Ski In/Ski Out Convenience
at Big White Ski Resort
Big White is Canada's largest ski in/ski out resort village.
For visitors to British Columbia's Big White Ski Resort, it's all about convenience. This modern ski village is totally ski in/ski out.
That means you can put your skis on at your accommodation, climb aboard a lift, and be skiing in just a matter of minutes. What more could the avid skier ask?
If you don't feel like skiing on any particular day or if you're a non-skier just along for the ride, the village is also at your fingertips. Shops and restaurants are intermingled with hotels, condominiums, apartments, and chalets, so shopping and dining are right outside your door.
The Mountain
If you're all about the skiing, then you've come to the right place. Big White ski resort is British Columbia's second largest winter sports area (Whistler is first) yet it's affordable and quite family-oriented as well.
Here you'll find 118 well-groomed runs as well as 27 additional unnamed trails. The balance is a little heavy on the intermediate runs – about 56% - but beginners and expert skiers can find plenty of runs to keep them occupied as well. An additional 15.5 miles of groomed trails are available for Nordic skiers.
Fifteen lifts, including five high-speed chairs or gondolas, take skiers up the mountain at Big White at a rate of more than 25,000 skiers per hour, and with about 25 feet of snowfall annually, the powder is always fresh.
Snowboarders can visit the TELUS Park, where they'll find a 500 foot-long Super Pipe with 17-foot transitional walls, a standard-size Half Pipe with 12-foot walls of 400 feet in length, and beginner/intermediate and intermediate/advanced lanes combined with rails and hits.
Big White has a huge ski school, with nearly 100 instructors. They also teach snowboarding and their kids' programs have been consistently touted as number one in the country.
Other Winter Activities
In the center of the village, you'll find an ice rink where you can hone your figure skating skills or join others for a pick-up game of ice hockey.
Wooded snowshoeing trails allow you to experience the beauty of Big White at a tranquil pace. Guided snowshoe tours are available daily.
If you're looking for speed, climb aboard a snowmobile and take a guided scenic tour of the backcountry and the wooded trails that wind through the resort area. Tours depart several times a day and double-seat snowmobiles make this a viable family activity.
Sleigh rides are popular both during the daylight hours and at night, when the true romance of riding a horse-drawn sleigh under the moonlight with the snow glittering below is at its best.
Big White in Summer
During the summers, the resort is still quite popular. Guests come here to fly-fish in the clear mountain streams or boat on nearby Lake Okanagan.
You can also go horseback riding through the forest, hike or mountain bike down the dry ski trails, or be pampered in the resort's two day spas.
Where is Big White Ski Resort?
Big White is in south central British Columbia, just southeast of the city of Kelowna. Getting there isn't difficult.
Kelowna has its own international airport which is serviced by many Canadian airlines including Air Canada and Horizon. It's also easy to find non-stop transportation from such cities as Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, or Seattle.
Shuttles from the Kelowna International Airport are plentiful and can get you to Big White Ski Resort in under an hour.