British Columbia, Canada
When it comes to adventure, Canada pretty much provides anything and everything you could ask for. Summer fun ideas will be up soon in another post, but for now, I hope to give you some ideas for playing in the snow!
Most will have heard of the most popular Canadian snow resorts for UK travellers – Whistler, Banff and Lake Louise. Great ski resorts especially when you are looking for a short transfer and want to get to the slopes quickest. However, if you’re prepared to travel a little bit longer, then you have the opportunity to find quieter slopes and virtually no queues.
The mountains are calling and I must go… skiing
Big White, in British Columbia, is an hour southeast by road from Kelowna airport. Big White’s strapline is “Canada’s Favourite Family Resort” and it is set up to offer something for everyone.
Located on Big White Mountain – the highest summit in the Okanagan Highland – between the Okanagan Valley (remember this for wine tasting in the summer!)and the Monashee Mountains. The fourth largest resort in British Columbia after Whistler-Blackcomb, Sun Peaks and Silver Star, it has an average annual snowfall of 7.5m. There is 105km of skiable terrain. Still ready to go after a full day’s skiing? Then you can take advantage of the largest night skiing area in western Canada.
What is the resort like?
There’s a wide choice of runs to match your ability and the visibility – open, tree-lined or through the trees. Happy Valley has the beginners’ area with both child and adult magic carpets. Once you’ve mastered the basics, the good range of greens allow you to ski other parts of the mountain.
On bluebird days, head up the Alpine T-bar to the summit to see the snow ghosts that Big White is known for. There is a choice of black or the greens to head back down. I really recommend going to the top as the view south is wonderful and gives you the “happy feels” that only views of mountains and sky gives you!
Accommodation options cater for every budget. Many have a hot tub with a view. If you are lucky, your hot tub will be a front-row seat for awe-inspiring sunrises and sunsets with the Monashee Mountains as a backdrop.
Everywhere is quite close in the resort. It is easy to find your way to the Village Centre Mall to collect ski passes and rentals. If your accommodation is in Snow Pines, there is a gentle trail through the woods to walk to the village centre. Most areas have the ability to ski in / ski out, though some might necessitate a short walk before hitting the slopes.
Planning ahead saves you money. So book your ski passes and rentals online. It is also easy to top up your pass online if you want to buy extra days.
The Village centre is clearly marked by the clock tower of the Village Centre Mall.
Like all resorts, it is always cheaper to bring food up the mountain from the supermarkets in the valley below. But if you need to buy main supplies, or just top up, there’s a well stocked supermarket and a liquor store in the village. There are two main coffee shops, Clocktower Coffee Co in the Village Centre Mall and Toasty. The latter was definitely my favourite – tasty mochas and exquisite presentation!
As we were keeping to our budget, we weren’t able to try all the restaurants. However, we did enjoy the quiz night and atmosphere at the Fourth Ace along with their delicious smoked beef. To celebrate a 21st birthday we headed to the Kettle Valley Steakhouse – a great selection of steaks and local Okanagan wine to accompany them. Our favourite was the Elephant Island red. We are now on the hunt to see if we can find it back in the UK!
You don’t come to Big White for European-style après-ski but there are plenty of activities to fill your evenings with. You can find live music, trivia, bingo and quiz nights. There’s a craft evening for kids in the Village Centre Mall. Or take advantage of the night-time kids session – they get movies, tubing and dinner – you get time to yourselves to enjoy time together.
What if I don’t ski?
Not an alpine skier? Pop on a pair of snowshoes and hike through the trees enjoying the scenery and the peace and quiet. Wanting a bit of a work out? Try cross country skiing on the 25km of Nordic trails. Fancy something different? – try the fat bikes – mountain bikes with really fat tyres designed for the snow. Want the engine to take the strain? – then there’s outback snowmobile tours.
Dog sled tours and horse sleigh rides offer other activities that everyone can enjoy.
There is also a great Tubing park with a choice of 5 lanes to slide down whilst sat on top of a tractor tyre inner tube in a purpose built cover. Might sound a bit weird but definitely worth a try – and you don’t even have to walk up the hill – there’s a magic carpet to take you there!
If you fancy something more traditional there’s an outdoor ice rink and boots to hire. If you re lucky to be there on the nights the local league meets you can watch some ice hockey games and play “spot the Canadians” amongst the international teams. It is not hard as they skate with such ease and strength!
I hope this has given you taste for what you can find at Big White. A winter wonderland holiday offers opportunities for adventure, laughter and making memories – who could say no to that?
Curious to know our travel details? Click below for more.
Travel Details
We flew on West Jet, booking with them direct. This proved beneficial as the flight out was cancelled and we were contacted directly and automatically re-booked.
Interesting to note is that some third party booking sites which had cheaper prices also reduced the max hold baggage weight by 3kgs and split the tickets. This meant that your luggage is not checked all the way through from London to end destination. You need to collect hold baggage and clear customs at the first airport in destination country before checking in again for the onward connection. Additionally, if the first flight is delayed (or cancelled in our case) the airline doesn’t recognise that you can’t make the second flight because of issues with the first. So in our case, we would have had to buy new tickets for our onward flight at our expense.
Accommodation was booked through AirBnb. There are many listings on there or VRBO as well as a large range through Big White resort itself.
We booked the resort airport shuttle bus to get us back to the airport – simple and easy to do online. Top tip though book early to ensure you get a place!
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