Sun Peaks Resort: New chairlift

A new chairlift providing improved mountain, village, and ski-in, ski-out access highlights a massive development year at Sun Peaks Resort. Approximately $60 million in activity will be completed or underway this year.

The initiatives are part of the continued evolution of Sun Peaks as a leading mountain resort destination. Already known as Canada’s Second Largest Ski Area, these projects will further enhance our guest experience while also harnessing momentum for the destination to move forward.

The new lift will be a brand new addition to the resort, providing improved mountain, village, and ski-in, ski-out access. This is a project that has been highly anticipated by guests and locals alike. A new four passenger, fixed grip lift will be built in the East Village area of the resort allowing for significantly improved guest access to the main village core along with existing ski terrain. 

The new lift will complement the existing Morrisey Express with the bottom terminal of the chairlift being installed at the current location of the Umbrella Café. The lift will cross the road and climb the mountain over existing ski terrain with the top terminal residing above the existing East Village Ski Way. 

The new lift will provide key village return access for those guests in East Village properties. Specific run layout is currently in development but will definitely see a green trail option to the village from the top of the lift which is consistent with all other resort lifts and is a well-known and appreciated element of the Sun Peaks ski experience. Additionally, the lift will provide tremendous improvements to the existing area runs which provide some of the most under-rated and under-utilized ski terrain in the entire resort through family-friendly blue runs and fantastic pockets of glade skiing. 

As the East Village continues to grow and develop, this area will become a secondary hub providing multiple lifts, services, and parking. This project has an anticipated completion date of December 2018.

Another major element of the investment is a complete guestroom makeover at the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel and Conference Centre. This plan will transform the 221 rooms into quiet luxury with an updated contemporary attitude balanced with a hint of modern rustic. This $7 million project will have a completion date of December 2018.

The mountain will be increasing capacity by 30% for next winter on the highest utilization chairlift in the resort by adding new carriers to the lift line. This will improve skier access to the popular runs on Sundance, including the highly utilized Rockstar Energy Terrain Park. 

Sun Peaks is renowned for exceptional grooming across all three mountains. The quality and reliability of the corduroy on the slopes will be enhanced by two new PistenBully machines for next winter season. The new cats are part of a general investment in mountain capital. 

The Sun Peaks Centre is a large scale project that will expand and enhance the existing sport centre. The improved venue will include a multi-purpose indoor facility capable of hosting up to 3,000 participants, enabling the community to host concerts, large sporting and recreational events as well as corporate trade shows. The centre will provide facilities for both local residents and resort guests. 

VillageWalk at Sun Peaks is a collection of ski-in, ski-out luxury townhomes that offer a rare and unique opportunity to live just steps from the resort village. The entire complex was completely sold out last year and construction is at the mid-way point and will be fully complete this fall. 

Echo Landing provides a true four-season mountain resort home nestled between the 15th fairway of the Sun Peaks Golf Course and multiple alpine chairlifts. The new complex is steps away from hiking, biking, snowshoe and Nordic trails and is the perfect place to land at Sun Peaks. The project was pre-sold this winter and construction on the first phases will begin this spring. 

In order to continue building on market momentum, Sun Peaks Resort will continue moving forward with planning activities for future real estate projects as outlined in the overall Master Development Plan.