Fresh Air Kelowna Vlog: Champagne Powder, Michael J. from Big White, and Brian’s New Skis

Hello, everybody. Thanks for coming back. We've got a pretty exciting vlog here at our ski shop. It’s exciting, getting close to winter. With the snow flying, what can we say we have our very favourite local celebrity in today, Michael J. from Big White. He's going to talk about snow, what's going on at the mountain. He's been doing the snow dance all year. So here's Michael J.

Michael J.

Well, what an exciting time of the year — skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing in Kelowna. Christmas is just around the corner, all that fresh Okanagan champagne powder, and everyone wants to head to beautiful Big White Ski Resort. At this time of the year, we're training all our new staff. Staff from right across Canada, normally from other international destinations. But with this pandemic, we’ve got to stay small and stay in our own bubbles. So if you're thinking of coming up to Big White Ski Resort, please know before you go. Where are you going to park? Where are you going to move around with your friends? Every lift is outdoors except for the gondola, and on the gondola, it's mandatory that you wear a mask. Inside all our buildings, it's mandatory that you wear a mask. And, of course, if you're going to dine out in one of our restaurants, under the BC Health Officer's authority, you have to have the vaccine passport.

When heading up to ski or snowboard at  Big White Ski Resort, here's the trick: leave early. Get to the parking lots early and carpool if you can. Because many people that have a season's pass to Big White Ski Resort, want to come on the same day that you want to come. If you're staying on the mountain, make sure that your accommodation is providing you with a great parking spot. And if you need overnight parking for guests, go to central reservations, they're going to hook you up for a parking spot overnight in Happy Valley. 

Now, what's new out on the mountain? Well, the first thing is our snow grooming machine, $410,000. We bought a brand new tank, a PistenBully, and we're going to go up and down all night, so you can go down all day long. We're going to groom that Okanagan champagne powder — hopefully, about 50 per cent of the mountain every day — so you, the kids, the family and friends can really enjoy sliding at Big White Ski Resort. 

And in the restaurants. Well, we have a new sushi restaurant. And we have a new Mexican restaurant at Big White Ski Resort. All the information, always live, on time, at bigwhite.com. 

If you want to see what's happening on the mountain, go to the webcam. That's going to give you an up-to-date snow report on what the temperature is, what the visibility is like, and how much new snow we've had overnight. 

At Big White Ski Resort we're entertaining a lot of locals. Right here at Fresh Air Experience, they've sold more equipment than you normally would do in a non-pandemic year. So we're going to have lots of people on the mountain, some for the very first time. Reach out to your neighbour and tell him what the priorities are. The priorities are really very, very simple. Reach out to your neighbour and tell them what the protocols are. It's really simple. Wear a mask if you're uncomfortable standing close to others in the lineup. Try to stay six feet apart from each other. And don't gather in large groups. Stay small, stay in your bubble, and have the best time this year at Big White Ski Resort.

Ryan

Awesome. Thanks, Michael J. for coming in. It's always great to see him, his enthusiasm. Winter's here, as seasons open, get up and enjoy the fresh snow — whether downhill, cross country skiing —  at Big White.

And we've got our staff choice today. We got none other than Nordic Bri Bri in today. He's talking about not nordic skis, but downhill skis. This man's been with us for four years, going on for years in January. Touched snow every month. Unbelievable crazy hikes. He's seen tons of stuff, not to mention his ski collection. This man. I don't know where he does it, but he's got like two or three new sets of skis every year. And they're always getting lighter because he's not riding chairlifts, he's hiking up all the time. So here's Brian talking about his new skis. I'm sure he's gonna tell you how much they weigh. And he's very excited about these guys.

Brian

Hello, my name is Brian. I work here at Fresh Air Kelowna. I've been here for about four years, and this is the latest addition to my quiver. 

So, I'm big into cross country skiing. I am absolutely in love with snow. I've touched snow at least once a month for the past 48 months now, so that's an achievement I'm pretty proud of. The latest addition to my ski fleet is the Vision 98. So last winter, I got about 22, 23 touring days in. 

This year, I'm hitting 30 years old, and I want to get 30 days in. So I went full nerd with my touring setup, optimized for really big days. The 2022 Line Vision 98 is known for being a really light setup, a great all-mountain ski, but it's super fun and surfy. With it being a little bit narrower, it's going to be more efficient for me for my longer, 15 to 20 kilometre days with the big, big gains in elevation, and I went full tech. 

So, I have another ski that has the shift binding on it which is amazing for booting around the resort and then also getting off into the woods, into the backcountry and whatnot, but going at the full alpinist marker, alpine ski binding, I'm shedding a ton of weight and these skis weigh about a pound lighter than my other setup so just about as light as you can go while still having a ski that has good skiing qualities, essentially

Ryan

Awesome. Thank you, Brian. As you can see he's passionate not only about nordic but his alpine stuff. You'll see him out on the trails. He will be riding chairlift at Big White as well. Say “Hi” when you see him out. Awesome guys. That's a wrap. It's almost Christmas time. Get out. Enjoy the fresh air, before you know it, it's going to be Christmas.

Strap on your ski boots and get ready to shred. Fresh Air Kelowna is here to get you outfitted in the best snowboards and ski gear in Kelowna so you can make the most of the season. Get geared up!

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