Canada is well known as a winter wonderland, and skiing is an imperative activity if you happen to visit during the extended season which stretches between November to April. With Christmas over, and New Years looming, it seemed a natural decision to pack up our gear and head to the slopes of world famous Whistler. However, after checking the bank balances, we decided to head into the direction of the famous champagne powder of the Okanagan Valley, rather than the extortionate rates of Whistler. We set out to discover the wonderful wines and vast slopes with no lines of Apex Mountain in Penticton and Silverstar Mountain in Vernon.

Apex Mountain is a gorgeous small ski destination, but very family oriented. The lack of choice for dining out, and apres ski put a bit of a damper on what we were hoping was going to be an amazing week of fun. After two days of skiing on minimal snow, with only a small percentage of the lifts open, we packed up the car again, and headed to snowier pistes of Silver Star mountain.

It was New Years eve, we had no reservations, but decided to wing it and arrive. Luckily we found the last room in the hostel and we were able to have a great meal at one of the restaurants. Silver Star had much more life to it in the village, and the fact that the mountain was larger with more chairlifts and runs made it well worth the day of driving. New Years eve was spent sipping gorgeous wines from the Okanagan Valley, and meeting new friends while watching the torchlit parade come down the hill just before the clock struck 12.

After a stellar day on the slopes on new years day we had to pack up and head back to Vancouver. We decided to take the longer, scenic way which goes through Whistler. It was a wonderful tour of what secret gems British Columbia has to offer other than Whistler.