Big White is AWESOME! Grant-in-Aid Funding!!!

$400 this year!!! 

Grant and aid funding.
The Regional District of Kootney Boundary has a Grant in Aid Program - funds derived from owners property taxes. These funds are used for 'special' services/programs outside of the traditional remit of the regional board of directors.

Grant-in-Aid Funding is paid by each Area, in 2013 per $100 of property tax paid.
Area A - Fruitvale and... - $0.67c - total $33k
Area B - Old Glory and... - $.92c - total $24k
Area C - Christina Lake... - $1.38 - total $64.5k
Area D - Grand Forks... - $1.16 - total $33.4k
Area E - (including Big White)- $1.23 - total $95k.
Area E - Big White only $1.26 - total $52.3k

Each area manage and allocate/distribute funds from their own budget. Except Big White, Big White is allocated and distributed by the Area E director (Bill Baird).

The Big White Community has been very inactive in requesting Grant-in-Aid funds. I believe  we received $2500 in 2012 for the school and this year we have been granted a massive... wait for it... yes! $400... 

The community was proactive this year, $10,000 was requested to aid the development of the summer season along with $8,000 for village clean up facilities - garbage bins, recycling containers, ash-trays etc... We were refused.

Apparently there is little qualifying criteria, there are no rules - grant approval is at the subjective discretion of Director Baird... in the last three years we (as a community) have handed over $150k+/- and been granted $3k... or 2%...? Really...? Well we do appreciate the consideration... And the other $147k...? Oh... I see... it went to the other areas... we get a 2% benefit and they get a 220% benefit...?

Well... that's equitable then. I guess we don't need any funds... 

And the stats at the beginning? Not that important, just a highlight of the ratios.

Sólido Properties lives, works, owns, and manages property at Big White. Oh... and pays lots of property tax...

Big White is AWESOME! Big White Challenge v. Grouse Grind...

Now before you go thinking to yourself 'oh he is totally biased...' let me just tell you that yes, you are right. However, despite my ability to embellish stuff, I will also point out some facts. (of course, they may be distorted, and may omit bits... but still facts).

I was messaging someone on Thursday about the Big White Challenge, (Facebook Page) and they mentioned that the Grouse Grind in Vancouver gets 150,000 hikers every year! Two days later I found myself, with little to do, in Vancouver. "Since I am all about the Big White Challenge, I had better increase the number of Grouse Grind visitors to 150,001. So off I went.

No, no, no... please charge me more...

From downtown Vancouver it is a 25 min drive to the bottom of Grouse Mountain. The first thing that irritated me (I am easily irritated) was parking - you had to pay, and you had to stay for a minimum three hours, with a minimum charge of $6... why...? I am only here for a hour... irritated...

The Grouse Grind is a one way hike, you can go up, but you cannot hike down. The only way down is via the gondola. The gondola charge is $10 (irritation #2). Before I have even started the trail it had cost me $16. Big White's gondola is free, even in winter! 'But Mr. Pickles, the Big White Gondola only runs in the winter...?' 'Yes, I know, but that does not help me distort the facts does it!?' Stop asking awkward questions.

The Big White Challenge - parking is free, the route is circular so there is no requirement to pay for or use the chair lift. Of course on the weekends when the chair lift is running you can ride for a nominal fee... but it is optional.

My first (and only attempt so far) for the Big White Challenge, I had a time of 58m 34s. My first visit to the Grouse Grind was 47m 13s. Why is this relevant Mr. Pickles? Er... dunno... er... I think cos Paul Doherty is interested... maybe...

The differences.

The Grind starts at 991 feet, (302m) elevation. The Challenge 5,764 feet (1757m). 
Physically, how does this affect you? I have no idea - but here are some pretty graphics.

At 302m, the standard barometric pressure is 98kPa (734 mmHg). This means that there is 97% of the oxygen available at sea level.

At 1757m, the standard barometric pressure is83 kPa (622 mmHg). This means that there is 82% of the oxygen available at sea level

But what does all this gobbledegook mean? Good question... But I still have no idea, looks good eh? The pinky/purply lines have a bigger gap... which probably means something tho...

