Little Australia On Snow
Written by Sean a Skier from Sydney, Australia
14/4/2010
As well as having Australian owners, of the 2,000 staff, 1,600 are Kiwi or Australian which probably sums up Big White.
Suffering a bit from the US impact of the GFC, it is a little quiet, sometimes too much, but also is value for money. Its height guarantees great snow conditions when other resorts are struggling; the downside is that height comes with frequent zero visibility. Whilst definately a challenge not all is lost though, as with its wide spaced trees (a local phenomenon and not the result of a chainsaw) and a little local knowledge it is still possible to find runs that work on all but the worst days.
The beauty and challenge of ski-ing the snow ghosts is also unique to Big White. Big White, dependant on visibility ranges from wide, empty runs to gladed powder. It is not quite the powder ski of Vail, but definately not the carver of New Zealand and what sums up Big white would be an all round mountain ski.