Test report Big White

In the middle of the Canadian Rockies, about 60km from Kelowna there is the skier’s paradise. Modern high-speed quads lift you up to 2319m. The first contact before reaching Big White Village is the “Gem Lake Express” - a high-speed detachable quad. After 5-7 minutes of driving you reach Big White Village. From here a few lifts start uphill. The quad “Plaza Chair” binds the “Ridge Daylodge” with the Village Centre. Here is a halfpipe and some easy runs, very recommendable for

beginners. With the detachable quad “Ridge Rocket Express”, which starts also at the “Ridge Rocket Daylodge” you have access to runs of every difficulty. From the top station you can swing to the “Alpine T-Bar” which pulls you up to the very top of the mountain.From here you can run downhill to every point of the ski resort. At the backside of the

mountain start the very difficult runs “Parachute Bowl”, “Pegasus” and “The Cliff” - really nothing for weak nerves! Over medium runs you have access to the triple chair “Powder Chair” which gives you very good access to the double chair “Falcon Chair” and “Gem Lake Express”. Most of the runs at this lift are very difficult and lead through thick woods. Falcon Chair also serves difficult runs, some of them fairly above timber-line. To the base station of the “Gem Lake Express” there lead many medium runs parallel, all of them ending in the “Ogo Slow” - skiroad which leads to the lift. If you stay right at the top station you can swing through the “Sun Rype Bowl” over very nice runs downhill.

To get back to Big White Village you have to take the “Village Way” from Gem Lake Express top station to triple chair “Powder Chair”. Take this upwards and glide through “Sleepy Hollow” or other runs to “Ridge Daylodge”.

With the “Ridge Rocket Express” you can get back up to the detachable quads “Bullet Express” and “Balckforest Express”. Here you can find a great number of easy to medium runs. Over “Gondola Way” you come to “Happy Valley” where 2 rope-tows for beginners and the Tubing-Park are located. The new eight person gondola “Happy Valley”

gets you back to the Village Centre. Night-skiing is possible from Tuesday to Saturday at “Plaza Chair” and “Bullet Express”,- a really big night-skiing area with long runs. The “Happy Valley Gondola" works every day till 10 p.m. and is the ideal connection to the Tubing Park. In Big White it is allowed to run through the sparse woods and in fresh powder this is a real dream…

Big White Ski Resort, awarded North America’s #1 Family Resort, is Canada's largest, totally ski-in ski-out resort village. With over 2,765 acres (1,147 hectares) of skiable terrain on 118 runs serviced by 16 lifts, you’ll be entertained at any level. Big White is home to Canada’s longest six-passenger express chairlift, 4 high-speed express quads and an 8 passenger express gondola boasting a lift capacity of 28,000 skiers per hour - which means no lift line-ups. At an average temperature of -6’C (21’F), Big White receives over 750 cm (24 feet) annually of the Okanagan’s finest ‘champagne’ powder.

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. With a wide variety of terrain including, wide open slopes, bowls, cliffs and gladed areas; it is not uncommon to have a slope to yourself. Intermediate runs account for more than half the mountain terrain graded at their standard of long fast cruisers of up to 7.2 km (4.5miles) long and fun bumps and great gladed runs. The toughtest terrain is in the double-black diamond Back Bowl which features dramatic cliffs hiding chutes with pitches of more than 45 degress in some cases. Join one of our knowledgeable Snow Hosts for a complimentary ski, snowboard and cross country mountain tours available mornings and afternoon to unlock the secrets of Big White. Snow Hosts meet daily in the village at 9:30am and 1:30pm.

At Big White there are many ski and snowboard programs that can be tailored to suit your ability. Whether you are new to the sport or an expert looking to refine your skills, the Big White Ski & Board School has something to offer you, and we guarantee you’ll have fun doing it! At our school, it’s all about you.

Big White’s lift pass is good at neighboring Silver Star Mountain Resort, under the same ownership and located 130 km (81miles) from Big White. In Big White it is allowed to run through the sparse woods and in fresh powder this is a real dream