By James Peters

Major new investments for Sun Peaks in 2018

Mar 28, 2018 | 7:04 AM

SUN PEAKS, B.C. — Sun Peaks has announced $60 million in capital improvements to the resort to be completed this year.

Chief Marketing Officer Aidan Kelly says among the marquee additions will be a $4 million new chairlift serving the east side of the resort.

“It’s something that I really think is going to greatly enhance the guest experience here at the resort,” said Kelly. “It’s going to open some better access to existing ski terrain, it’s going to spread out the capacity of the resort a little bit, and it’s also really going to provide some great ski access from the east village into the main village.”

“Currently, people are cycling a larger section of lifts to be able to get to the village from the east side of the resort, or taking shuttles. So this is going to be really good in terms of just tying everything together and improving the flow.”

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The resort will also see a multi-million dollar renovation to the signature Sun Peaks Grand Hotel and Conference Centre, as well as a suite of other improvements.

“There’s some real estate in there, there are some improvements to the grooming fleet, there’s the municipal project, the Sun Peaks Centre, that was recently announced as well that is kickstarting here in 2018,” said Kelly. “You put it all together, and it’s a pretty big year in terms of development and growth and moving forward here at Sun Peaks.”

In order to both necessitate and fund the improvements, Kelly says the resort needs to be a busy place.

After a slow start to the season, this season’s visitor count has lived up to expectations.

“We had a great start in November, and then December was not too kind in terms of the weather for us. It was pretty dry was not a lot of snow, and then got really cold around the Christmas holidays, so that had a bit of an impact on visitation. But then January, February and March were really strong, some of our best months ever.”

Kelly adds, with just a few weeks left in the winter season, the resort is closing in on 400,000 ski visitors, which would be a first.

“We’ve never hit the 400,000 mark for skier visits at Sun Peaks. We’re going to come pretty close this year. Whether or not we get there is still to be determined, but all in all, it was a really successful season for us here.”