Lunch Above the Clouds

The Village at Silver star Mountain Resort

 

Vernon is often described as being in the "sunny" Okanagan Valley.  This is only a partial truth.  In summer the valley is bathed in daily sun for weeks at a time and both spring and fall get their share of sunshine.  But the winter, particularly December and January, it is an entirely different picture.  The percentage of possible sunshine hours per day is about 1/4 of what it is at the height of summer.  Combining that statistic with a the fact that Vernon is located just above the 50th latitude, makes for a dark and dull couple of months. 

But that is in the valley.  And that is where I am today, looking out my south facing window.  Instead of seeing Terrace Mountain, is see gray, gray cloud, gray hills; even the snow looks gray today.  However not that far away, only up about 1230 metres (about 4030 feet), is brilliant, bright sun light.  I know this because of the web cams at Silver Star Mountain Resort (and because my husband just sent a text to tell me what a great day it is up on the mountain). 

Why some, many Vernonites, stay down here day after gray day is beyond me.  It is a myth that you have to be a skier or boarder to enjoy Silver Star Mountain Resort.  You don't have to do any winter sports to make the 30 minutes drive from town worthwhile.  Just come for lunch and enjoy the sunshine!

There is a dozen places for lunch, from full service restaurants, to bistros and cafés.  There are great choices for good food at good prices. We haven't tried all the places this year but I intend to do so before the season's end.  Here are my impressions so far:

 

 

Town Hall We stop here most days for coffee after skiing.  Its your typical noisy, busy ski hill cafeteria with a selection of burgers, fries and such at one end and a more dignified coffee bar serving crafted coffees with some tasty looking paninis  and  pastries at the other end. They make an okay flat white and sell the authentic Aussie meat pies (that are yummy) for the very good price of  $5.95.  Your season's pass saves you 10% on all purchases.

 

Bulldog Grande Café  Incorporates some Dutch/Indonesian flair along with usual burger/sandwich fare. We tried the hearty Dutch Pea soup.  Unfortunately the Bitterballen, a Dutch favourite of thickened beef ragout breaded and fried and served with homemade Dutch mustard was sold out.  I plan to try it next time.  On a cold day its nice to sit near one of the rock-faced fire-places.

Out of Bounds Bistro  This popular little café is now twice its original size but was still packed when we visited.  They make a good flat white and the biggest paninis I've ever seen.  We split one with brie, chicken and avocado.  My only regret was I that I was too full for dessert.  The coffee, soups and lunch items are great but the really really good stuff is the desserts.  They are to die for, pies with flakey pastry, heaped full of fruit or cream fillings and piled high with whipped cream

Bugaboos Bakery Café  Probably the best known café on the hill and open from 7:30 am  to 5 pm daily, Bugaboos is well known for its cinnamon buns, apple strudel and croissants.  All its 50 chairs  seem occupied when you come in the door but surprisingly the wait is never long.  Lunch is always good and the coffee is Italian.  Après ski you can have beer, wine, specialty coffees or hot chocolates.

1609 Restaurant and Lounge Newly opened this season 1609 is, quite literally, a few steps above the other establishments.  There are two ways to enter, but neither seems instinctive.  One is from the west side of the Vance Creek Hotel and the other is the Vance Creek Hotel entrance from Main Street and then up the stairs. Fortunately they leave a sign out to direct you up to the restaurant. The ambiance is different here, with sun pouring in the large windows, and a view down to the village. There is a distinctive Aussie influence, pumpkin in the salad and the best flat white on the mountain, no surprise the joint is owned by three Aussies from Brisbane.  Wine by the glass starts at$5.50 and there is a huge selection of crafted beers.  The name, 1609 is the altitude of The Village

View of village from 1609 Restaurant and Lounge

The Saloon  With the wooden floors and swinging doors, the pool tables and dart boards, you know you are in The Saloon, although a family friendly one, with lots of activities to while away an afternoon if you've had too much skiing .It is also a good spot for lunch.  The cheese and broccoli soup was thick and had a cheddar bite to it.  We enjoyed a good burger and a juicy turkey wrap with cranberries, purple onion, tomato and a zippy aioli sauce.  To sweeten the meal, we got 10% off with our Season passes.


