The team at Big White Ski Resort is looking to top their record-breaking end to 2018 this year.
On New Year’s Eve Day, with bluebird conditions, the resort hosted over 11,000 skier visits who enjoyed over 70,000 runs – making it Big White’s busiest day on record. This number was reached with the help of 40 centimetres of fresh, Okanagan champagne powder that fell at the resort between Dec. 29 and 30. The week before, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the resort saw a six per cent increase in skier visits from the previous year.
“It is so satisfying for all of our resort team members to experience Big White during the holidays and when the resort is full to overflowing,” said Michael J. Ballingall, senior vice president at Big White Ski Resort. “Everything was at or near capacity, but more importantly, the international guests, locals and residents alike never experienced long lift lines because of our modern lifting system. We can boast that we are one of the largest and most modern lifting networks of any resort in North America and it proved itself on Dec. 31 when we experienced over 70,000 rides. Now, that’s a lot of loads and a lot of unloads.”
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The economic success Big White experienced during the holidays was mirrored at the Kelowna International Airport. December beat out August as the busiest month of the year for YLW, growing by 19 per cent from December 2018. The year ended with a 9.9 per cent increase from last year – making it a record year for the airport, and placing it as the 10th busiest in Canada.
Naomi Perks, her husband, and their two children were just one family of hundreds to visit Big White Ski Resort over the holidays. The family, from New Westminster, B.C. stayed at the Whitefoot Lodge from Dec. 20 to 27. Perks told Big White from the moment they arrived and discovered Spudnuts being sold in the lobby of the hotel, to her daughter running into Santa at Happy Valley and hand-delivering her letter, “everything was magical.”
“The snow, as always was spectacular, beautiful, sparkly, and fluffy. Can’t wait to book again for next Christmas,” Perks said.
On the weekend before New Year’s, Big White hosted its first Coast Capital Savings Cruz the Blues of the season. Over 1,300 people registered, with over 500 of them successfully shredding all 34 of Big White’s open blue runs.
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