Skis for Big White

[Sidewinder]

Hi All
Heading to Big White in 3 weeks. I have 4 pairs of skis and will be bringing 2: One for powder conditions and one for days with harder snow/chop/crud, etc.
For powder, I have the Soul 7 and the Patron. Went to Whistler last year with both of these and had 5 bluebird days with hard pack and no new snow. The Soul 7’s didn’t like that but turns were easier on the Patrons.
Also have the Bonafides and Brahmas. Would like to take one of these, and one of the wider ones. Any recommendations as to which 2 will be the better choice for the range of conditions we may have? I haven’t been to BW before but am really excited to check it out!
Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[LewyM]

I love Big White. I think that it is extremely underrated as a skiers' mountain.

Big White (and Okanagan B.C., generally) skis a lot like front range Colorado. Less like Whistler. To me Big White skis like more like Copper (whereas Sun Peaks skis more like Keystone) - just colder, more snow, worse visibility.

At Big White, you get a lot of flurries, a few CM here, a few CM there and next thing you know, it has blown in pretty deep and light in spots. And midweek, the hill is pretty under-skied, so there are plenty of tracks to go around. But when it isn't snowing a ton, you will likely have a great snow surface because it stays cold, but I would want something nimble because there will be bumps, natural features and when the visibility is poor, you want to duck into trees.

If you are bringing two from that collection, I'd bring the Brahmas and the Patrons. The Brahmas will be great for everything from groomers to bump runs, to chalky runs off the cliff, to 4-6 inches of blower. If you get more snow than that, or if you just want to get out early in the fresh snow, use the Patrons. The Bonafides sit in the middle - if you only got to bring 1, I'd bring the Bones, but knowing the terrain there pretty well, it is hard to imagine what a day looks like where you'd want to bump up in width from the Brahma, but not go all the way to the Patron (maybe soft chalky snow, not a lot of new, great visibility, so you want to bomb runs off the Cliff chair all morning, but the Patron would be good for that also).

The nice thing at Big White is that virtually all of the lodging is ski in/ski out, you can you change the plan pretty easily. But bring the 88 width ski - you'll thank me later. It covers everything you'll encounter, terrain-wise. If you don't use them. . . that probably means that you are already booking a return trip for next year.

Have fun. Be sure to stop by the Bean Scene for your coffee. Ollie is the man.

 

[Myles]

If only you had a few pairs of Head skis, then you could take Josh Foster's advice (I think he knows a thing or two about Big White):

Otherwise, I think that LewyM has pretty much got you covered.

 

[graham418]

@LewyM has it nailed pretty much. They don't get many big dumps , but a lot of little accumulations, 2 -6" inches at a time . As a big family destination, a lot of the traffic stays on the blues around the Snow Ghost / Ridge Rocket chairs, so as soon as you get away from there , the snow stays relatively untouched. you can find stashes days after a snowfall. Hit the trees off the Gem Lake chair. and Easter Chutes. You don't need anything too wide, around 90 will cover everything. Brahmas would be fine.
The Globe and The Woods are both excellent places to eat