The fabulous family friendliness is an obvious strength of Silver Star Canada and despite having outlined a few pros and cons on the Silver Star overview page, none of the other pros/cons are major stand-outs. Silver Star is just a very good all-rounder and it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first overseas ski destination that I visited, and it started a major obsession for ski travel!

We visited Silver Star for a few days as a warm-up before cat skiing with Keefer Lake Lodge, and it was an ideal place to ski groomers and some bumps to get the legs prepped. It’s become a little busier since our last visit (where in North America hasn’t got busier?!!) and there were short lift queues at the 6-pack even though it was a weekday, which was mostly system related. They don’t have RFID lift tickets as yet and waiting for a towie to scan tickets was leading to lots of chairs being only partially loaded.

Other parts of the hill were almost deserted, which seemed proportionally related to the amount of grooming. Around the gondola and 6-pack there was lots of grooming. Only a couple of runs in Silver Woods were groomed, and zero in Alpine Meadows so no one was there. The Backside had a handful of runs groomed including a couple of black runs which were fun for zooming, although they’d peculiarly neglected to groom the very bottom of Caliper Ridge and I launched from a steep groomer onto bumps. Silver Star also needs to do more summer grooming. The snow base was 1.8 metres and there were still lots of sticks poking through on some of the double black runs.

We stayed at the Bulldog Hotel which provided very affordable accommodation in a great location. We’d heard that it can get noisy due to the on-site bar, but this was a non-issue for us. Its proximity to the other bars and restaurants was a bonus, which we enjoyed exploring. Two of our favourites were the Silver Grill and The Den.

Our visit reaffirmed that Silver Star has an array of activities on offer for kids and families, some of which are included in the lift ticket price. If you’ve got a family, especially with young children, you’ll adore Silver Star.

You can see our Canadian ski resort ratings to see how we score Silver Star versus other ski areas.
See our video here

Our family of six had a good week here. The village is small and easy to get around. The dining choices kept us busy the whole week. There’s a nice bakery for pastries and fresh baked bread.
The skiing was good. We stuck to the main high speed lifts and had plenty to choose from. Mostly groomed blues and blacks and a few moguls. Good choices for the family.
Prices are reasonable especially compared to Utah and Colorado.
See our video here

Awesome mountain for snowboarding/skiing. And great food. But the ski lift workers had a temper. My friend was snowboarding for the first time and it was hard for him to get off the lift correctly, everytime he fell at the top the worker got mad and even swore at my friend. It makes us not comfortable going as a learner if there going to get yelled at and put down. Either then that it was a fun time
See our video here

Good snow, always had a great experience, easy to get around. Beautiful village and views.. Way bettersnow than icy Whistler and the horrible cloudy white out weather at Big White. Grew up in North Van.
See our video here

WE LOVED SILVERSTAR!!!

Early in the season and with super cold temps (-17) there wasn't much snow there or lifts open.
However, what snow was there was relatively dry and fluffy.

A number of blue and a few black runs had been groomed which meant easy cruising surrounded by trees and distant mountain visas.

Resort restaurants and accommodation was a bit cheesy e.g. styled like a wild west town with coloured buildings. However, it brightened up the place and doesn't really matter too much as long as the beer is cold and the service warm - which it certainly was.

Also, the Lift crew were super friendly, i can't say that about Nakiska!!!

I couldn't really comment on the amount of off piste as we didn't use it but i would definitely come here again.
See our video here

