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Big White resort snow
Lat Long: 49.72° N 118.92° W
Ski Canada - BC

Big White Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for Big White Ski Resort

Big White Ratings

Overall: 4.0. Based on 89 votes and 38 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.4

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Big White is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.5

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Big White has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.2

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.2

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.6

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Big White

Public Transport: 3.6

  • There are no buses or taxis to Big White
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.5

  • No places to stay in/near Big White
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.5

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.1

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Big White

Ski in/Ski out: 4.7

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 4.3

  • There are no child care facilities at Big White
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 2.6

  • Big White relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.3

  • There are no snow groomers at Big White
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Big White are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.7

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Big White is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.8

  • If snow conditions are poor at Big White, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.5

  • Big White usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.3

  • The staff at Big White are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Big White are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 4.1

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.2

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.4

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.5

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.6

  • No intermediate terrain at Big White
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.0

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 4.3

  • Not even a kicker at Big White
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.6

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Big White
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.7

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Big White has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.8

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.2

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.7

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 3.0

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.3

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.7

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 4.1

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 4.1

  • Overall, Big White is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.1

  • Overall, Big White is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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December 14, 2007
Evan from Ski USA - California USA - California
Big White is where it's at. On powder days nothing beats the calm, steep and deep runs on the Powder chair. Three days after the storm, hit sun bowl off the Gem then Kalenias Rainbow for the best cruiser of your life. Other than that its all good.
February 20, 2007
Bromley Parsons
Awesome as the Canadians say! And they are not wrong. Went to BW for 10 days in Feb 2007 and had a fantastic time. The kids really enjoyed ski and board school and came on so quickly. The terrain is very diverse, something for nearly everyone, great cruisers and excellent tree boarding. The telus pack is the best I have seen, the place is a boarders paradise. The lifts are so efficient, slopes very quiet mid week, almost had the place to ourselves. Tubing was great fun and ice skating too. I can recommend the repair shop in the mall, they hand waxed my board for only $16 (£7) whilst I waited. The conditions were so good that my board came back good as new, no damage at all, maybe I wasn't riding her hard enough, although with 2 cracked ribs ( from the ice skating,never again) I was taking it easy. Had 3 days of fog, 3 days of snow and 3 blue bird days with the finest views in BC. A local told me that these stats are pretty normal for BW. Although, the mild temperatures -4 to +1, were bringing in a little more fog than usual. But it made the place very comfortable to ski especially for the kids. My advise would be to take some flat light gogs, yellow lens. Try the soup at the market for lunch, it warms the cockles of you heart, if you have anything more, share with a friend or you will come home obese, like the Canadians' southern neighbours. Stayed at the Snowbird Lodge, 2 bedroom condo that you could get lost in, with a private hot tub. Wow. A long journey from the UK but well worth it. I will be going again, definitely.
December 01, 2006
David from Ski USA - California USA - California
Best powder you will find. Awesome trip!! Amazing views. Will do this trip every year!
October 02, 2006
Jeremy
After suffering the lineups at Whistler I went to Big White in early February 2006, and stayed until the end of the season. I'd heard the rumours about "Big White-Out" but by that time there were only a few days with extremely poor visibility and then it just meant heading into the trees. (BTW - there are some unbelieveable tree runs to be found if you can get a local to share the secrets... I'll leave that up to you). This season they are introducing a high speed 6-chair so the lines should be even shorter. Not a great deal of super advanced stuff but HEAPS of variety. Lots of awesome snowboard terrain, and Telus park is serviced by its own lift so you can just stick to the park all day if you want. Night riding also runs until pretty late in the season. I would recommend the SameSun Hostel for those on a budget... Around $30 a night even in peak season or discounts for month stays. Situated at the top of village, you can ride right to the front door at the end of the day. Hot tub, reasonable size rooms, big kitchen, etc. I dunno what 'Paul' was smoking when he went to BW!
April 13, 2006
Tim from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Came here in January and had a superb time. Masses of perfect powder snow, and loads of lovely tree-lined runs to check out. And the best part of all - no queues. Most of the time you are hard pressed to see anyone else on the run you are on. Weekends got a little busier, but even then it was a maximum of 5 minutes waiting at the well-marshalled lift lines, and then only at the start of the day and just after lunch. Even on the much-mentioned white-out days sking was still possible thanks to the shelter of the trees. We stayed at the Inn at Big White, which was OK, but not perfect for ski in/out. The Chateau Big White or White Crystal Inn seem better bets for centrally located condos, and right on the village ski run, to ensure maximum skiing time.
March 07, 2005
Paul from Ski France France
The Samesun hostel has changed since then. I stayed in the hostel in february 2005 and it was real bad. One big prison. To much people in a small area. Barely any common room and it's very noisy. Don't go there! Big White is great. Nice variety, but a little limited expert terrain. Only, the cliff is great for expert skiing. Night skiing is very good and the Telus park is quite big. Very nice. Check out the tube park at night!
January 22, 2005
Nick Trowsdale from Ski France France
Big White is a friendly resort with fabulous snow. Everything is pretty much ski-in/ski-out and there's enough runs to keep most people happy for at least 2 weeks. We first came here 3 years ago and loved it so much we bought 2 places! Don't bother with overpriced over-busy Whistler unless you like rain and waiting in long lift queues. Best luxury accommodation at www.blacksmithlodge.com
December 14, 2004
James from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Did a season here for winter 97-98. Back then it was a nice local resort showing signs of commmercial development. The mountain is a good size with a varied selection of terrain. Dont expect an abundance of extreme skiing here, the steepest you'll get is off the back of the east peak, be prepared to walk out after. Over all I liked it, the name Big White is deceptive, akin to the many days of fog rather than heavy snow falls, although the it does snow a hella lot and it's the good stuff, champagne light powder mmmmm. Recomment checking out local mountains like Fernie and Red Mountain. For cheap accomadation see the Samesun Hostel bang at the top of the resort (best location ever for a hostel) Enjoy your stay, I loved it.