Smaller, family-owned and just outside of Kamloops, Harper Mountain only has one chair, one T-Bar, and most importantly, night skiing.

“That’s where a lot of us Kamloops kids had our first dates,” says Brett Tippie, who was a member of the Canadian National Snowboard team in the late 1990s.

“Harper allowed snowboarding right from the start, too. The motto was ‘If you buy a ticket you can ride whatever you want.’ I learned up there, and that’s where I brought my kids for their first days on snow.”

Only 20 minutes from Kamloops, Harper Mountain has something for everyone, from 426 vertical metres of elevation on over 400 acres of terrain, to the always popular lift operated Snow Town Tube Park. There’s a terrain park for those looking for some rails and air. Panoramic views of the mountain and a licensed hot food cafeteria, sounds about perfect.

Harper also has cross-country trails and a tube park and a super legit log chalet with posters on the wall Tippie remembers from 1975.