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SUN PEAKS OPENS ITS THIRD MOUNTAIN TO THE DELIGHT OF INTERMEDIATE CRUISERS. By Bentley Doyle

Many Sun Peaks skiers have seen it, but few have had the opportunity to ski it. The addition of Mt. Morrisey set the village at Sun Peaks abuzz before the mountain opened with the rest of the resort on November 23. Morrisey is peak three of the eventual five-mountain master plan. Today, 10 years into the resort’s grand scheme, Morrisey’s 17 new runs on 265 hectares bring the grand total at Sun Peaks to 114 named runs and home to 1,413 skiable hectares.

It’s largely an intermediate-skiers mountain where, by design, its trails meander through patches of trees. There are two ways you can travel after you leave the new high-speed quad: one funnels skiers back to the base of Morrisey and the other heads you village-bound. For those returning to the village, your impressive valley view includes a look at all of the resort’s runs.

From Morrisey, the spectacular panorama may be distracting. Skiers need to keep an eye on their immediate surroundings given the clear view across to Tod Mountain, the peak people have been skiing for more than 40 years. From the chairlift or atop the slopes, Morrisey is a great spot to see the entire area.

Via snowcat, last season Sun Peaks hosted tourists from as far away as Japan and Germany to ski Morrisey. But all in all, only 600 visitors made the trek—as well as a handful of hikers. But this ski season will be the real deal for tens of thousands now that Morrisey’s lift capacity includes a high-speed quad, the resort’s fourth.

Those skiing Sun Peaks already benefit from the area’s arid climate, situated 50 km northeast of Kamloops with some of the driest snow in the country. Helping the cause is the fact that north-facing Morrisey will see loads of snow throughout the ski season (until late April) and, again for the hikers, a significant amount will still be there in June.

The routes appear different from run to run, says Sun Peaks’ director of skiing Nancy Greene Raine, due to the clusters of trees and roaming slopes. Raine regards the newest mountain at Sun Peaks as an absolute delight, adding, “The average skier will really love it.” Having once failed the slopes at Sun Peaks myself, Raine’s assessment is encouraging for those less skilled. Still, she believes advanced skiers will appreciate it, too. Raine expects expert skiers to revel in the moguls on Spin Cycle and Cover Shot, runs nearly comparable to the toughest at Sun Peaks.

Raine credits the trail cutters for making Morrisey “an intermediate skiers’ paradise.” She says the setting is akin to intimate, park-like scenery, insisting that “you’ll feel like you have the mountain all to yourself.”

Realistically, resort-wide Raine anticipates Sun Peaks will host 280,000 skier-visits this season. That would amount to an increase of roughly 15 per cent from the previous snow period.

On the slopes, Back In Time connects Morrisey with Tod Mountain, while The Sticks is the focal point of the four novice runs. Notable among the 11 intermediate ones are top-to-bottom trails Still Smokin’ and Mid-Life Crisis. These “give you access to great areas and lots of options,” says Vince Accardi, director of marketing. And the islands of trees make the runs interestingly scenic. “There’s a whole bunch of exploring to be done,” Accardi affirms of Morrisey’s uncharted mountainside.

Morrisey’s elevation taps out at 1,675 metres and the vertical drop is just under 460 metres. The steeper slopes of Spin Cycle and Cover Shot, Morrisey’s two expert runs, should still offer a challenge to those used to Sun Peaks’ arsenal of black diamonds.

Eventually, Morrisey will be home to a base area with another lodge connecting to the fourth mountain, currently dubbed West Ridge. But together with the Delta Sun Peaks Resort which opened in November, that’s enough new development to keep all skiers happy.

More info: 800/807-3257, www.sunpeaksresort.com  This article appeared in Ski Canada.