The official website stats for the Grouse Grind - 
Length: 2.9 kilometres (1.8 miles) 

Elevation Gain: 853 metres (2,800 feet)
Base: 274 metres above sea level (900 feet)
Summit: 1,127 metres (3,700 feet)
Total Stairs: 2,830 

However, mapmyrun has me starting at 302m and finishing at 1081 - or 789m elevation gain. I used mapmyrun for both trails so to compare apples to apples, the stats I use -

Big White Challenge
Length: 6.94 kilometres (4.1 miles) 

Elevation Gain: 394 metres (1293 feet)
Base: 1757 metres above sea level (5,764 feet)
Summit: 2150 metres (7,054 feet) 

Grouse Grind

Length 2.71 km

Elevation Gain 789m

Base 302m

Summit 1081

Okay, other stuff.
Views - the views along the Big White Challenge are spectacular, Rhonda Lake, the Monashee Mountain Range, Christian Valley... The views on the Grouse Grind... it is fairly limited to the stairs/trail, you are looking down all the time and when you look up you are looking at the trail - it is so steep you don't have any option really. Yay...! lets look at 2830 stairs... However, coming down on the gondola you do enjoy great views of Van city.

Family Friendly - The Big White Challenge is hard but it can be enjoyed by families, kids as young as five could probably, fairly safely, manage the hike. The Grouse Grind, not so much, maybe young kids could make it, but it does not 'feel' that family friendly.

Access - The Big White Challenge can be accessed from any property/home on the mountain. The Grouse Grind you need transport to get to the bottom of the trail. And you have to ride the gondola down - did I mention irritating...

Hey... can we come do the Grouse Grind?
No!

Rhythm - The Big White Challenge has varying but open trails, if you have the ability, running the trail is optional. The Grouse Grind cannot be run at all, the terrain is too variable.

Dogs - permitted on the Big White Challenge, not permitted on the Grouse Grind - I did not have my dogs with me, but if I did... I would have been irritated.

So a family of four doing the Grouse Grind would spend $46, the same family doing the Big White Challenge - $0. The Big White Challenge has better views, better terrain, is longer, has less elevation gain but starts and peaks, much much higher, and is more family (and dog) friendly. And because it is brand new... has far less visitors - great for misanthropic people (like me).

Oh... we prefer Big White anyway.

Sólido Properties owns, rents, lives, hikes, runs, and lives the million dollar lifestyle (without the $1m cost) at Big White - the two season resort in BC. 

Big White is AWESOME! The Big White Challenge!

The what...?

Glad you asked. Imagine it is 2024, July 19th to be exact. It is the 10 year anniversary of Big White becoming a summer resort. What will have happened in those 10 years?

Lets speculate a little...

Major Brunt, back in the old days.

Big White became its' own entity in 2018. Major Jude Brunt has just been elected for her third term in office. She is still working 18 hours a day... She is threatening to have a day off but Minister Ballingall has requested this be postponed... indefinitely. The population has grown exponentially, there are now 2000 permanent residents at Big White, the school from an inauspicious start with 12 kids, enjoys 300, the old school still exists, next to the 10 classroom one.

With the municipal status property values recovered, we are now back to and above the peak of 2008... 'I should have bought in 2014 when prices were at rock bottom... shoulda, coulda, woulda... but didn't(a). Yeah... me neither.

The resort is now all season, the community, business and social is vibrant, we are the darling of the province... as Minister Ballingall likes to espouse in his daily tweets to the press. Growth seems unstoppable, the new man made lake

Minister B, Hydrating pre the
Big White Challenge run.

situated on the old Happy Valley parking lot attracts thousands escaping the summer heat of the valley. Ballingall is often seen at Big White's own annual International Food and Culture festival, usually at the Australia booth, drinking an expensive red (are there other types...?) 

The numerous festivals attracts the very best... the floating stage on Rhonda lake was a brilliant idea, the cliff and its natural amphitheatre shape is the perfect venue for small and large performers.

