“Looks like a mini-Whistler,” might be your first thought as you stroll the pedestrian-friendly Sun Peaks Village.

And though barely a quarter Whistler’s size, Sun Peaks has an ordered, well-planned ambience that connects on-slope accommodation, lifts, commercial space, and resort services in an almost European way.

Back in the early years, virtually all of the skiing was on the Burfield Village side, with a long, slow double chair that takes 23 minutes to ride to the summit of Tod Mountain. In a good snow year, the Burfield side offers Sun Peaks’ most challenging skiing and hardly anyone bothers to go over there.

The main action takes place off the Morrissey, Sunburst, and Sundance high-speed quads. Most of the runs over here are baby-soft cruising runs, which suit Sun Peaks’ baby boomer clientele extremely well. The Mount Morrissey runs are north facing so the snow stays nice and powdery, while major runs coming out of the Village (serviced by Sunburst and Sundance) feature man-made snow. Powder seekers who don’t mind a short hike will head over to Gil’s, a sweet bowl/glade combo that’s as close to adventure skiing as you can get around these parts. We’d be seriously remiss if we didn’t mention that the skiing public has the opportunity to tour the mountain daily with Senator Nancy Greene-Raine, Olympic medalist and proprietor of the Nancy Greene Cahilty Lodge.

Sun Peaks has worked hard at developing a summer business complete with an A-game mountain bike park (that has hosted the Canadian Championships numerous times), as well as scenic chairlift rides up to the alpine wildflowers. Nearby MacGillivray and Heffley Lakes are worth a visit, too.