Destination Sun Peaks - Kamloops, BC

Let me begin by saying, there’s no easy way to get from Nelson to Sun Peaks Resort. There’s more than enough choices what with options via the back roads of Trout Lake, the Slocan Valley, Kaslo/New Denver, not to mention the 2 ferries. Then there’s the major routes of highway 1 and 3 and the Chase/McGillivray Lake logging road shortcut. No matter how you cut it, there’s no short, direct route. The tight, twisty “shortcuts” and ferry schedules will easily make the 500km trip a 6 hour + sojourn. In any case, it’s still worth the trek!
With no real plan except to get there, a decision was made in Nakusp to take the Galena Bay ferry route via Vernon and Lumby. This route was most likely the tightest, slowest route imaginable. Combined with the darkness, abundant wildlife, RCMP checkstop, and missed turn, it made for a much slower than anticipated pace. My co-pilot Ryan Melnyk of Evilution Bikes and I rolled into our ultra plush Bear Country Condo around 3am, a full 7.5 hours after departing Nelson and just 7 hours before the bike park’s official opening and Toonie day. Meh, sleep’s overrated.


7am Saturday morning, and I’m lying in bed eager to sample Sun Peaks’ sweet singletrack knowing full well I should be sleeping, but unable to do so no matter how many sheep I count. We’ve got a quick 9:30 meeting with Jordan Petrovics, one of the Sun Peaks Marketing/Media honchos to go over the new park features and to (later) sample some of their spring season's work. When I rolled down to Bagg’s Sweets for a coffee and a bagel, the upper parking lot was near capacity, and mountain bikes were being readied for the day’s rides. Seems the hill opened at 10am on weekends, not the 11am (weekday hours) we’d planned for. By the time we’d returned from the condo to gear up, the lift line held well over 50 riders and double that many were on the hill already sampling some of that fine tasting Kamloops dirt made famous by Wade Simmons.


Unfortunately, Jordan, our guide for the morning, had a wedding to attend later that afternoon and had to be on his way by 12:30ish. After the requisite waiver signing and waiting our turn at the lift it was off to Smooth Smoothie for a good warm up run. Intended as a beginner trail, the wide, relatively smooth (go figure?) trail switchbacked down the hill for a full 8.5kms of high speed descent. Rocks, stumps and water bars littered the trail and its shoulders making this trail a great rip for riders of all abilities. Like most trails, as speed ramps up, so does the technical factor and riding this one at full speed was a great way to get our bike legs after the long midnight drive up from Nelson. Mid-descent, we were treated to a great view of an 800lb cinnamon bear grazing just below the trail oblivious to our presence. At the bottom of the trail, we were fortunate enough to get a quick spin down the Biker Cross course, a fresh dirt sculpture that showed huge promise, but was still in need of fine tuning on opening day. We’ve been told Paddy Kaye and his crew have been hard at work since last weekend grooming the course for next week’s Joyride competition.


On our next run, it was off to Honey Drop for some high speed singletrack featuring a cool uphill log ride, scattered stump and rock jumps and a steep, fast, twisting section that spit us towards Sweet One, a north shore style trail with some low, skinny bridge and ladder work. From there, we pedalled back up to the biker cross course for another run, feeling a little more comfortable airing it out – but still far from the speed and amplitude we’ll see from next weekend’s Joyride competitors.


By now, it was well past when Jordan should have been on the road, but we squeezed in one more run, Jordan loading up for the road afterward, while we headed on over to Masa’s for some lunch and some fine micro brew. It was great to watch riders finishing up their runs while quaffing a cold one and awaiting lunch. We were looking forward to getting back on the hill, but Mother Nature had other plans in store for our afternoon. Namely some lightning (to the tune of 80 strikes in the vicinity of Sun Peaks I’m told), the requisite thunder, heavy winds, hail and torrential rains. The lightning forced closure of the Sunburst Express, although we were able to finish our meal before the heavens opened up. Off to the condo for some much needed sleep before heading back to Masa’s for a spectacular dinner accompanied by Matt Brooks and Jared Gatzka. Plans were made to ride the next day with Jared, but unfortunately Matt was off to work the night shift to support his riding habit and wouldn’t be finished work until noon.


Before retiring for the night, we poached the Firestorm Hummer and watched [L=http://www.thecollectivefilm.com]“The Collective”[/L] on their killer video system also bagging a ride back to the condo negating a very wet walk as the rain was still falling with vigour. The Hummer is used for Jardines Mountain Adventure Centre’s ‘Firestorm 2003 The Tour’ a new educational experience based on the wildfires of 2003. Tours take clients via the H1, or luxury van into the McGillivray Fire Zone. Equipped with state-of-the-art audio visual systems, these vehicles will offer a video viewing of the ‘Firestorm 2003 DVD’ during the journey into the Fire Zone, it is comprised of incredible images of the wildfires in action, the firefighting heroes, the devastation of land and property, and much more. Tours are priced from $29 to $69CAD per person and group, senior and youth discounts are available. Contact Jardines Mountain Adventure Centre at 250-319-2174 for more information on the tours. As you may have guessed though, we came here to ride, perhaps we’ll take in the tour next time.