The catalyst and the beginning of all this - the original hiking trail - renamed 'The Hike of a Thousand Inukshuks.' With its own annual 'rebuild the inukshuk festival' attracting over 4000 inukshuk volunteers every Canada day weekend.

We can do it too!

The hike is also the home of the Big White Challenge. Back in 2014 Christof Lummy Pie ran the new trail, two days before the official trail opening. The idea hit his oxygen starved brain whilst on what turned out to be the inaugural run. 'What if this trail became a running challenge, not a mass race but a challenge for everyone?' The idea fermented... and now after thinking about it for at least seven minutes we have a Facebook Page...

Exciting? Yes? Then lets have some fireworks!

Actually, it was not all me... all of the speculation...? Yes, the catalyst for the start... not really, credit has to go to Big White's President Mr. Plimmer, his team and the Chamber of Commerce Members volunteering their valuable time, knowledge and energy. Kudos to you all!

Of course... It is just speculation, but what if, what if...? We are now on a path forward... an AWESOME... a Big White AWESOME... path. 

Big White is AWESOME! And... Big White are AWESOME!

I know it is not a summer picture...
but it is pretty cool tho.

Summer is here! 
Officially, come Saturday 19th July, 2014 Big White Ski Resort, will become something more - a two season resort. This is huge! I have been waiting for this since I arrived 14 years ago.

But we criticize Big White...? Longer season please? More spend please? Summer activities please... blah blah blah...

Closing with lots of snow?
Yes they do, but for good reason, come April the only skiers are the seasons pass holders - they are not buying lift tickets, ski lessons, or even coming to the mountain much - it is golf/boating/biking/winery season in Kelowna, and the rest of BC. 

You want to ski/snowboard? Get some skins on your skis, or strap on some snow shoes and hike up - enjoy a pristine mountain with fresh powder everywhere. Don't give me any excuses, we have discussed excuses before haven't we...?

Yes they close with snow but lets think about things. Your seasons pass is one of the least expensive for a major resort. The abundant staff running your lifts, teaching you to ski, patrolling the mountain, keeping the resort clean... not to mention the state of the art equipment making your perfectly groomed corduroy runs... power turning the lift, insurance... lift maintenance... surprisingly this is expensive, who would have known... 

But what about investing 'they never spend any money...' rubbish, capital expenditure In the last 14 years at Big White has included-

And Ice tower... don't forget the ice tower!

• Built the Snow Ghost six pack chair lift.
• Built the Gondola
• Built Telus Park and the Telus chair lift.
• Built the Cliff Chair.
• Built the two acre outdoor skating rink - one of the largest in North America.
• Built the Tube Park - again biggest in North America
• Built Happy Valley Day Lodge
• Built the Beginner area, with its' two magic carpets.
• Built a second reservoir at the bottom of Powder Chair.
• Added new runs and has continued to summer groom the runs every year.
• Built Happy Valley car park.
• And Big White enjoys a great school in Happy Valley.
• In addition, there is more retail space and more restaurants.
• Provided a seasonal, free bus service. Incidentally this was supposed to be 50% funded by some Regional District program. Big White was left with the whole $150k bill!

Hiking Trails!

And from Saturday, Hiking Trails at Big White - the start of Summer

Summer is here!!!

Seasons at Big White.

And the spend? This is Big White's capital... What do I mean by this? Sun Peaks, Whistler, Jumbo resorts are Municipal Resorts - they can apply for provincial capital improvement grants - Sun Peaks is (according to their Mayor, Al Raine) generating $600k - $700k per annum in additional funding, through various programs, specific to Municipal Resorts. Big White company cannot apply for these programs, Big White community cannot apply for these grants. Big White is (currently) part of the Regional District Kootney Boundary (RDKB), RDKB could apply for these grants... but they have their own thing going on... 

Wait, what... how much...? Zero...?!!

As a side note RDKB's budget for capital and cultural improvements is roughly $7m per year, and remains fairly constant for the next five years. RDKB's total budget is $35m+/- so 20%+/- of RDKB's budget is for capital and cultural development.

