On their own, Vernon’s Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre and Silver Star Mountain Resort are well-known winter sport destinations.
Together, they are quickly becoming a nordic skiing wonderland.
The two businesses have always existed in a symbiotic manner, but last season, they took a step forward in their relationship, offering for the first time, a dual-area nordic pass.
The results are promising.
More than 100 dual-area passes were sold as of mid-January, and so far, the feedback from both local skiers and destination guests has been positive.
“It’s a really good start,” said Scott Lemon, Sovereign Lake manager, noting the club’s dual-area sales equal roughly 10 per cent of its total season’s pass sales.
Lemon said skiers also had the option of adding the dual-area feature to a day pass for an extra $10, which further increased traffic at both resorts.
“It just shows there’s a lot more than those 100 people crossing back and forth. It definitely works for both of us.
“It’s a big enough trail system that people can come and stay for a while and always have good terrain.”
Guy Paulsen, nordic manager at Silver Star, said the dual-area affiliation is a long time coming and hopes this is the beginning of increased collaboration between the two entities.
Asked why it has taken this long for this idea to come to fruition, Paulsen replied: “The right people at the right time have come together.
“People have recognized, regardless of what end of the trail system you’re on, we all are very passionate about skiing and winter life. The best way to go about growing the sport and promoting the sport is to do it together.”
Between Sovereign and Silver Star, there are more than 100 kilometres of trail, making it Western Canada’s largest groomed network. To help promote the dual-area pass, Sovereign and Silver Star co-hosted a pair of cross-country ski weekends where season’s pass holders had the opportunity to ski for free on both trail systems.
People without a season’s pass could buy a day pass and receive a dual-area upgrade at no extra charge.
More than 700 skiers participated over the two weekends.
There are further plans for dual-area events, including races and nordic camps.
One of the things that makes the Sovereign-Silver Star collaboration work is each player brings a skill set to the table.
As a nordic-specific organization, Sovereign has history and experience on its side. It is what allowed them to successfully host the 2011 Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup, featuring 1,100 athletes from 23 countries, as well as a 2005 World Cup race.
Silver Star, backed by some serious marketing muscle, has more mainstream recognition. They have also been in the nordic game for 25 years, and they have hosted a number of large events, including Nor-Am championships.
“Sovereign has hosted the bulk of those events, and they do an amazing job of it,” said Paulsen.
“With the entire backdrop and village at Silver Star, the combined trail system and the expertise that the club at Sovereign has, it just makes for a great one-two punch. The beneficiary is the community of Vernon and we want to protect that and keep it going in the right direction. It’s Vernon’s mountain and it’s just one large trail system.”
