Our Friends from OOSAR

A team from Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue is here today for a refresher on their winter training. Colleen tells me that the morning of the power outage, there were 14 trees across the road coming up.

The Big Blue Bus

Welcome to the Alpine Clubs from the coast. (Seymour and Grouse I think). We're happy to have you here to train. 

Eagle is open, access to snow study area - base is officially 100cms up top

 

Terrain update

After all the hard work from our grooming and patrol teams, the North side of Eagle chair is NOW OPEN! This makes nearly all of our terrain open as we head into the holidays.

On Eagle, Southwinds remains closed until there is enough to snow to build our expert terrain park.

On sugarlump, Wizard remains closed until we receive more snow to fill in the bottom, and Dash remains closed until the cliff under the chairlift is safe enough to ski.

With Eagle now being open, we are able to get more accurate snow accumulation stats in our weather plot, and to our surprise, we now have a 100cm base at the top! Snow is forecasted to fall all week, so kick off your holiday season with a killer day(s) at Baldy!

All lifts are now in operation 7 days a week until January 4th. Night skiing/tubing on our magic carpet starts next Friday, Dec 26th and runs every Fri-Sat until 7pm

Tubing remains closed until we receive a bit more snow, but we aim to have it open sometime next week.

Need a ride to the hill? Our Eagle Express shuttle service with pickup and drop off in Osoyoos and Oliver is operating Thursdays-Sundays all season long. Check our previous post about it or get all the info on our E-store, baldymtnresort.resortstore.net.

Get up here and enjoy the Okanagans most affordable ski hill!

#skibaldy #boundarycountry #southokanagan #yougottaskihere

Ride the Eagle Tomorrow Afternoon - post from BMR

Eagle is about to take flight very very soon. We have prepped the runs and set the stage for an opening tomorrow afternoon December 18. With more snow in the forecast and plenty at the top we are excited to get things turning.

Tickets to ride will be at the Sugarlump pricing until noon at noon we will switch to our two chair pricing. So if your looking for another reason to get outside come shred early and get a heavy discount on tickets.

A few house keeping rules as you plan to shred the best little 2 person chair in the Okanagan. (At least that's what we think)

1. It is still early season so stick to the groomed runs where it will be a much better experience

2. Anything off groomer may come back to get you so ride with caution

3. The north side will be closed so stay off this side of Eagle this is for your safety and the safety of others runs are closed for a reason

4. Have a good time out there it's going to be a stellar day with snowfall expected to hit by noon

Hwy 3 Update Today from MOTI

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025TT0129-001268?fbclid=IwY2xjawOv_CFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeGK1TAfPhDmXJDc0M59LoPnH8djFQvr2h-l36r-GrMp7A0j5QFJZmTvbjZrY_aem_J5IU3ZL9QmphUNPhz4xQ_Q

Some of the repairs needed are in avalanche areas..................

Power outage backgrounder.........

A little bit of background for the newer families in the village. This morning was a bit of an exception in that it took longer for the Fortis page to show our outage on the map. It was also annoying that several residents calling at different times were told that they were the first to report it.

When outages have happened at night, the person answering seems to know more than the day time call centre. They appreciate whatever info you can give them.

The Telus cell tower on McKinney does not have adequate back up power supply, so you will lose cell service fairly quickly, as well as Telus internet.

If the base area loses power, China Creek Internet loses power to connect from McKinney to the village. If the base area does not lose power, I can usually connect to China Creek with my power supply back up, as the installation at the top of the mountain has more back-up power.

Get to know your neighbours. There are several full time residents (including me) who do have a land line that works when the power is out.

Winter power outages up here generally last about 5 hours. There are a few of us who drive/call around to see if the outage is localized or widespread. If you see a downed power line, don't go anywhere near it.

I fear that we are in for more outages this winter. The area where the trees came down on the lines has seen more trees fail in the last couple of years. I don't have the info at the moment as to whether the proposed FESBC project may deal with some of that this summer.

Fortis took a different approach in the village this summer - not removing danger trees that threaten the main lines, and just tipping branches of even dead trees close to their lines. 

The tree situation in the village has gone beyond FireSmart. Liability and power have to be factored in. Unfortunately one owner in our village has gone to great lengths to try and convince Fortis to attend to a tree that could take out a transformer if it goes. They have been unsuccessful convincing Fortis.

Power just restored, after 5 hour outage

The power went out shortly after 6:00am this morning, and just came back on now. Cell and internet were not available. Gusty winds last night, and reports of trees on the road. 

I cleaned up my cordless electric chainsaws the other day, and put them away for the winter. After the debris I saw yesterday down in the area of the 2021 burn, I'm thinking I should put one back in the truck.

Ice Cleats Recommended

Driveways, walkways, and streets have a fresh dusting of snow on top, but there is ice underneath. Moisture just starting in Oliver when I started up, road turns white around 25km, McKinney Rd. 

No paid advertising on this blog............but

I discovered the Karma Fruit Co products a couple of years ago, made in Kelowna. No sugar added to their sparkling juice - just the sugar from the fruit. A good choice for someone like me who is trying not to support the big USA companies, and to cut back on sugar.

I gave samples to a number of friends and told them to get it at Costco - and then it was gone. In it's place, fruit juices made overseas.

The farm tasting bar is open 11:00 - 4:00 Wednesday thru Sunday in the winter. I drove by just in case this morning, and found a very accommodating staff member willing to sell some product to me. They make mocktails and other stuff too. All in Kelowna.

Apparently their deal with Costco is a seasonal one, up for consideration again in February.

https://www.farmingkarma.ca/ 

Fuel Today

123.9 and 124.9 in Kelowna

119.9 Costco, 120.9 at Gen 7, bottom of the hill.