This is part of a series of stories celebrating the 60th anniversary of Big White Ski Resort
It is considered one of the best training facilities for snowboarding and free skiing in North America.
TELUS Park at Big White Ski Resort, which opened for the 2004/05 season, is a playground and a competition venue for beginners to pro athletes.
“TELUS stepped up in the early days with a goal to create a specific area for skiers and snowboarders…to participate in recreational and amateur sports as well as competitions,” said Flynn Sneddon, director of terrain parks and outdoor events at Big White.
It boasts an Olympic size 450-foot-long Super Pipe with 17-foot walls that meet International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Cup and X Games standards.
Other features include another half-pipe with 12-foot walls, intermediate and advanced terrain and rail parks, a boarder/skier snow-cross capable of hosting Olympic FIS qualifying events, World Cup ski and snowboard events, as well as X Games qualifiers and national championships.
It is also one premiere competition venues in the country.
“We host over 35 event days a year for athletes at the grassroots level to World Cup competitions,” Sneddon added.
A snowmaking machine allows features and half pipes to be opened earlier in the season.
A 1,800-foot double chair services the park and can be lit for night skiing.
The entire cost for the project was $2.5 million.
In 2011, Big White re-invested in a terrain park-specific micro site and $10,000 in new features.
TELUS Park was nominated as one of the best terrain parks in North America in USA Today’s 10 best awards in 2015.
The park is also home to the TELUS Kelowna Cup, which started in 2015, and has raised more than $190,000 for JoeAnna’s House in Kelowna.