Silver Star Mountain Resort

History

The Early Days Vernon resident Bert Thorburn became the first person to ski in the Silver Star area in 1930. In 1946, the first rope tow was built on Burney Ridge, south of Vernon, above the lookout overlooking Kalamalka Lake, which is 800 ft (240 m) long. An old four-cylinder engine powered it. The cooling system was a 40-gallon water drum hooked up to the radiator. For $.50, visitors could ski all day. A few years later, the ski hill was moved to Lavington on Michael Freeman's farm on the north slope above Highway 6, but skiing was limited to a few months of the year. Initially, Silver Star was part of a Class A provincial park with no development allowed. Silver Star Sports got approval from the Province to build a ski hill in the Class A park in the summer of 1957. In 1958, the final three kilometers of the Silver Star road were pushed through to the village area. Two rope-tow lifts and an A-frame day lodge were built in 1958. In 1959, a poma lift was installed from the 5,000-foot (1,500 m) level at the parking lot to the top of SilverStar Mountain, replacing the rope tow. In 1964, new T-bars were installed to replace the slower rope tows, and in 1965, a second A-frame structure was added to the day lodge. In 1967 and 1968, the Summit and Yellow Chairs (6,000 feet) built by GMD Mueller were installed. SilverStar Mountain Resort Era In 1981, Silver Star Sports became Silver Star Mountain Resorts Ltd. In 1983, the Putnam Station Hotel was built. From 1984 to 1990, many new hotels and amenities were built on the hill. In 1990, the Silver Queen chair was built by Yan and replaced by a Doppelmayr quad chair, and it now serves as the bunny hill. In 1991 the original Putnam Creek and Vance Creek express quads were built and opened up terrain. In 2001, the Schumann…

Most-observed species

• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,177
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,897
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  6,804
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,335
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  5,916
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,886
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  5,085
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,069

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2025-11-28
  4 km N of Summerland, Canada
• M 2.6 — 2007-07-22
  6 km NE of Penticton, Canada
• M 3.4 — 2006-12-11
  9 km ENE of Penticton, Canada
• M 3.2 — 2003-08-20
  39 km ESE of Merritt, Canada
• M 4.5 — 2002-08-17
  39 km ESE of Merritt, Canada
• M 2.7 — 2001-09-29
  37 km E of Penticton, Canada