February 2023
The end of 2022 was COLD. Really cold. My California-born blood had never been exposed to such temperatures (-20F, what!?!), even after being up in Washington for the better part of 13 years. At Christmas, I had brought my snowboard in hopes of possibly getting up to the mountain for some snow fun, but it never left my car as it was too frigid to go outdoors for any length of time. Since we had no set plans of escaping to anywhere after the new year, we thought it may be fun to embrace winter and enjoy a weekend up in Sun Peaks. We were able to secure an amazing home that was close to the main village, was big enough to evite friends and had a hot tub to top it off! The weekend of the Super Bowl was available, and the weather forecast was looking great. We were able to talk some family and a couple of friends into joining us and it was all set up!
Getting there…
I made my usual drive up to Kamloops on a Thursday morning. It was an abnormally eventful drive unfortunately- speeding ticket only 20 minutes into the trip (remember to not speed during morning traffic near Everett), struggling to open my locked gas door to fill up (it automatically locks if the door is locked), almost getting run off the highway by a semi-truck, and finally having to take an excessively long rest break in Merritt due to annoying weird heart palpitations and dizziness. Anyhow, I made it in one piece. Despite this, we had a super easy drive the next morning making it from the dry land up into the winter wonderland. It takes less than an hour being only 56km from Kamloops. You get to drive along the North Thompson River, until you break off up into the mountains. From there you pass by a few little lakes and pastoral land that all look very pretty and serene covered in the white of winter. Considering the size of the mountain and resort, it is crazy convenient.
Where we stayed….
There are ample accommodations around the SunPeaks- hotels, condos, and custom homes. We were hooked up with one of the homes, so it was a treat! There were 3 floors, so each group had separate sleeping areas. The main floor was open with high ceilings, huge windows, and a large kitchen. The deck off the kitchen was home to the BBQ and hot tub. This was my first visit to this house, but the others had enjoyed birthday parties and ski weekends here in the past. It was a perfect spot.
What we ate….
Our family and friends were so generous, and we had enough food to have lasted a week! We feasted every night- Mediterranean chicken and lemon potatoes, beef tenderloin, fully loaded baked potatoes and veggies and Superbowl Sunday was a Meat Fest of Texas ribs, “Nicci Lovin’” Chicken wings, Nachos, dips, etc., etc.…. There was no shortage of food, nor drink. Drink highlights included ample Red Truck, Empress gin cocktails, Basil-Mint Rangpur gin cocktails, Micheladas, and Beermosas.
We did go out for lunch on Ski Day at the infamous Bottoms Pub and enjoyed a typical pub lunch with a beer. We were smart to go for an early lunch as it gets really busy there after noon. There are a few other options in the main village, but I haven’t ever had a need to sample them.
What we did….
We had such a nice balance of winter fun this weekend. A full day of skiing, walking in the snow, taking a long hike along the snowshoe trails, eating, drinking and hot tubbing. We played games at night (Cards Against Humanity made another solid appearance), watched hockey and the Superbowl. It was a chill mix of alone time and time with friends. I particularly loved the end of the night hot tub to watch the snowcats grooming the hills and seeing the stars. We laughed a lot, and it was a perfect balance of rest and play.
Parting thoughts…
Sun Peaks is such a gem to enjoy. It feels a bit like a little secret that the people who know of it don’t take for granted. It’s not the same scene as Whistler with throngs of people and tons of restaurants and bars. There is a time a place for that. Having access to quiet miles of high-quality trails for downhill and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in less than an hour is hard to beat. I especially appreciate this coming from the Seattle area where everything is crowded and feels stressful. This weekend reminded me of how the snow puts you back into the playful mindset you have as a kid, to have fun for the sake of fun. Hopefully, we will be able to make this an annual event as I can see us making many more memories here in years to come.
-P.R.