The Snowbombing event brought thousands of tourists and festival goers during a slow time of year for Sun Peaks.

(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - If they want to come back, the mayor of Sun Peaks would be happy to see Snowbombing return to the ski resort village.

Al Raine says he’s been speaking to residents and businesses around the town today as the five day festival wraps up, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“On all fronts it was nothing short of fantastic,” he says. “The community was very impressed by everyone’s behaviour and conduct.”

There were concerns having thousands of partiers in the small town could cause problems, but Raine says he’s heard of no significant issues.

“The mood was vey friendly,” he says. “I never saw any fights or anyone smashed out of their minds.”

While there were minor drug incidents, he says there haven’t been any reports of overdoses, an issue Raine has been worried about all winter. Organizers of the event hired additional medical staff and brought in security personal to bolster the village’s and the region’s resources.

Over all he believes there were between 6,000 and 7,000 people in the village, much higher than is normal for mid-April.

“I’ve been around this morning talking to business,” he says. “Compared to this time last year it was an unbelievable week; when you get into April the number of skiers declines enormously.”

Providing one last boom to the village’s economy is a big factor for Raine. He says if Snowbombing organizers had wanted a date in February or early March he’d have been less supportive, but mid-April is ideal, as it extends the town's tourism season, which is a goal. With a strong winter tourism season and growing summer crowd, the shoulder seasons of spring and fall are areas for growth.

“If you were to suggest this event in February or March, you can’t because it’d be in conflict with the skiing crowd we have,” he says. “That’s one of the issues with resorts, how do you extend those seasons.”

When asked if Snowbombing is welcome back from the municipality’s point of view, he’s positive.

“I would say there’s no doubt in our minds,” he says. “We’d say ‘Great, you’re welcome.’”

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