Up again at 7am, dying to ride, especially after yesterday’s whetting (or was that wetting?) of the appetite I patiently waited for the 10am whistle and prepared my bike for the abuse soon to come. 3.0 rubber on the rear, tune the fork, lube the chain, true the wheel and the KeeWee Progressor was good to go! My body was a little tired and sore, but after a quick shower and breakfast at Bagg’s sweets, that too was ready to ride!


At the top of the hill we were greeted by the trail patrol advising some trails would be closed due to the previous day’s rains. Oh well, there’s got to be something in the 26 trails that’ll be in good shape. We weren’t disappointed, hitting up Kaboom to Honey Drop to Sweet One to Root Dog. Still very wet in spots but we were able to rip it up hard and fast so long there was some form of eyewear to keep the water and gravel out. Ryan fell hard in a corner on run 2 and sat the sidelines for the remainder of the day while I sessioned run after run down Kaboom to Honey Drop to Root Dog at full speed, non stop. Conditions improved steadily as the sun began to heat the drenched earth, becoming super tacky by early afternoon. Each run was factors faster as confidence and conditions rallied higher yet. Apparently some other riders weren’t feeling the same luck I was. When I launched off more than one drop at high speed, I was confronted by a group of riders gathered, remounting their bikes in a blind, high speed section. Luck and some off-piste adventure prevented any crash or injury but for God’s sake, riders, please use caution when remounting in blind areas. Never attempt a “blind spot remount” after a high speed section without being absolutely certain there’s no approaching/overtaking traffic or use a spotter to let riders know of slower traffic ahead.

By day’s end, I could barely hold onto the bars, going bigger and bigger each hit. It was only when I was forced to stop and walk (by riders re-grouping blocking any rideable route around – again, don’t block the trail, make way for fellow riders) or riding the chair that my arms saw any rest. By the time Jared arrived, I barely had one more run left in my arms…. 3 runs later the day was done and the 4Runner was loaded, pointed east along the gravel “short cut” to Chase and the Shuswap area.

For most, the story would end there and now I’d be telling you who to contact for more info and a adding a link to Bear Country Lodge… but… well, it’s me and I never have a road trip without some sort of drama…

The McGillivray Lake shortcut took us through the ‘Fire Zone’ that is currently being logged and had to have cut off well over 50 minutes of driving versus the Kamloops route. We rolled into Chase with the temp gauge on my trusty Runner running damn close to the red zone. A quick check and redneck attempt at making a new thermostat gasket, with patch kit cement, we were only 45 minutes behind schedule and enroute to Revelstoke and the Shelter Bay ferry. Well, the gasket didn’t work, and by Salmon arm, temps were rising rapidly. Luckily, the local Esso station (manned by a Pinkbike fan who’s name I didn’t get) had some radiator stop leak in stock. 20 minutes later, we’re on the road, now 90 minutes behind schedule (I also called the kids to say goodnight) with about ½ tank of gas.




So, rolling into Revelstoke, at ¼ tank, with just 25 minutes to drive 35 minutes worth of twisting road, we choose to risk the ferry and arrive as the ferry is still no more than 20 feet from the shore steaming away. We were able to play with our bikes during the hour long wait, dropping, riding the jersey barriers and manualling the loading ramp. We were even treated to a beautiful sunset while riding the ferry eastbound. At about 11:10, we roll into the sleepy little town of Nakusp. The only business open was the local pub, not an open gas station (or pay-at-the-pump) in sight. I should note, Nakusp is the major centre via this route and there was little hope communities like New Denver or Silverton would have fuel available at this hour. A quick call to BCAA and the awesome luck of finding a tow truck driver who owns the local gas station and we were on our way home. We finally rolled in, at 1:45am, sleepy and (another) 7.5 hours from our departure time.


If you’re in Vancouver, you’re in luck as Sun Peaks is just a short 4 1/2 hour drive east via the Coquihalla and Calgary residents can easily make the westbound drive in 7 ½ hours (7.5 isn’t so bad when you expect it). Trust me here, it’s worth the trip, and when you factor in the stellar ride/accommodation packages starting at just $99CAD per person (double occupancy) you can’t lose. Our deluxe accommodation which included private hot tub, 3 bedrooms, (w/sleeping space for 8) kitchen, 3 decks and garage parking (for bikes or car) will run you just $180CAD plus taxes. For more information, contact Sun Peaks Resort at [email protected] or via landline at 1-800-807-3257. To stay in the Bear Country condos, visit www.sunpeakscondos.com or contact them directly at [email protected] or via landline at 1-800-811-4588.