Big White Ski Resort

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Big White Ski Resort

Panorama from near the top of the Powder Chair
Location:	British Columbia, Canada
Nearest city:	Kelowna, British Columbia
Coordinates:	49°43′19″N, 118°55′44″W
Top elevation:	2,319 m (7,606 ft)
Base elevation:	1,755 m (5,757 ft)
Skiable area:	2 976 hectares (7,355 acres)
Runs:	118 Designated Trails 18% Beginner 54% Intermediate 22% Expert 6% Extreme
Longest run:	7.2 km (4.5 miles)
Lift system:	16 total (1 gondola, 6 high-speed chairs, 5 chairs, 3 ground, 2 tubing)
Snowfall:	750 cm (294 inches or 24.5 ft) average
Night skiing:	15 hectares (38 acres)
Web site:	http://www.bigwhite.com

Big White Ski Resort (Big White from here after) is located 56 kilometres southeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It is the second largest resort in British Columbia after Whistler-Blackcomb. It has a central village which is comprised of accommodation, eateries, bars and shops. It is the sister resort of Silver Star Mountain Resort. The village is 1,755m above sea level.

The mountain summit is 2,319m and has 16 lifts. The vertical drop is 777m with 750cm of annual snowfall. The total resort area is 7,355 acres with 2,765 acres patrolled. With 38 acres of night skiing, Big White has western Canada's largest resort night skiing area.

1 Skiing terrain
2 Activities
3 Dining
4 Retail
5 Accommodation
6 Ski and Snowboard School
7 Season 2005/2006
8 Trivia
9 Gallery
10 Awards
11 References
12 See also

[edit] Skiing terrain

Big White currently has one 8 passenger high speed gondola, 1 6-person high speed chair (new for the 06,07 season, four 4-passenger high speed chairs, one four passenger "beginner chair", one three passenger chair, three two passenger chairs, one T-bar, one children’s and one adult's magic carpet. New for 2006-2007 is the longest 6-seater Snow Ghost chair - it is parallel to a four-seater Ridge Rocket chair and means there are rarely any lift lines on the front of the mountain.

There are also two tubing lifts. The 2006-2007 has also added a 6 person high speed chair, although duplicating an exisitng liftline. These lifts are capable of transporting 25,400 people per hour uphill.

Big White has a total of 118 "designated" trails and 27 unnamed trails. 18% of these trails are beginner, 56% intermediate and the remaining 26% are classed as expert. The treed areas between trails are all open, and can offer excellent ungroomed snow and widely varied terrain. However, off-trail expeditions can be more risky due to dangerous natural features (cliffs, tree wells, stumps, etc) and the absence of regular ski patrols. It is also possible to become disoriented in the trees, however, unless the skiier has truly left the boundaries of the hill (which are well marked), they will eventually wind up back on a lift line or trail.

[edit] Nordic trails

Big White has 25 km of Nordic trails. There are two warming huts on the trails. Unfortunately the far one burned down in Feb 2007 - someone had the damper shut. I don't know how bad the damage is - but if you do light a fire in the other warming hut be sure that the flue is open. You can snow-shoe and dog-sled as well as cross-country ski on the cross-country trails. A small number of them also have snowmobiles.

[edit] Terrain Park

Big White recently built a TELUS Park in the 2004/2005 season. It features an Olympic sized 500-foot long Super pipe with 17-foot transitional walls along with a standard sized half-pipe. The park also has a skier/border cross course and beginner through to advanced rails and hits. The park is separated into two sides. One with larger jumps, rails, and boxes, and the other with smaller features, the border cross and a half-pipe. Big white is also exclusive to a snow-cross run identical to the one at the olympics.

[edit] East side

The eastern side of Big White is where the majority of lifts are located. The runs on this side are usually shorter and more crowded than those found over on the Gem Lake side. The most advanced runs are located on this side underneath the Cliff chair.

There is one high-speed detachable 6-seater chair (Snow Ghost Express), three high-speed detachable quad chairs (Ridge Rocket, Bullet, and Black Forest), two two-person chairs (Cliff and TELUS Park), and a single T-bar, the Alpine T-bar.

