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Big White opening day delayed again as enough snow fails to materialize

FILE. Big White view from March 2023. COURTESY: Daniel Korobajlo

Big White Ski Resort has again delayed its opening day.

In a post to their website, the ski resort noted that Dec. 7 is the new target date for opening. That is a bit later than Dec. 5 last projected and the initial opening day of Nov. 23.

That said, snow has been falling. In the last 24 hours, the mountain resort has seen four centimetres fall. In the past seven days, there have been 19 centimetres of fallen snow.

Global News meteorologist Peter Quinlan said snow is expected in the days ahead.

“We are expecting between five and 15 cm by the end of the day Thursday in that area,” Quinlan said.

The first snowfall on Tuesday is expected to be wet and the temperatures are forecast to be above freezing, which Quinlan said may not improve the base much.

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Click to play video: 'Construction at Big White reaching pre-pandemic levels'
Construction at Big White reaching pre-pandemic levels

“We do have a bigger snowfall expected Wednesday night, which will come with cooler temperatures to follow,” he said. “That should help and be slightly less wet snow as it’ll be cooler when it falls.”

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As of Monday, Big White’s website indicated the alpine snow base is now 52 cm and cumulative snowfall is 76 cm.

The new opening date aligns with what’s happening at other Okanagan resorts.

At SliverStar, the opening date was pushed back to Dec. 8, from the originally planned opening of Nov. 30.

A lack of snow the past three weeks has pushed back opening days across the valley, though SilverStar’s cross-country trails are open.

Click to play video: 'Fast and furious competition at Big White Ski Resort'
Fast and furious competition at Big White Ski Resort

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