Big White is a Family Favourite for Good Reason.Travel
Mountainwatch | Rhylla Morgan
Canada is squarely on the radar for Aussie families planning an overseas snow holiday – and there are some solid reasons for it. Starting with the fact that, overall, Canadians are nice people. Canadians ‘get’ us Aussies in a laid-back favourite-cousin-kind-of-way. We have plenty in common including an appreciation for healthcare access, self-deprecating humour and we speak (almost) the same language.
Getting to Canada is a pain-free flight – a movie or two, a sleep while you skip over the dateline and you’re there – and it helps our dollar is (almost) aligned to theirs so you can skip agonising mental arithmetic with each purchase during your stay.
Importantly, they have plenty of high mountains that get blanketed in snow. Including the powdery, dreamy, sparkly kind.
Big White has been nailing the family holiday market for decades and when my Sydney-based friends mentioned they were heading there for the first time I was keen to join them. My mates are savvy snow travellers and have been regulars in Canada for years; their now teenage kids learned to ski and board on Canada trips since they were young. Following some frustrations at their regular ‘go-to’ resort they were motivated to try something new and Big White kept coming up in recommendations.
Big White is family-owned and takes their commitment to the family market as seriously as Canadians are about ice hockey and adding gravy and cheese curds to their chips. A passion for supporting family-friendly experiences is woven through everything they do here – from the way the village has been created, the promise of ski-in, ski-out access for every single property and the friendly, safe, small-town vibe you sense from the moment you roll in.
I was greeted warmly by Scott at Kelowna Airport who bundled my ski bag into the warm Big White shuttle and in a 45-minute blink we were pulling into the village and dropping my fellow passengers (a blend of mainly Australians and Americans) at accommodations all nestled in the pines. As we pulled up at my stop, I glimpsed the iconic Big White clock and realised I was staying steps away from the centre of the village.
Big White advise their guests – who almost always book a minimum week stay – to do an online shop and get it delivered so your pantry is stocked, and the crew feels right at home from day one. There’s a good-sized grocery store too, for those emergency tubs of ice cream, local maple syrup and the bits you forgot.
Our party of five is a blend of cautious through to strong intermediate skiers and snowboarders and from our first morning on snow I realised the resort strikes that special ‘goldilocks’ balance of providing options for half the group to do hot laps and find adventure in the trees or on steeper stuff while others could take a more mellow pace – we’d all funnel back to a couple of the same lifts making reconnecting stress-free. Teenagers could enjoy the freedom of parent-free runs, and link back up once it was time for Dad to shout the hot chocolates or lunch.
There’s bucketloads of glades and plenty of long uncrowded runs, especially as you head over to the Gem Lake side of the resort. I had moments where I wondered if I was on a closed run because I’d not seen another soul in so long.
If you’re sliding with little folk or beginners the Black Forest side is a perfect zone with wide and groomed gentle slopes, shelter in the trees and the recently completed Black Forest lodge offering a good warm up point for breaks and snacks.
This place claims to be “Canada’s Favourite Family Resort” and it accomplishes this in dozens of thoughtful details, large and small.
- Easy access – forget waiting for buses, trudging long distances hauling your gear and those end of day meltdowns when everyone just wants their boots off and to be in the hot tub. Everything is ski-in and out or the shortest of walks. Lara’s cheerful yellow gondola links the village to the protected little kids’ beginner area in Happy Valley, and you don’t need to drive, anywhere.
- Free kid-friendly fun – The Village Central Mall transforms into a colourful ‘Carnival’ on Saturday afternoons with games and activities followed by fireworks and through the week there’s something on every afternoon including trivia and magic shows.
- Ski School – as you’d expect there are all the options for lessons and Big White’s dedicated beginner area is safely cloistered from the main runs with easy carpet lifts and experienced instructors.
- All the other things – the list of activities is huge. Snow tubing, night skiing, sleigh rides, sled dogs, fat bikes, ice skating, trips to Kelowna for shopping or a hockey game that add that extra something and create holiday memories.
The Twinkling Trail is a new addition (2024) and is as magical as it is simple. An abundance of fairy lights strung through the trees leads guests on a sparkling nighttime forest adventure that feels special for little people and big people too.
A couple of highlights:
- A superb Japanese meal at Sasquatch Sushi. A teeny restaurant with superb food and service that every local recommended to us.
- Laps through mesmerising, out-of-this-world ‘ghost trees’ on the upper mountain for untracked champagne powder moments
- Peaceful hot tub soaks in the afternoon looking down over the pool and snow-covered rooftops. Most of the accommodation here is condo-style and many have hot tubs and heated pools
- Friendly chat with almost everyone we met including guests on the chair, servers and locals out walking their dogs
And two more things…
It can be cold. The average temperature in winter is -5C and there were days it dipped to -15C and the windchill had teeth. So, don’t skimp on layering! And talking of warm layers, if you’re buying a beanie, they call it a toque here.
You’ll hear the local joke, “Big White Out” so don’t be shocked if you get a couple of foggy days. The good news is there’s no shortage of trees, so skip the upper reaches on those low-vis days and plan to weave through the ‘ghost trees’ off the top of the Alpine T-bar when it’s clear. Big White is south facing so scores a good amount of sunshine.
Lastly, some stats:
- Average snowfall – 750cms a season and it’s almost always cold and dry
- Vertical in resort – 777m
- Resort area is 7,355 acres, 905 of those are groomed and 38 acres are lit for night skiing.
- A generous 54% of runs are intermediate and 18% are gentle green runs
If you’re thinking about pushing ‘go’ on an overseas ski trip for a family Big White ticks a lot of boxes with consistent and quality snow being an important one. They’ve thought about all the things, so you don’t have to. Hopefully your most challenging decision of the day will be whether to have that second Caesar (that’s a Bloody Mary in these parts) at après.
Fo more information on Big White, check out the Mountainwatch Guide to Big White
Head to Mountainwatch Travel for info on our 2025/2026 Big White winter packages.
