B.C.’s Interior ski resorts continue to face brunt of highway closures this season

Fitting into your ski boots may be the easiest part of hitting your favourite mountain over the holidays, B.C. resorts are looking at a very different tourism season because of current highway closures.

Fresh snow blanketing B.C. mountains Tuesday left it a picture-perfect morning, but many people hoping to capture those stunning sights might not be able to this tourism season. Because of the extreme weather last month into early December, the province closed off the Coquihalla Highway indefinitely and Highway 3 is only limited to essential travel.

Arlene Schieven is the president and CEO of Tourism Sun Peaks. She admits, “It’s definitely a concern for the Christmas holiday period.”

“We’ve certainly seen cancellations through December, and many properties are running only at half occupancy compared to usually being full.”

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With the hills looking heavenly, Schieven says she’s saddened to know that most British Columbians won’t be able to make it there to enjoy them.

And despite flights being added to the Okanagan and beyond, it may not benefit those craving to hit the slopes.

“There’s just a lot of people that when they come to ski hill they bring a lot of stuff: snowshoes, hockey skates, snowboards. That’s not all, you can put on an airplane. So the mums and dads out there get it, they fill their SUVs full of groceries and they look forward to the hot tub with the kids and just making family memories, and once we get through this, we will be able to do that again,” Michael Ballingall with the Big White Ski Resort tells CityNews. 

No friends on pow days. 21 cm in the past 24 hours and more on the way.#sunpeaks #explorebc #explorekamloops
Johnnie Balfour pic.twitter.com/UvLlgZIq36

— Sun Peaks Resort (@SunPeaksResort) December 14, 2021

On the bright side, Schieven says residents in or near Sun Peaks can spend their holidays at the resort since the inn is not at full capacity. 

However, while bookings might not all be taken, Schieven adds she is seeing most people postpone their trips to later in the season. 

“So while we saw some loss of rooms in December, we actually saw a pickup for every month beyond that — so January through April, particularly February and March. The trend that we’re seeing … let’s see if we can still go but later on in the season,” she says.

If you are holding out to make plans in the Interior post-Christmas, both Schieven and Ballingall advise booking early because they are filling up fast. 

“We are open until mid-April, so it might not be [for] Christmas [and] New Years, but it will be February and March,” the Senior Vice President of Big White Ski Resort adds. 

If you’re itching to get outdoors and postponing your trip isn’t much of an option, there are many mountains locally to check out. Places like Grouse Mountain are actually seeing a rapid uptick in demand.

“Obviously, with the pandemic, some people are excited to get outdoors and enjoy an outdoor adventure in a safe way. So skiing and snowboarding of course is a great way to do that. And we offer a safe environment for people to get outside,” Melissa Taylor with Grouse Mountain says.

Here’s what you need to know before visiting #GrouseMountain

• Proof of vaccination is required for guests born in 2009 or earlier.
• You do not need to make a reservation for the Skyride.
• Face masks are mandatory indoors.

Know Before You Go: https://t.co/PZG2SqAZxY pic.twitter.com/OQNW4ssx95

— Grouse Mountain (@grousemountain) December 2, 2021

“Anybody who has not yet picked up their pass for the winter season for skiing and riding, we encourage them to do so as soon as possible as we are starting to get a lot busier. So we recommend anybody needing to do that come on a weekday, that would be the best time to do it to avoid any additional wait times,” she recommends.