We decided to head to Big White Ski Resort for the second week of Kavya’s spring break. Barb and Kent have a place at Big White, and they generously offered to host us for three days.
On Monday, March 21, we left home around 9:30 am and after a quick break in Hope and Kelowna, we reached Big White around 3:30 pm. There were some construction sites and minor delays along the way, but it was an easy drive for the most part.
Big White
Barb and Kent’s place is close to the Village Centre. So once we dropped off our bags and gear, we walked to the ticket office. Thanks again to Kent, we got a fantastic discount on our tickets.
The Village Centre (1760 m) has some restaurants, bars, a small grocery store and a gear shop. After a short walk around the Village Centre, we took Lara’s Gondola (free access) down to the Happy Valley area.
From the bottom of Lara’s Gondola, one can access the beginner’s learning area, snowshoeing and nordic skiing trails, tube park, skating rink, etc.
Kasturi got a call from Shalini, and I was surprised to know that she was also in Big White for a couple of days with her family. So after dinner, we stopped by their place, and Kasturi made plans for snowshoeing with Shalini.
Ski – Day 1
Big White is the third biggest ski resort in Canada after Whistler and Sun Peaks. It has about 16 lifts with 119 runs with a maximum (summit) elevation of 2319 m.
The lifts opened at 8:30 am. Being in a ski resort, we just got out of the condo and skied to the bottom of the Bullet Express Quad chairlift. Within minutes we were already on the chairlift. It was pretty sweet. As we got off the chairlift, we took Sun Run (green) down the mountain.
With the kind of conditions we had, Kent recommended that we ski in the Black Forest area. So we skied down a run to the bottom of the Black Forest Express chairlift.
While Big White is known for champagne powder snow, we were not that lucky. We had some fresh snowfall, but it was wet and felt more like the coast. However, the conditions were still better than what Kavya and I are used to on Grouse Mountain.
The best part was tree skiing. It was Kavya’s first time. Although she struggled a bit initially, she loved the freedom of skiing through the ungroomed terrain. We took our first break at the Black Forest Day Lodge at about 10:30 am.
The visibility didn’t improve, but Kavya, the optimist among us said “It’s getting better.” So, we continued to explore the Green and Blue runs served by Black Forest Express. Kent did a great job assessing the conditions, our ability and choosing a variety of runs. By the time we wrapped up around noon, we had done about nine runs and skied about 15 km.
Kasturi went out snowshoeing with Shalini and had a good time on the trail. We had dinner at Cantina del Centro. It was busy, and I was glad Barb had made a reservation. The service was slow, but the food was good.
Ski – Day 2
The weather got worse on the second day. We had a relatively late start hoping the conditions would improve, but it didn’t. We took the Bullet Express Quad again and then skied down to the Black Forest Express.
After a couple of runs, we skied down Kyle’s-Mogul’s Track-Perfection to the bottom of the Ridge Rocket Express chairlift. It was corduroy snow, and the visibility was terrible, but we followed Kent closely as he led us on all the runs.
For our last run, we went up the Snow Ghost Express (right next to Ridge Rocket Express) and skied back to the Village Centre. It was a short day, but we still managed to do eight runs and ski about 16 km with a total elevation drop of 2800 m.
After lunch, we left Big White. As we got closer to Merritt, the visibility was terrible, and we had to slow down to 30 kmph. However, the road conditions were better than I expected, and we made it back in less than six hours.
It was our first ski vacation. Skiing right from your doorstep, walking access to all amenities, a welcoming community and a great time with friends made it a fun trip. I can see why Big White is popular with families.
We look forward to coming back here next year. Hopefully, we will have better weather conditions and get to ski Big White’s champagne powder snow.
Resources:
Road Conditions: Drive BC
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