Okanagan British Columbia Ski Resorts

Best Skiing In British Columbia

Move over Whistler! The best ski resorts aren't necessarily the biggest.

Okanagan British Columbia ski resorts offer some of the best skiing and snowboarding for fun and affordable family ski vacations in all of BC!

A word of caution - reading these pages may induce a warm fuzzy feeling and daydreaming about winter fresh mountain air, soft fluffy snow and creamy hot chocolate.

It's ok though, it's perfectly normal ;-)

The list of ski resorts in the Okanagan British Columbia includes Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, Apex Mountain Resort in Penticton, Silver Star Mountain Resort in Vernon BC, Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Kamloops and Mt. Baldy near Oliver.

And with the exception of Sun Peaks, are all within about a two hour drive from each other.

Personally, we get pretty excited when the first snowfall finally comes, usually in November. After a long hot summer lazing and playing on the best beaches, the winter season and snow is a welcomed sight. (Yup, we really do have the best of both worlds!)

Interior BC ski resorts are known for the light snow, what the local's call dry 'Okanagan powder'; the light, dry champagne powder snow created from lots of precipitation and low humidity.

The mountain ranges surrounding the Okanagan Valley protect the valley itself from coastal and cold arctic weather (well, most of the time), creating ideal conditions on the slopes. During spring skiing, it's not uncommon to go ski in the morning, and golfing or biking in the valley in the afternoon! It's really quite amazing! You can click on any of the links below to read more about Okanagan British Columbia ski resorts including current ski snow report and alpine hill conditions.

Apex Ski Resort, a short drive from the city of Penticton, is a fantastic family ski resort, known well for it's steep verticals for those who love a challenge, and plenty of beginner and intermediate runs for the rest of us!

Apex also offers snowshoeing, snowmobile tours, ice climbing, an outdoor hockey rink, skating loop, a fun tube park, limited night skiing, and National Ski and Snowboard Week in mid January. Apex has received recognition as the best family ski resort destination of all the British Columbia ski resorts. [Read more...]

Mount Baldy Resort, near Oliver, BC, is a growing family ski resort that offers about 35 runs, 500 acres of ski trails and annual snowfall of over 20 feet. You'll find a nice even mix of terrain quite suitable for all ski and snowboard levels, and perfect for families.

Of all the Okanagan British Columbia ski resorts, Mt. Baldy is only open Friday through Monday (with the exception of the Christmas holiday season), and it is where the locals go to be the first on the runs after several days of mid week snow. It's a great spot for a weekend ski getaway - quiet and uncrowded.

Crystal Mountain Resort is near Westbank, BC (or it's new name - Westside). This is also a great family ski resort, open for daytime, that is up and coming with expansion to be a full season resort. You'll find 21 great runs on 470 acres of downhill trails. With tons of snow here, snoeshoeing at Crystal Mountain offers 12 km of snowshoe trail, and you can even go on a guided snowshoe tour.

Skiing and snowboarding in Canada doesn't get much better than this! Big White Ski Resort is one of the largest of all British Columbia ski resorts, and is a short 56 km (35miles) drive from the city of Kelowna.

The resort has trails for all levels of skiers and snowboarders from novice to expert. Over half of the downhill runs here are intermediate, and the longest run over 4 miles long!

Big White is blessed with sunny weather (most of the time!), dry powder and a mild average temperature of -5°C (23° F), and 750 cm (24.5 ft) average snowfall. There's also a huge terrain park, cross country skiing on 25 km (15.5 miles) of Nordic trails, tubing park, a skating rink, snowmobile trails, and more.

Silver Star Mountain, located a short drive from Vernon BC, is one of the most luxurious, yet family friendly, British Columbia ski resorts. Not the cheapest, but certainly one of the top ski areas Canada has. It's also a summer destination for hiking and biking, and hosts the Okanagan Summer Wine Festival.

Silver Star is like a little mini Whistler, with a Victorian village, restaurants, bistros, nightlife and shopping, and is one resort you can spend your entire winter ski vacation without leaving the resort.

Alpine ski season at interior British Columbia ski resorts begins usually around early December...(with good luck), and runs to March. Early in the season some resorts make snow to help things along, but by Christmas, it's generally well underway. If you're planning winter Canadian ski vacations, Christmas break is a great time to be here!

We're always adding new pages. Please do visit often for Okanagan British Columbia travel and tourism information, including Okanagan accommodation guide, great attractions, guide to the Okanagan wineries and Okanagan BC golf vacations, all the fun Okanagan festivals, fairs and events, ideas for winter vacations, summer vacation ideas, shopping, places to eat, and much much more!

We hope to see you soon!

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