Big White: Winter Grand Finale
On the Easter long weekend we headed to Kelowna. The main purpose of the trip was to go skiing at Big White. I found a sweet deal at an Air B&B in Kelowna, off the road leading to Big White. Last year on the Easter long weekend we went to Silver Star which is farther away, Neil was exactly a year younger, and we both remembered that the drive took forever. Kelowna is “only” five hours away, and Neil was a trooper, so this time the driving part didn’t actually feel that difficult.
We stopped for a break at Bridal Veil Falls by Chilliwack where we went for a short walk to see the falls and we all climbed up to get even closer. On the way back Neil found a trunk of a tree which he declared was a tunnel and entertained himself crawling inside. Driving on the Coquihalla felt like winter was still very much present as everything was still covered in snow, even though it was already mid April. Then we stopped in windy Merritt before the home stretch to Kelowna.
The Air B&B was a real gem – we had an entire floor to ourselves, plenty of space, and nice views overlooking the lake and the city. It turned out though that the fridge didn’t have a freezer so we had to eat the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream we bought in one sitting. I guess there could be worse things.
The next day we headed to Big White. It was their last weekend of being open and what we figured would also be our last weekend skiing this season. Everyone we talked to on the lifts told us that we picked the best weekend to come over. Indeed the conditions were excellent, with fresh powder, sunshine and no line-ups. The best combo. We also declared Big White as the best and most kid friendly mountain we’ve been to with Neil. He absolutely loved it: the small magic carpet where he could ride by himself, taking the gondola, and of course the skiing, especially the section where you pass through a tunnel. He actually was so excited that he did not go down for his nap in the lodge, which caused him to later fall asleep on the lift, and Gili had to ski down carrying him back to the lodge while he was sleeping.
That evening we went to explore downtown Kelowna. There wasn’t too much to explore and once again we didn’t manage to get into the Italian restaurant I remembered from my work trip a few years ago. We opted for a family friendly Greek restaurant which did the trick. The next day we skied at Big White once again saying our farewell to this excellent ski season.
Neil was very sad to say goodbye to Big White so we said that we’ll try to come again next year, we shall see…
On Monday it was time to make the long drive back. We wanted to check out Myra Canyon, and our host said it might still be covered in snow, a possibility we did not think about. The road there was very mysterious and off the beaten track, and a few times we scratched our heads, wondering if we were on the right road. When we arrived we saw that indeed there was still lots of snow. Neil tried to bike a little bit, but there was too much snow, and he was also not in a good mood, tired and maybe a bit stiff from the skiing, so he only wanted Gili to carry him (“up, up”). We didn’t make too much progress so eventually we decided to turn around.
Just before we left Kelowna we stopped for a picnic lunch where we were all surrounded by “re-elect Christy Clark” signs… Then Neil fell asleep till almost Hope, where we stopped at a nice playground we had been to before. The last stretch of the drive was uneventful, and we decided to stop at Marcello’s on Commercial Drive for pizza. It was an excellent weekend of family time and skiing in the sunshine for all of us, so an awesome grand finale of the skiing season. Although Neil would have loved to continue skiing, I think we are all ready for summer.
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