Солнечные Вершины: История горнолыжного курорта в Британской Колумбии

Sun Peaks Resort is an alpine ski resort located in Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada, northeast of Kamloops. The summit of the ski area is at an elevation of , with an vertical rise from the base of the peak. The resort has of skiable terrain (second largest in Canada), and receives an average of of snow per year. Sun Peaks area averages over 2000 hours of sun a year. The resort has 13 lifts with a total capacity of 13,400 riders per hour, with the Burfield chair being the longest at 21 minutes total ride. There are 139 runs, including 19 gladed areas and of cross country trails. The ski area comprises three mountains and another smaller mountain: Tod Mountain, Sundance Mountain, Mt. Morrisey, and Orient.

In 1958, while commuting back to Kamloops from a day of skiing at Silver Star ski resort in Vernon, Donald Whyte and Donald Munro spotted Tod Mountain from a rise on Highway 97 near where it meets Barnhartvale Road. On 9 May 1959, both paid a visit to the village of Whitecroft, at the base of Tod Mountain. On 16 May, Munro, Whyte, lawyer Reginald Humphreys, ski resort operator Sam Warmington, and doctor James Osborne once again drove to Whitecroft. A nearby ranch owner rented the men horses and led them up the towering peak. An hour and a half after setting off, the party reached what is now known as the West Bowl, on the northwestern side of Tod Mountain. The group spent two nights in a shepherd's cabin. Once they set out again, they trekked to the crest of Tod Mountain, now known as the Top of the World (the location of the current Burfield and Crystal chairlift top terminals). Ahead of them lay the Crystal Bowl, pristine and bearing ideal geological features for a chairlift and ski resort. on the original Burfield (at the time called Tod Mountain Ski Lift) chairlift. Constructed in Vancouver by Murray Latta, surveying and design was carried out by McLellan and Company, and Bregoliss Construction, based in Kamloops, was awarded the contract for clearing of the runs and lift line, construction of the top, midstation, and bottom terminals, and the erecting of the lift poles. Donald Munro was appointed President of the two resort companies. In November 1961, Tod Mountain ski resort opened. The original chairlift was a double person capacity, 9300 feet (2835 m) diesel powered system with a capacity of 400 people/hour. At the time, it was the longest chairlift in North America. Five runs had been cut: Crystal Bowl, Ridge, 5 Mile, Chief, and the latter half of what is now known as 7 Mile Road.

In July 1968, seven years after the opening day, a crew was conducting maintenance work on the top terminal of the Tod Mountain Ski Lift, when a spark from a welding job flew into the sump pump, causing the wooden building housing the machinery to alight. The fire ignited the diesel drive which was directly linked to the bullwheel, causing the entire lift line to part from the wheel, dropping to the ground. Although the weight of the chairs dragging and colliding with the ground and obstacles arrested the motion of the rampant lift cable somewhat, significant damage was inflicted upon the lift. Repairs and insurance matters prevented the re opening of the resort until the 1970–1971 ski season.

In 1972, the Shuswap Chairlift was installed. These three main events which commenced in the 1980s not only helped to keep the resort afloat, but also boosted the reputation of Tod Mountain. Throughout the 1980s, a noticeable shift in main operations had been transpiring. The base of the Shuswap Chair, the proposed site of the eventual village, was quickly becoming the "place to be". After the road was extended past the base of the Burfield chair to the base of the Shuswap in 1982, the "restaurant" quickly gained popularity as a food supplier. A rental shop and the relocated ski school also formed up near the chairlift. 5 Mile (then referred to as Dynamite), the run from the top of the Burfield/Crystal chairs to the base of the Shuswap Chair, gained popularity. Between 1986 and 1989, almost 10 entirely new runs, branching from the top of the Shuswap Chair, were cut and another 20 were flagged as future development. In late 1992, the new owners held a renaming contest for the resort, using ballot boxes, as "Tod" in German translated to "Death". Over 2000 ballots were deposited. On 13 August 1993, the new name was announced: Sun Peaks Resort. Sun Peaks Bike Park is a permanent fixture on the BC Downhill Cup Series and has hosted the BC Downhill Championships and the Canadian National DH Championships in the past. This is in addition to a luxurious 18 hole golf course (completed in 2005), a massive residential/guest oriented ski in village, and many more amenities built under the guiding eye of Nippon Cable. In 2006, the Elevation fixed grip quad was constructed on Tod Mountain, running from a point midway down 5 Mile to an unload location adjacent to Sunburst Lodge. This and further run cutting opened up a brand new race center. The Austrian National Ski Team signed a five year contract in 2005 to train at Sun Peaks in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Nippon then initiated a 70 million dollar expansion plan that would clear cut three more mountains (at the time Sun Peaks only encompassed two mountains), double the golf course, expand a drainage basin for commercial and residential real estate, and add over 24,000 more beds to the resort. In 1998 the Neskonlith Secwepemc people appealed to Masayoshi Ohkubo, then President of Sun Peaks Corporation, to respect their title and rights. They also appealed to the Federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Rover D. Nault, who claimed that the land dispute with Sun Peaks fell under provincial jurisdiction. Asserting that the Sun Peaks Resort undermined their ability to exercise their inherent rights to land use and occupancy and constituted a violation of Aboriginal title, Secwepemc land defenders launched a years long campaign to oppose Sun Peaks expansion in 1999. The campaign opposed Sun Peaks expansion, the 2010 Winter Olympics, and called for boycotts of both Sun Peaks Resort and Delta Hotels. Secwepemc land defenders argued that clearcut logging on three mountains to expand the resort ruined the habitats of deer, moose, bears, beavers, lynx, bobcat, cougars and wolverines; that traditional foods and medicines the Secwepemc have relied on no longer grew in the area; and that lakes and rivers had been polluted by chemicals used to make artificial snow and maintain golf courses. In 2000, land defenders established the first Skwelkwek'welt Protection Centre. In 2004, Indigenous leader George Manuel Jr. was arrested along with two other others by the RCMP, who were enforcing a court injunction ordering Indigenous activists and supporters to leave the area. The arrests were condemned by the Council of Canadians and Union of BC Indian Chiefs. Between 1999 and 2005, 54 Skewelkwek'welt land defenders were arrested. In addition to arrests, a traditional cedar bark lodge and cabin were burned down in 2001 and racist youth gangs incited violence against Indigenous youth in Chase in 2001. In 2001 Neskonlith Indian Band Chief Arthur Manuel held negotiations with the province through BC Attorney General Geoff Plant, which Manuel explained as failing due to Plant insisting that the Skwelkwek'welt Protection Centre at Sun Peaks and land defence camp at McGillivray Lake be dismantled. The Secwepemc Native Youth Movement also protested the installation of Nancy Greene Raine as first chancellor of Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Federal and provincial governments refused to acknowledge Secwepemc title in cases relating to the protests, which land defenders pointed out violated the Supreme Court of Canada's recognition of Aboriginal Title in the 1997 Delgamuukw Decision. The anti Sun Peaks campaign garnered national support, including from the Assembly of First Nations, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative Additionally, there were solidarity protests held in Germany.

