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Whitewater resort snow
Lat Long: 49.44° N 117.15° W
Ski Canada - BC

Whitewater Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Whitewater at 1836 m altitude

Issued: 10 am 20 Apr 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Whitewater: 1.1 cm on Wed 22nd  (after 9 PM)

Visitor reviews for Whitewater Ski Resort

Whitewater Ratings

Overall: 3.2. Based on 86 votes and 34 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.1

  • 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
  • Whitewater is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.0

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

Off-piste: 4.0

  • 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: 3.1

  • 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 Whitewater

Public Transport: 2.8

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

Accommodation: 3.0

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

Cheap Rooms: 3.2

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

Luxury Hotels: 2.7

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

Ski in/Ski out: 1.8

  • 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: 2.2

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

Snowmaking: 1.7

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

Snow Grooming: 3.5

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

Shelter: 4.0

  • 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
  • Whitewater is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.5

  • If snow conditions are poor at Whitewater, 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: 4.2

  • Whitewater 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: 4.2

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

Crowds/Queues: 3.6

  • 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: 3.5

  • 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: 3.9

  • 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: 2.9

  • 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: 3.6

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

Advanced: 4.4

  • 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: 2.5

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

Cross-country: 3.7

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

Luge/Toboggan: 1.3

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

Mountain Dining: 3.5

  • 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: 3.5

  • 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: 3.0

  • 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: 1.9

  • 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: 2.4

  • 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: 2.6

  • 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: 3.5

  • 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): 3.8

  • Overall, Whitewater 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): 3.8

  • Overall, Whitewater 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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February 27, 2025
roxy
Don't go to Whitewater. Not worth it. Treacherous drive up, overcrowded, awful food, so little snow that the runs are minefields of uncovered rocks and stumps, even on good days everyone seems to be in a bad mood, the lifties made fun of me and the patrol team chased me and called me names. Terrible experience, would not recommend.
January 09, 2024
Jean Paul
Not what it used to be. A few years ago this place was a gem. Now, it is overcrowded and overpriced. The owners seem to be wasting money. People are grumpy the good snow days mean hours of lift lines and by the time you get up there all the good snow is gone. Season passes cost as much as Whistler for a lot less and the resort doesn't value their pass holders or offer any compensation when they don't even operate at full capacity. Nelson is becoming a dangerous place now too with cars being broken into in broad daylight all over the downtown. Not worth going out of your way to ski here
February 28, 2022
Laurie Clarke
I had the chance to ski Whitewater last week. I can only try to describe to you how I felt my heart open as we drove up the windy road to the base lodge. Whitewater is surely one of the last pristine untouched skiers paradises left. It's simplicity and grandness allows a person to connect with nature and challenge oneself to the limit. The divide between heaven and earth is almost indistinguishable. Everything about the environment is perfect. I thank you for honouring the integrity of the area and what Whitewater is about and hope that skiers for years to come have the opportunity to share in the sheer bliss of your heavenly hill. This is a special place on earth!
December 17, 2020
you know
so now they have their own weather liecast on the website. alot more optomistic than this one lol. temps, snow amounts, wind.. lies
December 05, 2020
kevin snowboard procamp
last to open, first close
March 24, 2020
Dave
Whitewater is awful. I don't know who is measuring the elevation here as it's basically about 10m of vert. Food is terrible. Fights all the time in the lines to the chairlifts. Chairs load backwards. I can't believe the installed fans to blow all the snow away! All the tree runs are out of bounds. Snowboarders aren't allowed. The lifties spit on you as you get on the lift. I'll be back again next year (9th time's the charm, right?)
March 14, 2020
Peter from Ski USA - California USA - California
I'm baffled by some of the reviews I've read. "lazy grooming team" is a good one. Who the hell goes to BC looking for groomers? Lazy tourist skiers that are afraid or incapable of going off-piste. How about this one "doesn't get much sun". Again, who goes looking for sun? Lazy tourist skiers evidently. North facing aspects hold the best snow through varied weather conditions and Whitewater holds the Pow. How about rating lodges? Who does that? Lazy tourists. Skiers spend the day on the hill. Eat a frozen PBJ on the lift so you don't miss any of the Poo. The real deal is that Whitewater is a skiers hill. Whitewater has great terrain, great snow and a great local hill feel. If you want to ski steep Pow and have an awesome time skiing check out Whitewater. If you want valet parking, cushy chairs with heated seats and a 5 star restaurant in the lodge go to a poser hill like Vail. If you're truly a skier you'll love Whitewater.
March 12, 2020
Peter
Very small resort unless you like back-country skiing. Doesn't get much sun as it all faces the wrong way. Big mistake. Not for the beginner but the black runs are steep and some blue runs are challenging. Too little grooming so the best runs get cut up quickly. Lazy grooming team. Overpriced lift tickets for so few facilities. Other than the back-country skiing, there are 500 better ski resorts around the world. Maybe the locals like it that way.
January 26, 2020
Mark Wiens
Whitewater is not worth the money or the time. Way too busy and very unreliable snow. Go here if you want but don't expect much. Friends told you of waist deep pow? They're either lying to you or they got incredibly lucky.
December 31, 2019
Skiing spoken here
December 31. Super crowded. No room to sit down for lunch in the lodge. Do something about the lodge - woefully inadequate. Silver King chair lift stops constantly. Beyond annoying