Departure
78%
vs 95% ▼ 17
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sparwood Elk Valley Airport is a small uncontrolled aerodrome serving the mining town of Sparwood in the Elk Valley of southeastern British Columbia. Sited at a high elevation of 3799 feet amid mountainous terrain, it offers a single hard-surfaced runway and operates on a mandatory advisory frequency rather than full air traffic control. It is a useful stop for VFR pilots exploring the Rocky Mountain valleys of the East Kootenay region.
Sparwood Elk Valley Airport (CYSW) lies immediately alongside the town of Sparwood in the Elk Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is a small, uncontrolled aerodrome sitting at a notably high field elevation of 3799 feet, which gives it particular relevance for pilots needing to consider density altitude and mountain flying performance. The airport offers a single hard runway and is of interest to sim pilots wanting to fly into a high-altitude valley strip surrounded by the peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
The aerodrome is uncontrolled and operates under a mandatory frequency (ATF) arrangement rather than a staffed air traffic control tower. It sits in the Elk Valley close to the town of Sparwood, with other nearby communities including Elkford, Corbin, Fernie, Coleman, Blairmore, Bellevue, Fort Steele and Wardner scattered around it in the surrounding valleys, and the airport lies not far from the British Columbia-Alberta border in mountainous terrain.
The airport has one physical runway, aligned 17/35, with a hard surface measuring 3968 feet in length. No ILS is available at the field.
Pilots should use the Aerodrome Traffic Frequency (ATF) of 123.2 MHz when operating in the vicinity of Sparwood Elk Valley Airport, as there is no air traffic control service and no instrument landing system.
The town of Sparwood itself, adjacent to the airport, is the primary visual reference for locating the field, with the settlements of Elkford, Corbin and Fernie lying within the wider Elk Valley area as broader orientation points for pilots transiting the region.
Sparwood Elk Valley Airport remains a small general aviation aerodrome serving the local community, operating on an uncontrolled basis with traffic self-coordinating on the ATF.
