A successful weekend back at Sun Peaks Resort after a two-week long shutdown because of the Embleton Mountain wildfire, though it was quieter than normal for a late July weekend at the Resort.

“It was much better that the situation we were facing a week ago. We’re relieved by how everything worked out from a fire perspective but we’re keeping on our toes because there’s a lot of summer left,” Chief Marketing Officer, Aidan Kelly, told NL News.

“For now, everything is back in business – the bike park and lift access sightseeing, and the golf course, and all those types of things.”

Kelly says staff are getting back into the swing of things after the unexpected shutdown while Sun Peaks was on evacuation alert, while nearby Whitecroft was on an evacuation order. It led to the closure of Heffley-Louis Creek Road with only residents being allowed through.

“It has seemed like we turned a corner there at the end of June, start of July,” he added. “We had more of the restrictions lifted, vaccination rates had been rising, business was picking up, but most importantly the vibe around the Resort were really good, but that lasted a grand total of I don’t know four-five-six days and then boom, it was snatched away a little bit again with the wildfire situation.”

While the situation in Sun Peaks has improved, there are still just over 150 properties that remain on evacuation alert, including Whitecroft and properties north on Heffley-Louis Creek Road and south on Upper Louis Creek Road.

“We only had a small handful of days, I’d say two or three days, where the smoke was really problematic up in Sun Peaks,” Kelly said. “It’s honestly been quite better up there in the mountains than you’d see down in the valley in Kamloops.”

“There are still lots of people outside recreating in the mountains. It’s a good place to try and escape things and get a breath of fresh air.”

Kelly says Sun Peaks Resort staff are now turning its attention to the upcoming August Long Weekend, as it looks to pick up some momentum for the rest of the summer season.

“That’s traditionally a big, fun, busy weekend up in Sun Peaks, so we’re hoping that that rings true again this year and that everything is good the rest of the summer,” Kelly noted.

Sun Peaks is also hoping to open as many as 500 hotel rooms to wildfire evacuees because of a shortage of spaces in Kamloops.

“My hope is we’re going to get in some of the evacuees, who I keep hearing can’t find accommodation anywhere,” Mayor Al Raine told NL News. “We’ve got hundreds of rooms available. So hopefully we can get on the list and start assisting people who have been forced out of their homes.”

Raine says hotels will still have space for tourists as they look to return to Sun Peaks as the situation has improved in recent days.

No Large Events Until At Least September

Don’t expect any large events at Sun Peaks Resort this summer, though it could be a different story come September.

“As we know there have been a few false starts with the COVID environment. We take one step forward and two steps back so a lot of this summer was sort of focused on more of the smaller scale animation type things,” Kelly said. “You know, a bit of live music in the village and some smaller events and market days and things like that as opposed the big large-scale events that we’re known for in the summer.”

“That was proven to be a really successful model for the first couple of weeks before this last setback, but we’re getting back into it now.”

Kelly says with restrictions set to ease further after Labour Day weekend, the Resort is planning to host Crankworx – a large mountain biking event that will see of the best riders in the world descend on the village.

“We are planning to test the waters in September. That’s when you get into another phase of even less restrictions,” he added. “For the most part, we wanted to walk before we run through Summer 2021.”