speed quads make more sense if they’re going to relieve the Comet Express)
* A new fixed grip quad in the village.
Phase II is as follows:
* A new high speed quad called the Sidewinder Express, opening up new trails south of the Silver Woods Express. (Some pages suggest this being planned as a fixed grip quad instead)
The back side gets a lot more expansion work by Phase III:
* A high speed quad called the Holy Smoke Express, running from the bottom of Holy Smoke up to the top of Kirkenheimer and Robillard’s Rush. Essentially, making it possible to do laps on those trail pods without having to use the Powder Gulch Express and Home Run T-Bar.
In Phase IV:
* A high speed six pack called Trinity Express, providing new trails east of Aunt Gladys, and supplementing the Powder Gulch Express.
As part of Phase V:
* Two fixed grip quads (currently named Valhalla 1 and 2) servicing new pods of black runs around Alder Point and Holy Smoke. (Some pages propose them as doubles, others as FGQs)
* A high speed quad called Into the Sun, opening up a new south-facing trail pod just northeast of the Powder Gulch Express. This one would be a low capacity lift with 1,800 pph.
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Is anyone else having problems with accessing the link?
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It is a large file. Here are the key figures:
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With the number of lifts and pods proposed for the Powder Gulch area, I keep thinking that Powder Gulch will need to have a capacity boost through additional chairs to handle the extra demand.
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I’d have to think that POWDR or Boyne (most likely the former) are eventually merger targets for Alterra to get to scale in New England, get better scale in CO/UT and plant the flag to get first-mover advantage with premium mountains in regions that are untouched (OR, MT). No way Alterra could raise that amount of coin for a straight up purchase, so some sort of merger with the POWDR/Boyne owners retaining a significant minority stake in the combined entity seems most logical.
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Interesting notion but a more likely scenario is Alterra buying a lift served resort in BC or Alberta to capture skier traffic from the UK. Calgary, Vancouver and traveling Washingtonians cuz right now that’s the big whole in their market. Sun Peaks (owned by the Japanese Dopplemayr affiliate), Sunshine, Lake Louise or Big White (former sister resort to silverstar) come to mind. All four have big skier numbers and are independently owned
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I’d like to see what would happen if Resorts of the Canadian Rockies went up for sale.
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Oregon (Portland/Vancouver) is a large UNSERVED market. Very active recreation lifestyle base. Population of 3.7 million. None of the large passes have even an agreement with the local mountains; Bachelor, Mt Hood Meadows, Timberline.
Epic resorts Stevens (260 miles) & Whistler (400 miles) away.
Ikon Crystal (210 miles)
Mountain Collective Tahoe (590 miles)
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There are some possibilities there with Ikon as both Boyne and Powdr have resorts in that area – but don’t include them on the Ikon pass like the do many of their other resorts. I don’t know if that is Alterra’s decision or Boyne/Powdr…
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How does this place legitimately claim 3282 acres? Is that literally everything within the boundary including trees?
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It’s for sure a creative number. However there is a ton of super low pitch treed terrain on the far skier’s left front side which is interesting, once, and probably contributes to the numbers. It skis like a mid sized mountain, which it is.
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Agreed but odd measurement approaches are very common in the ski industry. There is a whole discussion on the topic at the link below with some ski areas claiming thousands of acres that are outside the ski area boundary.
https://www.pugski.com/threads/comparable-ski-area-size.6179/
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so is this now on ikon?
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