Ski in Big White

Skiing in Big White

Big White - Canadian Ski Resort (1510m to 2290m)

The highest (and second largest) resort in British Columbia is known to local's as the 'Friendly Giant'. 55km from the regional airport in the town of Kelowna, this is the largest resort in the interior of British Columbia, with full-service facilities on site.

Big White

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Big White Ski Facts

Big White Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Intermediate Skiers
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-Ski
	21	Black Pistes
25km		Cross Country Pistes
13		Ski Lifts
780m		Max Vertical
2290m		Highest Lift
1760m		Resort Altitude
1510m		Lowest Piste

Big White

The Canadian ski resort of Big White has direct access to 112 individual pistes, served by 13 ski lifts.

The ski resort itself is above 1500m, so skiing or boarding back to the resort is usually possible. With skiing above 2000 metres, snow cover is generally reliable.

Snowmaking :- Big White is able to augment natural snow, on 1km of ski runs, with 2 Snow Cannons.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 13 Ski Lifts of Big White are able to uplift 234,000 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

There are two Airports within two hours drive, so ski weekends, snowboard breaks and short ski holidays to Big White are perfectly feasible. Kelowna Airport is just one hours drive away, in good driving conditions, so you can be on the piste quickly.

Skiing in Big White

With more than a hundred named trails, Big White lives up to the 'big' bit of its name. These cover roughly a third of the patrolled terrain, but much of the 'off piste' is also skiable. The resort doers have a reputation for cloudy weather (the 'White' part of its name, not just the snow) but the presence of a large number of gladed runs means you can often ski below the clouds when this is the case. Crowds are rare, especially mid-week. At weekends the resort is popular with locals from Kelowna but the steeper sections are rarely busy.

Intermediates have almost two thirds of the mountain graded at their standard including long fast cruisers of up to 7.2km (four and a half miles) long and fun bumps and gladed runs. The toughest terrain is in the double-black diamond Back Bowl which features dramatic cliffs hiding chutes with pitches of more than 45 degrees in some cases. Free tours of the mountain are offered by Snow Hosts. Night skiing and boarding is offered from 5pm to 8pm from Tuesday to Saturday, from Mid December to end of March with access through the Plaza chair, the Bullet Chair and Telus Terrain Park.

Big White's lift pass is good at neighbouring Silver Star Mountain Resort, under the same ownership and located 130km (81 miles) away at Vernon.

The Big White ski school offers lessons for all ability levels including a wide variety of group and private lessons right up to ski instructor training. Bumps clinics and special tuition to help you make the most of carving skis are also on the itinerary, and cross country tuition is also available.

Night skiing in the resort is also available, the most extensive in Western Canada.

Snowboarding in Big White

The snow park offers over 1,000 acres of natural free riding terrain and is groomed regularly. The park features a super pipe.

Beginners have a quad chair served beginner area and a dedicated 'boarding school. A wide range of rentals are available. Adult Snowboard Camps are organised regularly throughout the season. These include two full days of learning or refining your riding technique. The package includes 8 hours of lessons, video analysis, and an après-ski event on the last day.

Big White Aprés Ski

Big White boasts Snowshoe Sams, which has been voted the best après ski bar in Canada. Friendly and casual it includes pool tables, dance floor and restaurant/lounge. The Raakel's in Das Hofbrauhaus (open to 1am every night except Sunday) and Happy Valley are two other popular bars.

Apart from eating, drinking and dancing, ice skating is available until 1.30pm most days on the open-air rink in the centre of the resort village and moonlit snowmobile tours are another possibility on certain nights.

Big White Snow Reports by e-mail

For a Free 7-Day Snow Forecast for Big White, including a Snow Report with current skiing conditions, just sign-up to our Ski Chat Forum and set Big White as a favourite ski resort in your Profile.

Ski Schools and Snowboard Training - Big White

Big White in brief

Big White Ski Resort is:
Ok for Expert Skiers.
Good for Intermediate Skiers.
Ok for Beginners.
Excellent for Snowboarding.

Big White Snow Forecast

Snow Forecast for Big White

Map of Big White

Full Page Map of Big White