Playing in Big White's snow ghost fields

Big White Ski Resort, British Columbia Canada

Big White Ski Resort is famous for its snow ghosts.
DOC POW/SnowSeekers

DOC POW

BIG WHITE, BC — When you step back and take a look at the operation, it’s pretty impressive; no wonder it’s known as Big White Ski Resort. It’s a winter playground home to 118 runs, 460 odd acres of open free ride areas, about a dozen off-slope adventures (be sure to hit the snow coaster), 17,000 pillows and a village chocked full of excellent dining and après offerings.

The resort of Big White has been internationally recognized by Conde Nast Traveller readers’ who voted it Best Snow in North America and the Daily Globe out of the UK ranked it as one of North America’s top family ski destinations.

Local’s hideout opened to all

On a recent visit, I hooked up for some turns with Big White’s director of Snow Sports, Josh Foster. The place he wanted to take us was the area known as Gem Lake.

Josh Foster, Big White Ski Resort, British Columbia 2010 Canada

Director of Snow Sports, Josh Foster skis around some trees in Big White Ski Resort's Gem Lake area.
DOC POW/SnowSeekers

“This was an area that was opened in 1998, but many were in here on skins way before that because of all the incredible terrain that is back here,” said Foster.

Originally out of Banff, Alberta, Foster has called these slopes home for five years and is a big fan of Gem Lake because. As he puts it, the area offers, “the longest runs on the mountain and gets some great afternoon sun.”

SnowSeekers’ Brandon Boucher was up in this Gem Lake terrain for New Years where he and his buds were up running around in the trees off the black diamond run called BlackJack. “There were a lot of really cool features to this area; there were a tonne of rocks and trees that you have to navigate through. It felt like we were travelling in some pretty rugged terrain with lots of epic snow,” said Boucher.

Snow ghosts

Another really sweet feature to this terrain are the big formations of snow and ice encrusted or caked onto the side of pine trees turning them into ghostly apparitions. This translates into an almost alien atmosphere up top the Gem Lake Express Quad.

On the other side of the coin, for those who can go without the natural kickers or trees, the area within Gem Lake is home to some incredibly long blue cruisers. With about 55% of its terrain marked as intermediate blues, Big White is a great destination for those who are into getting some turns in, but not overly challenging themselves in the process.

Big White is a boarder’s delight

BIG WHITE, BC — Minimal traverses and big, big snows make Big White the perfect destination for those of us on a board. This resort, situated about 40 minutes out of Kelowna, British Columbia, was one of the …