Big White, Ogopogo ski patrol receive Pacific South division awards
Big White Ski Resort, located within the RDKB’s Electoral Area E/West Boundary, received the Division Appreciation Award while the volunteer Ogopogo Zone was named the division’s Outstanding Zone for 2026.
Canadian Ski Patrol volunteers at Big White Ski Resort. The Ogopogo Zone received the Pacific South Division Outstanding Zone Award for 2026, while Big White received the Division Appreciation Award.
Photo: Big White Ski Resort
BIG WHITE — Big White Ski Resort and the Canadian Ski Patrol’s Ogopogo Zone have received separate 2026 awards from the patrol’s Pacific South Division.
Big White received the Division Appreciation Award, while the Ogopogo Zone received the Division Outstanding Zone Award, according to an announcement issued by the resort Sept. 14.
Big White lies within Electoral Area E/West Boundary of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. The Ogopogo Zone provides volunteer first-aid and public-safety services at the resort, where Big White’s patrol is made up of paid patrollers and Canadian Ski Patrol volunteers. Ogopogo members train in advanced first aid, lift evacuation, on-snow patrol work and rescue-toboggan handling.
Big White said its award recognized support for the Canadian Ski Patrol at the local, regional, national and international levels. That included hosting the 25th Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Patrouilles de Ski from March 27 to April 3 this year, when international ski-patrol delegates gathered at Big White for presentations, workshops and training. The resort also hosted the Pacific South Division’s first-aid competition last year.
“The people behind the Canadian Ski Patrol give their time, expertise and care to help keep mountain communities safe,” Big White senior vice-president Michael J. Ballingall said in the resort’s announcement.
Ogopogo Zone president Eduard Erbiceanu said Big White’s recognition reflected its support for Canadian Ski Patrol programs beyond the local mountain, including the FIPS congress and the divisional first-aid competition.
The awards come early in Ogopogo’s 2026-27 training season. The zone held its volunteer open house Sept. 10 and began classes Sept. 15, with recruitment for this season now closed. New recruits complete an online course alongside 10 weeks of twice-weekly practical sessions, followed by Advanced First Aid examinations and assessments. Lift-evacuation training and outdoor first-aid scenarios are also required, and recruits who successfully earn their Advanced First Aid certification may then be invited into the on-snow training program.
Full certification at Big White requires at least 22 patrol shifts. During their first 22 shifts, certifying patrollers are paired with a senior volunteer patroller or paid staff member while they build experience on the mountain. They must also complete supervised first-aid responses and a toboggan-training passport covering different terrain and snow conditions.
The Ogopogo Zone says full certification normally takes a recruit partway into a third patrol season. Once the certification program and required first-aid and toboggan experience are complete, patrollers can apply for independent patrol status.
Big White Ski Resort and the Canadian Ski Patrol’s Ogopogo Zone have received separate 2026 awards from the patrol’s Pacific South Division.