Silver Star Mountain.

How Silver Star Mountain took shape

SilverStar is a ski resort village about 22 km northeast of Vernon, in Electoral Area C of the Regional District of North Okanagan rather than the city. Syilx people hunted and picked berries on the mountain, miners staked it from 1896, skiers came by 1930, and the resort opened with its road and first lifts in 1958.

Long before lifts, syilx people travelled up the mountain to hunt and pick berries, and BC Parks notes signs of overnight berry camps. Miners followed. The Silver Star Mining Company, with rancher Cornelius O'Keefe as president, staked its first claim in 1896, but the silver, lead and zinc proved too low grade to pay, and work faded out around 1926. Official maps called the peak Aberdeen Mountain, after Lord Aberdeen. The province changed it to Mount Aberdeen in 1951, then adopted Silver Star Mountain in June 1952 because locals already used that name. Vernon skier Bert Thorburn was on the slopes by 1930, and a rope tow went up on Burney Ridge in 1946. After provincial approval in 1957, the last 3 km of Silver Star Road, two rope tows and an A frame lodge were finished in 1958. Chairlifts reached the summit area in the late 1960s.

Silver Star Sports became Silver Star Mountain Resorts Ltd. in 1981, and the Putnam Station Hotel opened in 1983, an early piece of the colourful village that defines the resort today. The Schumann family, owners of Big White, took control in the early 2000s. In December 2019 the resort was sold to POWDR, which pledged to carry out a newly approved master plan. The village sits at about 1,609 m and gets roughly 700 cm of snow a year. Homes range from older cabins to ski in, ski out chalets, townhomes and condos. Because the mountain lies outside Vernon, planning runs through the regional district and sewer service is private, so running costs deserve a close look.

1. 1896Silver Star Mining Company stakes its first claim, with Cornelius O'Keefe as president. Source
2. 1952Mount Aberdeen officially renamed Silver Star Mountain. Source

The homes & their setting

Early cabins, then a village of hotels, condos and townhomes built from the 1980s on, plus ski in, ski out chalets and newer contemporary mountain homes. Much of the village stock is strata, so check each building's bylaws and fees.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Putnam Station Hotel — Built in 1983, one of the first buildings of the modern resort village. History source
• Silver Star Provincial Park — Surrounds the resort and records Indigenous berry picking camps and early 1900s mining claims. History source