In 2014, the previously out of bounds area known as Gil's was added to the in bounds area of the resort, making Sun Peaks the second largest ski resort in Canada. On December 23, 2018, a new fixed grip quad was added in the East Village area. The Orient lift starts across from the base of Morrisey Express, and runs to a point just uphill of the East Village Ski Way, and improved ski back access from the Mount Morrisey side of the resort while also providing ski in ski out access for hundreds of homes in the East Village, as well as opening up large possibilities for future expansion. For the 2020 2021 season, the 41 year old Crystal triple was replaced by a fixed grip quad. The Crystal quad boasts a 20% uphill capacity increase and follows a different alignment that ends adjacent to where Burfield unloads, eliminating the need to ride Burfield to access Top of the World and the West Bowl area. The Burfield chair is the longest fixed grip chairlift in North America, and is the 9th longest in travel length (. Nancy Greene Raine is the Director of Skiing at the resort.

GreenBlueBlackDouble Black 5 Mile Alley 5th Avenue Challenger Anticipation Ausfahrt Agitator Challenger Glades Burfield Outrun Back In Time Back Door Chute Cahilty Blazer Bluff Expo Connector Blazer Glades Bluff Glades Freddy's Cowabunga Blue Line Broadway Green Door Crystal Lane Cahilty Glades Bug Out Glades In Tatters Downtown C. C. Riders Cariboo Kookamungas East Village Ski Way Ça M'a Fait Plaisir Cariboo Glades Offset Fairways Ski Back Carpe Diem Chief Static Cling Gentle Giant Chikamichi Chief Shoulder Main Face Home Instead Cruiser Coquihalla Home Run Cruiser Glades Coquihalla Glades Homesteader Crystal Run Cover Shot Mt. Morrisey Connector Cześć Crystal Bowl Rambler Distributor East Bushwacker Sunbeam Exhibition Father Tom's Sundance Return Exhibition Glades Gil's Terrain Park (Base Camp) Fair Dinkum Hat Trick The Sticks Fall Line (West Bowl) HeadwallsMain Village Grand Return Highway 22 Static Cling Return Highway 22A Grannie Greene's Intimidator Grannie Greene's Glades Juniper Ridge Harry's Run (West Bowl) Lint Trap Hasta La Vista Main Face Glades Hot Shot Nose of the Chief Hully Gully Peak A Boo I Dunno Pink Flamingos Last Chance Ralph's Reach Lone Fir Centre Rice Bowl Lone Fir West Roller Coaster Lonesome Fir Glades Sacred Line Long Draw (West Bowl) Skunk Lunch Time Spillway Mid Mountain Spin Cycle Mid Life Crisis Sting Munro Ridge Sunny Side OSV (Race Training) Tighten Yer Boots Out Of The Woods Toilet Bowl Quick Shot Tumble Dry Round A Bout White Rabbit Runaway Lane Wringer Runaway Lane Glades Second Growth Shiner Short Draw (West Bowl) Shortcut Showboat Still Smokin' Sun Catcher Sun Downer Sundance Sunrise Telly Gram Terrain Park Flight School The Other Way The Spine (West Bowl) Three Bears Three Bears Glades Trans Canada West BushwackerWestsydeKia Ora

Name Type Builder Years Active Notes Sundance Quad Doppelmayr 1993 1995 Replaced by Sundance Express and relocated to Burfield. Crystal Triple 1979 2020 Replaced by Crystal Quad. Burfield Double Murray Latta 1961 1997 Replaced by Burfield Quad, called Tod Mountain Ski Lift 1961 1971 Shuswap Müller 1972 1993 Replaced by Sunburst Express. Exhibition T Bar Hall 1979 1993 Relocated to West Bowl and upgraded with Doppelmayr parts. West Bowl Hall / Doppelmayr 1993 2020 Originally built by Hall in 1979 as the Exhibition T Bar, removed as of 2020.

In addition to skiing, Sun Peaks also operates a downhill mountain bike park with over 2,000 vertical feet of terrain. The Sunburst Express quad chair takes riders to a trail park at the top.

Sun Peaks has a 6,400 yard, 18 hole golf course. It is the highest elevation course in British Columbia, at over above sea level.

In 2003 Sun Peaks opened "Tube Time" to allow for recreational tubing at the resort.

In 2016, a new permanent banked slalom course was opened alongside the Sundowner and Suncatcher runs.