Big White Ski Resort
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| Big White Ski Resort | |
|---|---|
| File:Big White Color Logo.JPG | |
 Panorama from near the top of the Powder Chair | |
| Location | British Columbia, Canada |
| Nearest major city | Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Top elevation | 2,319 m (7,606 ft) |
| Base elevation | 1,755 m (5,757 ft) |
| Skiable area | 2 976 hectares (7,355 acres) |
| Trails | 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) |
| Website | 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.
Skiing terrain
Big White currently has one 8 passenger high speed gondola, four four passenger high speed chairs, one four passenger "beginner chair", one three passenger chair, three two passenger chairs, one T-bar, one children’s magic carpet, and one beginners handle tow. There are also two tubing lifts. For the 2006-2007 season a 6 person high speed chair is also being added. 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.
Nordic trails
Big White has 25 km of Nordic trails.
Terrian 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 seperated into two sides. One with larger jumps, rails, and boxes, and the other with smaller features, the border cross and a half-pipe.
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 are 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. A new 6-seater lift is being built for the 2006-2007 season parallel to Ridge Rocket Express to reduce lift lines.
Gem Lake
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Accommodation
There are currently four village hotels, 25 condo or town house complexes, 244 vacation homes and two ski in/ski out hostels.
Ski and Snowboard School
Big White has 100 qualified instructors, offering classes for all ages and all skill levels.
Season 2005/2006
Big White opened for skiing and snowboarding on November 19, 2005, early 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.
Gallery
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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
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Jumping off a boulder
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Boarders coming down the Powder Chute on a beautiful day -
sking a black dimond at Big White
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Awards
Taken from the Big White website
- The Best Ski Area 2004 - Okanagan Life Magazine
Winner of numerous Ski Canada awards including:
- Best New Chair (Cliff) 2005
- Best New Terrain Park (TELUS Park) 2005
- Best Intermediate Terrain (Gem Lake) 2005
- New Accommodation (Grizzly Lodge) 2003
- Earliest Opening 2002
- Largest Base Expansion (Happy Valley Day Lodge) 2001
- Best Glades West – Big White Thunder and Black Bear
- Best Ski Resort Features for Kids (Big White Kid's Centre) 1999
- Best Grooming 1999
- Best On-Mountain Ski Bar (Raakels) 1999
- Best Kids Restaurant (Raakels) 1999
- Best Weather 1998
- Best Renovated Skiers’ Hotel 1998
- Best Ski Area Child Care (Big White Kid’s Centre) 1998
Okanagan Life Magazine
- Best Ski Area, 2004, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998, & 1997
- Best Place for Adult Fun, 2002, 2001 & 2000
- Best Place for Family Fun, 2002 & 2000
The Good Skiing and Boarding Guide 2003
- North America’s Best Family Ski Resort
References
- Big White Ski Resort Site accessed October 23, 2005.
See also
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Ski resort
- List of ski areas
- Silver Star Mountain Resort, Big White's sister ski area.