Big White reviews - World Snowboard Guide

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A quality all-round mountain

Thu 28 February 2008 Will

Whether you're a skiier or a boarder, Big White really does offer a little bit of everything for everyone. There are plenty of mellow cruisers for families and beginners, steeper bumps for mum and dad, a large relatively tree-less and quite steep bowl, unbelievable tree riding anywhere on the mountain and a large and well maintained park for the shradical kids.

The snow is light and dry, and the falls are quite consistent, it never really goes more than a couple of days without snow.

The large entirely on-snow village is fantastic when compared to quite a lot of other hills, and the pubs are both pretty damn good too.

My only complaints would be the Christmas and Presidents Week crowds can make riding/skiiing around these times a bit annoying, but there is never more than a 20 minute wait on a bad day. These weeks are offset by the near emptiness midweek most other times of the year. The weather also has a habit of delivering coluds and fog, but these keep the snow nice :D

I would certainly recommend it for people or groups of any age.

p.s Expect a truck load of Aussies here (as you should in most of B.C.). 80% of the seasonal staff are Aussie.

A FAMILY MOUNTAIN & TOO PACKED AT CHRISTMAS

Tue 24 January 2006 NikB
Although there are many snowboarders at Big White my 3rd trip to Big White has tainted my view of the mountain. I went between Christmas and New Years, Dec 2005. I have never seen such long lines at any mountain. Part of the mountain was closed and the lines were 30-40 mins long after every run. The runs aren't very long at Big White so a 5 min run would result in 40-50 mins of lines and chair lift. 1 day I rode for the whole day (6 hours) and only did about 7 pr 8 runs. The quality of snowboarders at Big White aren't great either as there were too many beginners. Noone to have a ride-off with! Most of the runs are also on one side of the mountain face therefore if you want to get from one end of the mountain to the other, you need to take about 2-3 chairs to get across the mountain and if there are long lines, it can take 1-2 hours to get accross the mountain. The mix of terrain is okay but mostly intermediate and beginner and not much in the way of steeps. The terrain park was okay with a good mix of small to big rails for various levels. Off the slopes is pretty boring too with only a few restaurants and bars. It is a great family mountain but for anyone else it is not worth the 5 hour drive from Vancouver, especially given the fact that true to its name, it is often clouded out and thus visibility is terrible.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to April
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 15
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 9
Drag lifts: 1
Other lifts: 2 Magic carpet, 1 beginners tow, 2 Tube Lifts
Max people per hour: 25,400
Board Leashes required: Yes

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 118
Total ride area: 2765acres
Longest run: 4.5miles (7.2km)

Top lift: 2319m
Vertical drop: 777m
First lift: 1755m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 18%
Red runs: 56%
Black runs: 26%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes:
Half-day $50
Day pass $65
Day pass inc nightboarding $70
5 of 6 Days $297
Season pass $999
Lift times:8.45am to 8.00pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 7.50metres
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 0%

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: 2 Hour Group $42
Private 2 Hours $157
Snowboard Hire: Board & Boots, 1 day $36 additional days $27
Night Riding: : 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Tuesday to Saturday free with any multi-day pass otherwise $24