Sunshine at Manning Park

What a difference a day makes, plus some 80 miles further west!   At Sasquatch, it was snowing all morning and then it gradually turned to rain.  This morning, it was raining in the town of Hope too. But some 40+ miles west of Hope, Manning Park ski area greeted me with blue skies and some sunshine.  There were some clouds that blocked the sun from time to time, but there were also several really sunny periods.

The Orange chairlift at Manning Park ski area.  And notice some blue sky!

Manning Park has about 100 feet of vertical more than Sasquatch.  Also, since it is located further inland, the snow is a bit lighter and drier, and there is not much fog, like there was at Sasquatch.   According to a local I talked to on the chairlift, Manning Park is almost always either above the clouds, or the clouds are high above it.  Either way, there is usually no fog at the ski area.

There are two hills here, just like at Sasquatch.  The bigger hill is served by the Orange chairlift.  The other is served by the Blue lift.  The lift towers are painted accordingly.   The Orange lift offers longer cruisers and many more ungroomed black diamond trails.  It offers more powder and more tree skiing.

In the picture, I am standing at the top of the Blue chairlift, with a view of the Orange lift served hill in the background.

This ski area is only about 5 or 6 miles off of highway 3, the highway that traverses British Columbia east to west not very far from the US border.

A powder skier. This could have been me,
but I can't photograph myself like that.

Just when it came time to find the turnoff from highway 3, I was a bi confused by a sign that announced the "Gibson Pass ski area".  Are there two ski areas near each other?  No.  Manning Park ski area used to be called Gibson Pass ski area many years ago, and nobody has changed the sign on the highway.  Also, the day lodge still bears the name of Gibson Pass day lodge.

If you want to stay the night here, there is a Manning Park resort lodge right at the highway 3 turnoff, which is some 5 or 6 miles from the ski area.

The building on te left is day care for children.  The building on the right is ticket sales.

The base area consists of several smaller cabin-like structures, instead of one big day lodge.  The  building bearing the sign of "Gibson Pass Day Lodge" is the largest structure.  It contains the cafeteria.  Several smaller nearby buildings house a day care for small children, a rental shop, lift ticket sales, the ski patrol, ... each in its own log cabin.

I curtailed my enthusiasm and left the ski area early, by about 2 pm, in order to try to complete the 3 hours of driving to Kamloops before nightfall.  I could have driven back to Hope and then onto the Coquihalla freeway (Highway 5).  But, I have driven that road multiple times before.  So, this time, I followed highway 3 east and then north to Princeton -- which describes itself on its website as "the town beyond Hope".  

From Princeton, I drove on highway 5A and then highway 97C to Merritt.  Merritt was a good place to stop for a bite to eat.  And then one more hour of driving to Kamloops.  I am staying here at the Riverland Inn, a nice place right by the bridge over the South Thompson River.  It's the bridge everyone crosses on the way to Sun Peaks, as you leave Kamploops.

But, I've skied Sun Peaks lots of times.  So, tomorrow, I am crossing that bridge and then within just a couple of miles further north, I'll turn off the freeway and drive about 25 minutes to Harper Mountain ski area.  Something new to me.