Big White Summer Blog

In skiing, a yard sale can mean a bad wipeout – but at Big White Ski Resort, it can also mean a delicious and locally roasted cup of coffee.

While the winter season melts away, Big White staff are busy preparing for a summer packed with fun and sun – and are now on the hunt for vendors to fill the booths at four summer events.

The Barrels & Berms Snowboardcross World Cup at Big White Ski Resort will make its inaugural debut in the beautiful Okanagan region January 20 - 27, 2020. This will be the first Snowboardcross World Cup in Canada since 2013.

Big White Ski Resort’s Executive Chef Rob Walker has been named one of six Okanagan-area chefs to compete in next fall’s “Canada’s Great Kitchen Party” culinary competition – for the second time in three years. Formerly called the Gold Medal Plates, Chef Walker competed in the 2016 semi-finals in Victoria, where he was up against nine other BC-based chefs to secure a spot in the finals.

Through bluebird skies and powder days, just like that, another fantastic season of skiing and riding has come to an end. All of us at Big White Ski Resort want to send out a huge thank you to those of you who chose to ski and board, drink and eat, stay and play at Canada’s Favourite Family Resort over the past five months. As we prepare for a sun-soaked summer full of hiking and biking, we want to take this opportunity to reflect on the 2018/2019 season. 

When you visit Big White Ski Resort, you’ll interact with a lot of the resort’s employees – from ticket officers to Ski & Board School instructors to restaurant servers and more. Each one has a name tag that includes their hometown and country – and this year, you can find 27 different countries on those name tags.

We know it can be overwhelming tackling a new language when you’re travelling. Luckily for the English speakers that visit Big White Ski Resort, this isn’t much of a hurdle – but, like everywhere else, Canadians have a unique way of speaking that, at times, can cause quite the kerfuffle (problem). So, for all you keeners (brown-nosers) out there looking to make your transition from tourist to full-blown Canuck (Canadian) more seamless, we’ve translated a list of Canadianisms for you to use on your next visit to Big White.

For you, the mountains surrounding Big White Ski Resort may seem worlds away from the beaches that line the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. But, we like to think there are more similarities than differences, and we’ve come up with five reasons why you should think this, too. (But, as similar as we think mountains and beaches are, we wouldn’t recommend taking up valuable luggage space with flip flops and beach balls!)

With direct flights from Australia to Vancouver, and now, a new direct Air Canada flight to Vancouver from Auckland, getting to Big White Ski Resort from across the Pacific has never been easier. The flight between Vancouver and the Kelowna International Airport is just under an hour, with multiple flights arriving and departing throughout the day – meaning you won’t have to spend much time waiting around in the Vancouver airport before grabbing your connecting flight.

At Big White Ski Resort, we love Mother Nature. She’s responsible for our blanket of Okanagan Champagne Powder in the winter and for the fields of wildflowers in the summer – and, of course, the spectacular views of the Monashee and Selkirk Mountain ranges.