The Ridge Rocket chair has a small lodge at it's base, and the base of the Bullet chair is very near the main village. The new 6-seater lift (the Snow Ghost Express) was built for the 2006-2007 season parallel to Ridge Rocket Express to reduce lift lines. If you take the Perfection Run you can ski off to the left side and find food in Raquel's pub or the Soup Stone bistro. The pub has a sun deck when the weather is warmer.

[edit] Gem Lake

The Gem Lake Express

Gem Lake is located on the western side of Big White and is a high-speed detachable quad chair. The Falcon and Powder Chairs, two and three person lifts respectively, are nearby, offering the skier a large number of runs to choose from. The Gem Lake lift is often more windy than the east side lifts, but offers the largest single-lift vertical drop at the hill at 710 metres. It has a small lodge and parking lot at its base; the base of the Gem Lake Express is quite distant from the Village area.

Traditionally tourists tend to ski more on the east side while locals from Kelowna and other nearby towns will ski Gem Lake more than tourists.

[edit] Activities

There are many activities to experience at Big White either during the day or at night. These activities include the Mega Snow Coaster, which was once the largest tubing park in North America, snowmobile tours, sleigh riding, snowshoeing, and ice skating.

A new activity in 2006-2007 season is the Sno-Limo - this is fabulous for people who can't ski, are injured or are elderly - think of it as a cross between a wheelchair and a sled on skis. It goes on the beginner runs at a speed of your choice - certainly as fast as a good intermediate skier if you so desire.

The dog-sleds are back for 2006-2007 season at weekends.

The resort offers entertainment in the evening - the Big White Idol on Wednesday nights offers great prizes and is a karaoke-style competition. Books of over 100 songs are provided and the words come up on the screen - or you can do your own gig a capella.

The resort also hosts a number of family aimed events (Big White was awarded North America's best family resort in 2003 by The Good Skiing and Boarding Guide 2003) such as carnival nights and Tim Hortons's Cruise the Blues.

[edit] Dining

Big White currently has 17 restaurants, cafes and delis. This figure includes 8 lounges/bars. There is also a small grocery store and liquor store in the village for those who wish to stay in and cook. Guests staying for periods longer than a week sometimes purchase groceries from larger stores in Kelowna as the store on the mountain can be pricey.

The Copper Kettle Grille, located in the White Crystal Inn, is by far the best place to eat on the mountain. Operated by local Chef Vincent Denis, it offers a wide range of fare from six different types of eggs benedict for breakfast, to Smoked Vanilla Bean Duck Breast for dinner.

The Swiss Bear has excellent fondue and a very light Black Forest cake - the chef and owner are Swiss brothers and they also have very fresh bread. Be sure to watch the cuckoo clocks performing on the hour.

Vacation Food Services

[edit] Retail

Big White has a limited number of on mountain shops. Several shops are located in the Village Centre Mall and around the village. A few more are in Happy Valley at the bottom of the gondola. An internet cafe is located in Trappers Crossing, only a two minute walk from the Village Centre Mall.

A shopping bus is available and takes riders to Orchard Park shopping mall in Kelowna for the day.

[edit] Accommodation

There are currently four village hotels, 25 condo or town house complexes, 244 vacation homes and two ski in/ski out hostels.

[edit] Ski and Snowboard School

Big White has 100 qualified instructors, offering classes for all ages and all skill levels.

[edit] Season 2005/2006

The Avalanche Awareness Days Press Conference. Justin Trudeau speaking at the Canadian Avalanche Awareness Days conference.

Big White opened for skiing and snowboarding on November 19, 2005, earlier than predicted. It was planned for the season to go until mid April 2006. The day skiing hours are 8:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.and night skiing hours 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday - Saturday.

In January, the ski area hosted the 2006 Canadian Avalanche Awareness Days. Justin Trudeau attended these days and spoke at the televised press conference.

[edit] Trivia

Shred and Shred 2, are snowboarding movies starring Tom Green and Dave England that are currently filming at Silver Star and Big White. ^[1]

[edit] Gallery

Looking up from the bottom of the Clif Chair	Trappers Crossing, a town house complex	The Village Centre Mall	Near top of the Powder Chair
Jumping off a boulder	Boarders coming down the Powder Chute on a beautiful day	Skiing a black diamond at Big White