If skiing is your #1 priority then this is not the place. If "pretty" skiing and having a nice all round resort with a solid range of big and little kid side activities is what you are after, then you may just find this to be a bit of a gem. Lift infrastructure and positioning is not great. Three very slow lifts (albeit one is really only an access lift). The Comet stops/slows down with monotonous regularity (they should call it the Haleys Comet as it takes 76 years to go around!) Night skiing is forgetful and is only serviced by two of the aforementioned slow lifts (10 or so mins up getting cold and 2-3 minutes coming down...unable to get warm). Whilst on lifts, Silverstar has opted to try and differentiate itself in a strange (and negative) way. Under the veil of "safety", the Silverstar lift company require you to take off your backpack (including camelbaks)when using the lifts. This is a very unique policy compared to all other places we have been to. This policy actually achieves a contrary safety outcome and is actually entirely pointless. Their claim is that loose straps may get caught on the lift (never happened to me)...presumably while disembarking. Even if this was the case, the skier would merely travel around the bull wheel and trip the safety wand stopping the lift. What Silverstar would prefer is that you drag a loose pack in one hand (with all those loose straps remember and contrary to the other signs that stipulate to secure all loose items), your poles in the other hand through a crowded lift line and into a busy loading zone amongst other riders, whilst simultaneously trying to load your kids (because the lifties here don't actually extend a helping hand unless you specifically request it) and then proceed to drop your now loose pack at some point further up on te lift onto some poor unsuspecting riders on the piste below! It must be an insurance issue...either this or its because its Australian owned and we know how Australians lover their nanny state rules. Not an issue if you don't carry a pack but personally I like to carry spare things and snacks for the kids. Alternatively wear a large enough shell to go over the pack. There is limited on mountain eateries (ie one. Most opt to ski back to the village which is never that far. The Bugaboo bakery is rightfully a popular spot and the Bistro is more than adequate. The skiing terrain is ok (great for intermediates and young kids) but gets a bit same-y if you are there for more than 1week/10days. There is a fair bit of flat tracking in and out of certain areas. The park is fun and well provisioned for start-out and intermediate abilities. Most of the Double D's on the back side don't warrant this status and many are simply narrow/ funnels but you will still have good fun especially if you can get there for freshies after a fall. Speaking of which, Silverstar suffers from being close to two quite significant towns. The local businesses have really good employee policies for POW-days. Great for them, less so if you are the tourist without access to the "First Tracks" pass. It gets skied out pretty darn quick however there are pockets you can find off the Silver Meadows chair and the Attridge areas. Restaurant eating is fairly mediocre and in some places service is incredibly slow but it is passable.
Overall I'm going to steal a comment I heard talking to some folks on a chair....Silverstar is a good ski destination for older and younger riders, where the latter can also be kept busy with the side activities available. We had a really good time but there are enough "downside" features to this place that will not encourage us back in a hurry.
See our video here

After many years and procrastination, as a family we travelled from Sydney Australia to Canada for my first northern hemisphere ski trip.
I was looking forward to this very much, with wife and two boys (14,10) we had a week in silver star and I was not let down, we went late March and by all previous years seemed to be a good time of year, this year 2015 was light on snow, but all services were A-1..... The ski guides in the village were super friendly and I cant thank the staff in the resort enough, the resort was great, main ski runs well grommed and lifts were fast....we ski groomed and powder......I would rate silver star as a fanatastic location as it was environment that allowed for a feeling of being looked after within a resort. We absolutely loved it.
See our video here

Silver Star is a very good ski resort as an all-rounder. If it’s your first visit to western Canada for a ski holiday or you’re looking for a family ski trip, this is a great choice.

It was great to come back and revisit Silver Star. Things have progressed a little. The terrain has expanded somewhat and a couple of the restaurants have changed hands, but otherwise Silver Star remains much the same; a delightful ski resort that hasn’t been completely over-run with development. The village remains reasonably small and manageable and the staff are still super friendly.

The major strength of Silver Star Mountain Resort remains its attractiveness for families, particularly those with small children. The layout of the village makes getting around pretty easy, there is a good kids ski school, child care, and there are lots of events and activities for families.

Other pros: lots of ski-in ski-out accommodation; great terrain for beginner to advanced riders; reasonable weather and visibility; decent lift infrastructure; good quality powder; the ski resort is reasonably priced; and it’s generally uncrowded.

One con for experts is that there are only limited steeps and the ratio of steep run to cat track in the Putnam Creek area is not high enough. The other potential con is that the nightlife at Silver Star is rather sedate - party animals should head to Banff or Whistler.
See our video here

Silver Star is a fantastic resort and the new My One Pass offers great value for money as it includes skiing, nordic, tubing and skating all for the same price. The village is small but perfectly formed with a good variety of bars and restaurants, although lacking any nightclubs so more suited to families.

The mountain itself is very well laid out with many runs served by the same lift but I have never had to queue more than 1 or 2 minutes to ride the lift. The frontside has some excellent greens and cruisey blues for beginners and intermediates and the backside has the steeps that can challenge any skier.

The ski school is worth going to Silver Star alone for! The instructors are seriously world class and both ourselves and the kids had enormous fun with all the instructors and came on leaps and bounds in our skills. Can't thank them all highly enough!

We will definitely be back next year!
See our video here

Silver star is a really cute resort, and is really family orientated. The terrain is varied enough to keep everyone busy but not lose each other all day. We had great snow when we were here and enjoyed some beautiful tree skiing with really well spaced forest to make life easy.

The advanced section of the hill has lots of short steep runs, so you don't get exhausted and can ski them all day. Because the advanced runs are all in one section you are away from the crowds too, and an easy beginner run back to the resort for lunch.

Pros: well organised terrain (separated advanced from beginner), family orientated, colourful!
Cons: Short runs by Canadian standards

Best suited to intermediate or beginners or families with mixed abilities
See our video here