RDKB's planned for Big White? Let's see, Big White represents 23% of the RDKB's tax revenue, therefore could we reasonably expect around 23% of the $7m, or $1.61m per annum... all things being equal? Yes, I think so. 

RDKB will spend zero at Big White - in the next five years - $35m in the region, nothing allocated to Big White.

Big White have been upgrading the resort themselves.

And the rest? Awards for best groomed runs, awards for best family resort, awards for friendliest staff, awards for best ski school etc etc? Including a top 100 spot for the best ski runs in the world! The world people! Want to see more?

Finite Spend.

We all have finite resources, Big White is the same, they have a choice - brilliant award winning service and product for the regular season, or lower quality, none award winning, longer season? Err... I will have the quality please Mr. Pickles...

And before you ask, 

no, I don't work for Big White, I have never worked for Big White (despite begging every week... well... until the restraining order was issued... but that expires soon!) and no, they don't pay me to blog - the blog pays its own way - it earned $12 last year!

Sólido Properties lives, works, exercises, drinks beer, skins and snowshoes up the mountain pre and post ski season... and writes a crappy blog. Oh, and we manage and own seasonal rental properties - if you need expert management... we probably are not the ones for you, if you are happy with moderately competent (well we aspire to be soon... in the next couple years anyway...) we are your guys!

Big white is AWESOME! More stuff on health & fitness...

So close... no matter how far... 'I would do anything to lose weight, anything! Except of course diet and exercise.'

Diet and Exercise...!??
Can I have some chips instead?

In 2010 CNBC reported the diet industry was a $55b a year industry. In 2008 68% of Americans were considered obese - definition is a greater than a 25% BMI, or percentage of total fat. The current estimates of exercise and weight loss industry is a $20b a year in the US alone. These astonishing statistics (that I just made up, well I pulled them off the internet... so same thing) are... well... astonishing!

Now, as you guessed, I am all for health and fitness, if I don't look after my body... where will I live? But, there are no shortcuts, no quick fixes, no nothing, gluten, wheat, sugar, etc, etc... No shortcuts, period. (Do you like that, I did period followed by a period...)

Weight control/management consists of a very simple formula - calories consumed has to equal calories expended... calories do not multiply when you eat them, thinking 'but I don't eat much... and I still put on weight - it has to be dairy, or it has to be gluten or this or that... or whatever...' No. I'm sorry, if you consume 2500 calories and burn 2000 a day... on average you will increase your body weight by one pound per week.

To paraphrase Dickens-
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.

Calorie intake 2200, calorie expenditure 2250 - result... you can work out the rest. Those 50 calories, or a tenth of a bagel (without any cream cheese, butter...). A tenth of a bagel...? Or, less than one bite... hmmm yummy - fill me up Scotty.

Of course other stuff matters - type of calorie makes a difference, exercise makes a difference, when you eat makes a difference...

Type of Calorie.
There is good, there is neutral and then there is Sugar (once described as the heroin of the world) when I say sugar I mean all simple carbs - it could be white bread, plain sugar, carbs in apple juice, wheat products - cereals (cornflakes) corn syrup. Anything similar. Your body loves sugar, do you know why? Sugar converts to usable energy instantly. Brilliant...! Or it would be if we expended the energy - imagine running a marathon, and you eat a chocolate bar - the sugar converts to energy and gets burned up with this high energy activity.

But, what if you are sat watching TV? The sugar instantly enters your bloodstream and has nothing to do. Your body being this amazing product of evolution has a solution - it can and will store the energy for times of famine - in the form of fat. Well not that simple it (the pancreas) has to produce some extra insulin to do the conversion.

So Rule No. 1 - stay away from too much sugar. Actually the World Health Organization is planning a recommendation of a reduction in sugar consumption from 10% of your daily calories to just 5%. Current averages in North America are 25%... 

Fats.
A gram of fat contains 9 calories. A pound of butter is 3500 and is similar for all types of fat - Olive oil, vegetable oil, lard, bacon fat... etc.