We have more than a couple months to check out the rest of the eateries, not an unpleasant way to spend winter up at the Star.






 

 

 



Silver Star Shines

 

 

Since we moved to Vernon three years ago we have heard that Silver Star Mountain Resort  is a great place to be for New Year's Eve.  It is also the busiest time of the year on the mountain.. Knowing that the heads of happy skiers and party goers would be resting on all of the 5600 pillows on the mountain, in the hotels and lodges, chalets and condos later that night  and the parking lots would be full, we wanted to take in festivities but did not relish the crowds.  We were charmed by the winter ambience and surprised to find ourselves not at all bothered with crowds.

Brewer's Pond

Brewer's Pond, 2.5 acres of skating surface, has ample room for a vigorous shinny game and also recreational skaters who circle around the treed island.  At 3pm  we joined the skaters and had plenty of room to find our glide.  The sun was still bright but the air was nippy and so were our toes so we crowded into the Tube Town Cantina where skaters were warming up with cups of steaming hot chocolate.  Just outside others were also warming up around a roaring fire, some roasting wieners.
As the day darkened into a winter night and the moon moved above the tall narrow spruce trees on the island, multicoloured lights began to shine onto the snow and ice. It was a winter wonderland.

Beer Board from the Final Run Bistro

Wanting a light supper, we decided to try out one of the newer eateries on the mountain located just beside Brewers Pond, the Final Run Bar and Bistro which is attached to Pinheads Bowling.  Decked out in lime green and florescent blue décor there is a feel of both comfort and chic.
We nestled into a booth, ordered some pints and the Beer Board, a wooden platter loaded with cheeses, hot bratwurst sausage, Italian cold cuts, gigantic olives, yummy balsamic pickled onions and lots of grainy crackers and bread.  It was a satisfying, relaxed feast for the three of us.
Then we headed back out into the night, with our cross country skies on our shoulders to the Village XC Trail Head to try our the lighted Night Loop.  The Nordic trail was crisp and fast.  We were alone except for a row of snow shoers, looking like a wiggling centipede with the lights of their head lamps, that crossed our trail and disappeared into the woods.  Only the rub of our skis and the rhythmic squeak of our pole plants filled the cold, shaded quiet until we rounded the Knoll and could see the lights of the Summit Chair Lift, Brewer's Pond  and the chalets along the alpine meadows.

View of Brewer's Pond, Tube Town and the Summit Chair Lift

 

We loaded our skis back into the car and headed to the Village. We paused to take pictures of the lighted trees, one at 125 feet, the tallest Christmas tree in the Okanagan. Three horse-drawn sleighs waited as people, bundled up for a night time sleigh ride, climbed aboard. The shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes were full of people sharing holiday greetings.

As 8 pm drew near, a large crowd gathered at the bottom of the Summit Chair Lift where loud speakers were pouring out funky music. The lights were turned off; the sky above the mountain had a distinct red glow.  And then the traditional torch parade began.  From the summit little red lights began bobbing down the slopes followed by brighter lights.  Soon it looked like a stream of red lava making its way down the mountain.  The 300 plus skiers who created this effect lined up at the bottom, extinguished their torches and all eyes then rose to witness a 20 minute show of fireworks against the back drop of snow covered forest.  It was a very festive way to herald in the New Year.

Now, a week later, the Okanagan has been blanketed with a couple feet of snow.  Usually our snow stays up on the mountain but this time the whole valley is digging out from a record snow fall.  School was to have resumed yesterday after the Christmas break but all classes were cancelled yesterday and again today.  The city doesn't seem to know what to do with all the snow.

Waiting for spring

 

Those of us from other parts of Canada are somewhat amused as this would just be ordinary circumstances and life would continue in other places.  But we've enjoyed the hibernation and know, with 339 cms of cumulative snow and an alpine base of 174 cms, that skiing will be great for quite a while.  We'll be up there tomorrow to check it out.