It wasn't the soft snow or sunny afternoon skies that had me grinning like a loon. Nor was it the proverbial "mountain high" of riding the Gem Lake chairlift up British Columbia's Big White ski resort, or a tuque that was two sizes too small. No -- the most satisfying part of my day so far was the morning flight from Toronto.
Unlike past ski sorties out West, I didn't have to catch an Airbus at some ungodly hour to reach the mountains by afternoon.
Now that WestJet and Air Canada have boosted the number of direct flights from Eastern Canada to Kelowna, time-deprived long-weekenders like me -- and families looking to get the most out of a March Break ski trip -- can get out to the Okanagan and onto the hill faster, and earlier, than ever.
I was also grinning at the jovial banter of my resort guide, Steven Threndyle. The 49-year-old Kelowna resident, who moved to B.C. from Ontario 25 years ago, knew just where to find fresh tracks through the more than 200 centimetres of white stuff that has fallen on Big White so far this year (the most since the record-setting season of 2000). "It's almost scary how much snow there is up here," Threndyle said, pointing to the ubiquitous snow-covered evergreens appropriately dubbed "ghosts."
With night skiing until 8 p.m., we still had six hours of schussing ahead of us, even though I had already checked into my chalet, ditched my bags and inhaled a turkey sandwich. I still felt like I was on Toronto time, and couldn't help feeling the lifts were about to close, but I soon switched off my confused internal clock and let the mountain take over.
A favourite among locals, the Gem Lake section of the mountain offers 19 runs ranging from meandering beginner cruisers such as Village Way to black-diamond dives like Talon's Grip. My Eastern legs weren't quite ready for the latter, so we hit the intermediate Cann Cann, which, as its name implies, quickly warmed up our quads.
There was plenty of soft snow -- around 10 centimetres had fallen the night before -- and my ice-weary legs rejoiced as I sped over the undulating terrain. We spent the afternoon working our way back to the resort village, sampling the mountain's easygoing blend of expansive alpine meadows, "ghostly" glades and rolling cruisers.
The village itself is a hodgepodge of mountainside condos, hotels, restaurants and bars. What it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in variety: Around 15,000 slope-side beds make up Canada's largest ski-in ski-out resort.
And it's still growing -- 1,000 beds were added this season to accommodations ranging from luxe hotels to budget hostels. There's a gondola and chairlift to shuttle visitors around, and a Kids Centre with daycare services and a new indoor climbing wall for adventurous youngsters.
With the flight, the 45-minute drive from Kelowna and a half-day of skiing under my belt, I felt I had truly earned dinner at the Kettle Valley Steakhouse and Wine Bar, one of the resort's 18 eateries. Ontarians are as deprived of B.C. vintages as they are of vertical drops, so I was especially keen to sample a flight of four Okanagan reds alongside my beef tenderloin.
The three-hour time change meant not just an early arrival, but an early start each morning as well. It had snowed overnight -- "same old, same old," Threndyle joked -- and clouds hung low on the mountain when the lifts opened at 8:30. This prompted a foray into the sheltered glades of the Black Forest area, where visibility was better and fresh tracks were easy to find.
