Big White BC
Big White ski resort is just outside of Kelowna. We bought early bird season passes that were paid for after 9 days of skiing, these also get you a reciprocal 25% off full day passes at other BC resorts if you were going for a longer duration. Most of the BC ski resorts do this (everywhere apart from Whistler did). Joining the Big White ski group on Facebook gave us the opportunity to get a lift up the hill from Kelowna, there is a shuttle from the airport if you don't join.
Big White ski resort is just outside of Kelowna. We bought early bird season passes that were paid for after 9 days of skiing, these also get you a reciprocal 25% off full day passes at other BC resorts if you were going for a longer duration. Most of the BC ski resorts do this (everywhere apart from Whistler did). Joining the Big White ski group on Facebook gave us the opportunity to get a lift up the hill from Kelowna, there is a shuttle from the airport if you don't join.
Big White's lifts
We didn’t experience a que longer than 1minute at any time we were there, there just doesn’t seem to be long ques anywhere and the automated card gates are very efficient. The powder chair is the only place that we saw get busy and only on the weekends, through the week you ski straight on to it. If you ski through the week you won’t have to que anywhere at any time really.
The cliff chair and powder chairs are slow but the rest are good. The bullet chair provides great uplift for night skiing which is better than we have skied anywhere else.
Big White's Best Runs
The cliff area (double black) is the most challenging area of Big White and is sort of like a bigger version of the back corries at Nevis but with better snow and a chairlift that takes you right to the top (slowly). When open, it had fantastic snow and great steeps.
The runs through the trees by the powder chair (blues and single blacks) are really fun and don’t get tracked out too quickly although the chair is pretty slow.The trees beside Serwas (the Never Never glades) are very quiet and you can find stashes of powder days after a big dump of snow.
On a clear day the runs from the top of the alpine T-bar are stunning (blues), especially after a big snowfall. The trees there are caked in snow, which they call “snow ghosts”. It's mesmerising.
The Gem lake runs are the longest and quietest. Unfortunately the Gem lake chair was being repaired for most of the time we were there. We will have to go back!
Big White's snow
We were very lucky as it snowed most days we were there and the snow is amazing! We had one particularly memorable day where it snowed 38cm, which actually felt as if it justified travelling thousands of miles for. The snow is light and fluffy and seems to stay in good condition.
The locals call Big White “Big Whiteout” which is very apt given the fog that can engulf the mountain. If this happens its best to head for the trees where the visibility is better, in particular the Black Forest area where it’s often not as bad.
We didn’t experience a que longer than 1minute at any time we were there, there just doesn’t seem to be long ques anywhere and the automated card gates are very efficient. The powder chair is the only place that we saw get busy and only on the weekends, through the week you ski straight on to it. If you ski through the week you won’t have to que anywhere at any time really.
The cliff chair and powder chairs are slow but the rest are good. The bullet chair provides great uplift for night skiing which is better than we have skied anywhere else.
Big White's Best Runs
The cliff area (double black) is the most challenging area of Big White and is sort of like a bigger version of the back corries at Nevis but with better snow and a chairlift that takes you right to the top (slowly). When open, it had fantastic snow and great steeps.
The runs through the trees by the powder chair (blues and single blacks) are really fun and don’t get tracked out too quickly although the chair is pretty slow.The trees beside Serwas (the Never Never glades) are very quiet and you can find stashes of powder days after a big dump of snow.
On a clear day the runs from the top of the alpine T-bar are stunning (blues), especially after a big snowfall. The trees there are caked in snow, which they call “snow ghosts”. It's mesmerising.
The Gem lake runs are the longest and quietest. Unfortunately the Gem lake chair was being repaired for most of the time we were there. We will have to go back!
Big White's snow
We were very lucky as it snowed most days we were there and the snow is amazing! We had one particularly memorable day where it snowed 38cm, which actually felt as if it justified travelling thousands of miles for. The snow is light and fluffy and seems to stay in good condition.
The locals call Big White “Big Whiteout” which is very apt given the fog that can engulf the mountain. If this happens its best to head for the trees where the visibility is better, in particular the Black Forest area where it’s often not as bad.
Big White's Food
The Globe does amazing Spanish tapas- Sunday is Paella night. Their Smores (homemade marshmallow) pudding is brilliant (it comes with a table fire burner to toast them and is very messy but fun).
Sessions Taphouse does the better wings on Wings Wednesday, we thought it was the better bar, it has more going on and the better beer selection. They have a huge varied menu that is pretty affordable.
Underground does the best pizza on the hill.
The blarney stone has a balcony out the back that is the perfect place to watch the sun go down, it is an incredible view. They do a great all you can eat breakfast for $14.95 and have a varied Irish/American style menu.
The Thai takeaway (Thai2go) is as good as the food in Thailand, great takeaway.
Big White's (budget) Accommodation
We stayed in the hostel for the duration of our stay. We had a private room with a kitchenette, which was basic but fine for us. Clean and quiet. The hostel is Aussie Dudebro central however, which made Australia day an interesting experience! Hostel link- Urban Retreat Hostel
The Globe does amazing Spanish tapas- Sunday is Paella night. Their Smores (homemade marshmallow) pudding is brilliant (it comes with a table fire burner to toast them and is very messy but fun).
Sessions Taphouse does the better wings on Wings Wednesday, we thought it was the better bar, it has more going on and the better beer selection. They have a huge varied menu that is pretty affordable.
Underground does the best pizza on the hill.
The blarney stone has a balcony out the back that is the perfect place to watch the sun go down, it is an incredible view. They do a great all you can eat breakfast for $14.95 and have a varied Irish/American style menu.
The Thai takeaway (Thai2go) is as good as the food in Thailand, great takeaway.
Big White's (budget) Accommodation
We stayed in the hostel for the duration of our stay. We had a private room with a kitchenette, which was basic but fine for us. Clean and quiet. The hostel is Aussie Dudebro central however, which made Australia day an interesting experience! Hostel link- Urban Retreat Hostel
Big White Review
Big White is a great intermediate hill with decent lifts and amazing snow (probably the most consistently good snow we had). The centre is well designed and the night skiing is the best I’ve been on (most vertical of any night skiing in Canada apparently). It was the first resort we visited so this had an influence on our memories of it, we returned for a couple of days before we left and still loved it. We Skiied 12 days there and would love to go back.
The Big White ski school was very good, between us we went to a tree skiing clinic and had a 1 to 1 lesson that were both excellent (we have both had lessons from the ESF in France multiple times). Clear instruction and very affordable.
Lifts are pretty good, mostly decent and modern. We skied most days and didn’t ever get bored. There are still many runs that we didn’t get a chance to ski.
Big White is a great intermediate hill with decent lifts and amazing snow (probably the most consistently good snow we had). The centre is well designed and the night skiing is the best I’ve been on (most vertical of any night skiing in Canada apparently). It was the first resort we visited so this had an influence on our memories of it, we returned for a couple of days before we left and still loved it. We Skiied 12 days there and would love to go back.
The Big White ski school was very good, between us we went to a tree skiing clinic and had a 1 to 1 lesson that were both excellent (we have both had lessons from the ESF in France multiple times). Clear instruction and very affordable.
Lifts are pretty good, mostly decent and modern. We skied most days and didn’t ever get bored. There are still many runs that we didn’t get a chance to ski.
