Big White snow history

Big White averages 266cm of snowfall over a full season, measured from November to May across the last 10 winters. That is about average: more snow than 45% of 40 resorts we have analysed the same way, where the median season brings 283cm.

Season to season the spread is wide. The best of the last 10 winters was 2017/18 with 380cm, and the leanest was 2018/19 with 183cm — a difference of 197cm between a good year and a poor one. The most recent complete season, 2025/26, delivered 221cm.

December is reliably the snowiest month, averaging 53cm and 14 days with fresh snow.

Snowfall totals flatter resorts that lose their snow quickly, so the more useful number is how deep the settled base actually gets. At Big White the snowpack peaks at an average of 87cm each season. That is about average, deeper than 57% of 40 resorts we have analysed the same way, against a median peak of 84cm.

The base is deepest in March, averaging 73cm through the month and topping out around 85cm in a typical year.

Counting any day that delivers at least 15cm of new snow, Big White averages 0 powder days a season. That is well below average, more powder days than fewer than every other resort in the set, where the median is 2 a season.

Powder days are not spread evenly. December averages 0.1 of them, which is the single strongest argument for timing a trip around the middle of the season rather than the edges.

A bluebird day means sunshine for at least 60% of daylight on the back of at least 10cm of snow in the previous 3 days — fresh snow and clear skies together, which is the combination people actually travel for. Big White averages 6 of them a season. That is below average, more than 35% of 40 resorts we have analysed the same way, against a median of 10.

November is the best month for it, averaging 1.4 bluebird days and 4.7 hours of sunshine a day.

Rain is the thing that ruins a ski week, and at mid-mountain height Big White sees an average of 24 days a season with at least 1mm of rain rather than snow. That is below average: 28% of the 40 other resorts we have analysed the same way see fewer wet days, against a median of 32.

May carries the most of it, with 12.2 rain days and 61mm in an average year. Bear in mind these figures are for the middle of the mountain: the base area will be wetter and the top drier.

Big White typically holds at least 30cm of settled snow from around 9 December through to 30 April, which works out at roughly 144 days of skiable cover in an average year. 135 of those fall inside the November to May season. On season length that is above average compared with the 40 other resorts we have analysed the same way.

In practice that means the snow is usually gone, or going, by 30 April. Anyone booking late in the season should be looking at the highest terrain here rather than the base, and anyone booking early should expect the upper mountain to open before the valley runs do.

If you want the deepest base, go in March. If you want the best chance of fresh snow, go in December. If you want fresh snow and sunshine together, November gives the most bluebird days. Those rarely fall in the same month, so it is worth deciding which one matters most to you before you book.