It’s the beginning of a new year and sadly Big White has had to say goodbye to the Christmas/New Year’s holidays, and all the families that decided to spend time at the resort this Christmas season. Big White Ski Resort was near record sellout for the majority of the holidays, with thousands of people flocking to the resort to spend time with their families and friends.

“Although we are very much aware of the current economic climate, it seems that families nested at our resort in greater numbers than ever before”, commented Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President of Big White Ski Resort, “mother nature threw everything at us, including closing airports, roads, and on one occasion, some lifts, but generations of individual families would not be deterred from gathering to celebrate the holidays”.

The word went out when some holidaymakers destined for the sun couldn’t get to their destinations. Our remaining room inventory quickly sold out, and families went from packing for the beach to packing for the snow, breaking various records around the mountain when compared to the same period last year.

Here’s a look at some of the interesting statistics and records established in the 08-09 Christmas/New Year’s period.

• Christmas Eve, over 700 people attended the Church service and 3500 people watched the Fireworks and Christmas Eve Parade, even though it was -15’C!
• Over 270 bus/shuttle trips were made to and from the Kelowna International Airport.
• December 29th was a new record day in the Kid’s Centre, with 464 guests. 
• Canada’s award-winning ski bar, Snowshoe Sam’s served 372 kegs of beer throughout the month of December, a record for BC ski bars!  
• Record numbers on New Years Eve in all areas and all licensed establishments.
• Record number at Gem Lake opening on January 2nd, with over 18,000 rides on the Gem Lake Express.
• New records in public parking lots with over 1,900 cars, and they parked for free!

And, to top it all off, we received a record snowfall last night, the day after most holidaymakers departed. We now welcome our local, regional, and Australian guests, who will witness a substantial decrease in on-mountain visitors as compared to last week. “The true test will be if Canadians want to play at home,” commented Jim Loyd, Sales Director, Big White Ski Resort, “We anticipate lots of shopping on our website, as the remainder of the year is on sale”.

For more information contact:
Michael J Ballingall, Senior Vice-President, Big White and Silver Star Ski Resorts (250) 491-6150, mballingall@bigwhite.com