Big White sits on the highest summit of the Okanagan Highlands, on the western edge of the Monashee Mountains, 56 kilometres (35 miles) southeast of Kelowna. The summit is 2,319 metres (7,608 feet). The Village Centre is at 1,755 metres (5,758 feet) and the Gem Lake base at 1,508 metres (4,948 feet), and the resort gives 777 metres (2,550 feet) of vertical. Seventeen lifts, including Lara’s Gondola and five express chairs, serve 2,834 patrolled acres and 119 designated trails. The longest run, Around the World, is 7.2 kilometres.
Big White averages 750 centimetres (25 feet) of snow a year, and the season runs from late November through mid-April. The resort lights 38 acres for night skiing and calls it the largest night skiing area in Western Canada. It also has 25 kilometres of Nordic and wilderness trails.
The Big White cams are still images that cover about 700 metres of elevation. Gem Lake Top at 2,219 metres and the Bullet and The Cliff cams at 2,195 metres show the upper mountain. Village Centre, Easy Street, TELUS Park and Black Forest cover the middle, from 1,720 to 1,820 metres. Snow Ghost, Happy Valley and Tube Park sit around 1,665 metres, and Gem Lake Bottom is the lowest at 1,522 metres. Compare Gem Lake Top and Gem Lake Bottom to see how conditions change from top to bottom on that side.
Pow Cam watches a snow plot at 1,768 metres that’s cleared every day at 3:30 pm, so it shows what has fallen since then. The resort says it doesn’t use this plot for its daily snow report.
From Kelowna, follow Highway 33 for 32 kilometres to Big White Road, then drive another 24 kilometres to the village. The resort says the trip takes less than an hour. There’s no fuel at Big White; the last station is on Highway 33 in Black Mountain. Parking on village roads is not allowed. Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is the nearest airport, and the resort shuttle gets to Big White in under an hour.
BC requires winter tires or chains on Highway 33 from October 1 to March 31. DriveBC shows road conditions.
Big White isn’t on the Epic or Ikon Pass. It’s on the Indy Pass, which gives two days at each partner resort. Blackout dates apply to the Indy Base Pass here; the Indy+ Pass has none.