I am not going into saturated v none saturated but lets just use a broad brush stroke - fats from meat are believed to be less healthy than most others.

But it is not all bad, fat takes time to be converted to usable energy - you will stay feeling satiated longer.

Rule No. 2 - include fats. But not too many, and stick with the healthy stuff if possible - olive oil etc.

Proteins.
Hmmm... my favourite. A gram of pure protein contains 4 calories. And proteins are a complex product - animal proteins are the muscle. And, your body's muscles cannot increase their mass without protein. 

Okay, a little tangent here. When you exercise hard your body breaks down muscle fibres. The soreness you feel the day after exercise are these damaged muscle fibres (or lactic acid, whatever). And your body is repairing them... cool. Of course your body needs protein to repair and it has two options - consumed protein, or employ existing protein - your other muscles. Your body does not and cannot fabricate muscle from fats or carbs! Read it again - fat does not turn to muscle and vice versa. 

Rule No. 3 - eat protein. We live in a world of abundance - protein is an easy option.

Burning the energy.
Or exercise. Do not tell me you don't have time to exercise. You have time to watch tv, surf the internet, check personal emails, take selfies, go to the bar, chat with friends... etc. read my crappy blogs... rubbish, get outside and go for a walk.

Weight, speed, elevation, inclination are all factors to the energy consumed but just assume 200-300 calories per hour. Squash (my favourite) 1200 calories per hour (based on my personal stats). Just for fun the number of calories in a White Spot double double meal, with a coke - 1360 (my favourite) number of hours I have to walk to burn those calories... six hours. Six! It is almost a full days recommendation of calorie consumption!

What burns energy?
Muscle - yes, fat no. More muscle, more calories burned. 

Fad diets.
Rubbish, crash diets - yes you will lose weight, you will lose fat, fluid and muscle. When you come off your diet you will have a slower metabolic rate, (less muscle you see) it will be easier to put on fat. And your body will be in this famine state (OMG, we are going to starve, limited food... okay guys lets slow the energy burn down, and speed up the fat storage... not ideal for the dieter).

But a quick fix
sounds better... 

Quick Fix?
There is none, none, none. Remember at the beginning - $55b industry? A quick fix would wipe out this industry overnight. If there was a quick fix do you really think they would share the info? No! 

The solution is diet and exercise.
Burn more calories, eat more of the right foods, less of the wrong foods.


But I feel hungry!

So, so hungry... brains... yes, high in protein!
Ask any Zombie.

Then you are eating the wrong stuff. Eat a 500 calorie bagel with cream cheese and a coffee for breakfast - what 800 calories? Your body converts this to sugar instantly - it leaves your stomach, goes to the blood stream, is unemployed and gets stored for later (on your hips, or ass, or stomach - actually everywhere). The insulin is working hard to convert all that crazy sugar - two hours later, it is gone, converted to fat. Your blood sugar level has now crashed, your stomach is empty and you are craving a donut. Thank god Frank from accounting brought a dozen in from Tim's 'I'll just have one... okay two...'

Three eggs, with cheese.
350 calories (depending on the amount of cheese of course...). The proteins and fats will take a while to be converted to usable energy. Your blood sugar will not spike, and it will not crash, four hours later you are not desperate for food. Your blood sugar is balanced and you will find it easier to make a healthier choice. 

And... the White Spot meal - 1360 calories? Equivalent to 20 eggs... I can eat the burger meal, it is yum, but could I eat 20 eggs? Probably not...

But what has this to do with Big White? Not much, but if you are lucky enough to live here, you will enjoy a slight (altitude related) metabolic rate advantage. Maybe it is the extra work your body does to extract the oxygen from a lower level of oxygenated air. I don't know... but that sounds good eh?

Just for me!

You want to get healthy?
1. Exercise 15 minutes every day. Every!
2. Start your day with a high protein breakfast.
3. Don't try and starve yourself but make healthier choices - fish over steak.
4. Cut down on carbs, increase protein.

Sólido Properties
lives, works, owns, rents and manages property and exercises at Big White. And yes, sometimes I make poor food choices too... beer...