A completely biased commentary on the best place I can imagine.
Reason Number 1 - Great place to live, work and grow up!
Whether you are live here permanently, are here for just the season, or here because mum and dad chose it, Big White provides you the best in life.
Seasonal Staff.
Every year Big White attracts almost a thousand seasonal staff from Australia, England, Canada... even Poland this season - ski/board instructors, lifties, servers, cleaning crews, hot tub guys etc etc...
Yeah the pay is not gonna make you rich, but the lifestyle is fantastic - the best snow and a free ski pass. Your money is not going to feed a family of twelve, but it will pay for your accommodation, food and most importantly your beer tokens! For the six months holiday from your life, what else do you need?
And getting a job at Big White is pretty simple, if you are willing to work hard, and are reliable - not many other qualifications are needed. I will touch on finding work later.
Permanent Residents.
Me... oh and others - I’m a bit narcissistic. I love living at Big White and I have lived in many places, New Zealand, Bosnia (not that much fun during the war, but I did meet my wife), Bahrain (cool and Hot!) Saudi in the desert (can you say flies), England, Germany, Austria, France (full of French people... I’m not even sure the French like the French... hope I’ve not offended them... here comes another strike...) - I’ve travelled around South East Asia, Australia and many places in the USA.
By far, Big White is my favorite. Busy and vibrant and beautiful in the winter, peaceful and stunning in the summer. And it is an active community, I know every single parent, child and teacher at the school, I can walk into a bar or restaurant and know someone. I can get to anywhere on the mountain without driving - yes it could be a twenty minute walk but come-on, twenty minutes? I lived in Kelowna, you cannot walk to anywhere in Kelowna, you cannot walk to the school, the skating rink, any restaurant, hiking trails, lake (unless you live on it) yacht club, golf course, wineries (and for the pedants, I can’t do the golf/lake/winery thing here, thank-you) but you know what I mean - Big White is easy.
And it is ski in/out - globally very few resort can make that claim.
Kids at Big White.
Big White kids are ruined, these kids will never be able to say to their kids, add Yorkshire accent here “When I was a lad...”
Okay, this is the kids school week.
- Monday - Hockey on the 2 acre ice rink, kindly provided by Big White.
- Tuesday - Oh, hockey again.
- Wednesday - Snowshoeing - the trails around Big White are stunning by the way, if you have not been yet, shame on you.
- Thursday - ski lessons, provided by erm, Big White again.
- Friday - day off. What? Yes the kids do extended days, Monday to Thursday, and get Friday’s off. I don’t think they are that happy about it...
And school transport? Skis - yes, snowboard - yes, snowmobile - yes, gondola - yes, quad - yes, bike - yes and of course walking.
Oh and while I am on the topic of the school, during the off-season there are roughly 20+ kids, during the season 30+. With two teachers and various age ranges in classes and diverse cultures the kids get -
- High ratio teacher student time.
- Mentoring experience
- Cultural exposure.
- Broad social skills development.
And the teachers are the outdoorsy type that want to live in a ski resort, young, fit, active - great role models - Kudos to you Sara and Becky!
Oh, and here is a little pitch for my business - if you are looking for long term or seasonal accommodation register on the Sólido Properties web page or visit our facebook page.
Okay, that is my reason #1 - next time maybe real estate...
