All of this would have never happened if it wasn't for the hard work of Flynn Seldon and the local crew. I reckon that some of you might have never experienced such thing as building a pipe with your own hands. Well, that was the deal in 1990, you were on your own, no Snowcats were available to snowboarders back then. People like Flynn well remembers it; being out with friends, excavating a small pipe. But that was pretty much the start of it all.
Big White Ski Resort, or simply Big White, is Located on Big White Mountain, the highest summit in the Okanagan Highland, BC, Canada. Photo: © Big White
When snowboarding started to boom, the resort decided to spend some extra cash and let Flynn and the crew built a super pipe. And boy they had so much fun, holding many pipe events, big ones and small ones; all with a hand dug pipe that took them a full week of hand work to build. And when later, a Bombardier 13 foot half-pipe machine came around, it was on: Big White was in the forefront of the terrain park industry.
Everyone's favourite: C Box. Photo: © Mark Fisher
Photo: © LCE
Photo: © QP
Today, the park has lost one those large pipes built in that golden era due to budget cutbacks but also a changing interest in riders and skiers towards slopestyle. But still, whether you like pipe riding or slopestly-oriented features TELUS Park has you covered from top to bottom. The park is centrally located in the heart of Big White Ski Resort and outfitted with its own double chair for easy park access and front row seating to all the action (it also lit up during night riding nights).
Telus Park Pipe. Photo: © QP
Photo: © Matt Butterworth
Photo: © LCE
XL's at Night. Photo: © Matt Butterworth
One of the best things about the park is its progression model. There are small, medium, large, and extra large features cleverly placed so that everyone can learn at their own pace, start small and work their way up building confidence along the way.
Photo: © QP
One of the biggest expansions of the park in 1996/97 season and also a big sensation back then was the build-up of a Ski and Snowboard Cross course that - over the years - the crew has taken to perfection, transforming it into a perfect snowcross course with all the fun aspects: a series of banked corners, rolling humps and bumps will keep you entertain for long here.
Photo: © Big White
In addition to all above, there are two well maintained pipes, often used for national events. This year, Telus will again play host to various ski and snowboard events, here are a few examples..
Outside the park the mountain is full of natural hits. Photo: © QP
For more information on the park, visit Big White's website.
Source: http://www.bigwhite.com
