Second-generation liftie keeps the chairs turning at Big White

Scores of skiers and snowboarders are hauled up the mountainside to get their thrills at Big White Ski Resort every day, all winter. It takes a big, dedicated team to keep chairlifts running, but for one Big White icon, that dedication is in his DNA.

Stuart St Clair is a second-generation liftie. He has spent the majority of his life working at Big White, inheriting a passion for skiing and the resort lifestyle from his dad, Mike.

“It’s a labour of love. We all still don’t know what we want to be when we grow up. My dad’s retired now, but he still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but the rewards are pretty amazing.”

These days St Clair is the assistant lift supervisor overseeing the 120 lift operators it takes to keep the chair lifts running. He got his first job at Big White when he was around 16 years old and 22 seasons later, he still loves it.

“My dad ended up setting me up with an interview when I was 15 to work on the weekends when I was still going to school down in Kelowna,” he said. “When I was still going to school, I’d be doing parking in the morning, lunch covers for the afternoon, when I did my first full year working five days a week, here’s me just being a regular liftie. Then after about January of 2009, I became a drive operator.”

He works at the resort all-year long, keeping it going in the winter and doing maintenance or repairs in the summer.

A lot of lift operators at Big White are from different countries around the world, especially Australia, so St Clair is one of the few locals who’ve dedicated their careers to keeping the ski hill running.

“I’ve been asked a few times, so what part of Australia are you from? ‘I’m from the Canadian part,’” he said.

“We benefit to be able to go skiing every day if we want to. There’s always a new adventure every season.”

He’s met so many lifties over the years that he has mutual friends with new arrivals from around the world.

“It could be someone I worked with years ago and here’s their buddy coming out because they heard good things about Big White. So they decided to come up and here we are hitting it off,” he said.

It’s uncommon for a liftie’s trade to be passed down from father to son, but St Clair said it was great being able to work with his dad, who retired roughly three years ago.

“There’s always going to be the expectation of ‘how do you measure up to your father or mother or something to that effect.’ For me, it’s been great, it’s just going to take a little longer because you don’t want there to be nepotism. But the reward is pretty cool and just having the chance to be able to work side by side with my father is amazing,” he said.

Even though his dad’s retired, St Clair keeps him up to date.

“Once in a while, I still chat to him about work and he loves to hear the gossip about what’s going on on the hill because that is still his candyland,” he said.

Big White is one of the few locally-owned ski resorts left in BC. St Clair said there are benefits to a resort being owned by a big corporation, but he likes the atmosphere and priorities at Big White.

The resort has been family-owned since 1985.

“We’re still mom and pops up there,” he said. “I live with my girlfriend up on the hill and here’s our people next door to us who are renting, up for a week or so or just hearing their kids just go wild. They’re loving it up there, but I don’t know, it still feels very family-oriented.”

With 120 lift operators under his watchful eye, St Clair said leadership is really satisfying.

“It’s quite rewarding. I know it’s going to sound corny, but it’s getting to see some of the stuff they teach you, or the stuff I get to teach them and eventually see them apply it. It’s quite rewarding,” he said.

There was a time when he considered finishing college and doing something else, but he never wanted to pull away from the ski resort lifestyle.

“It’s absolutely amazing up there. Here’s me, I’m 36 going on 37 coming February. The sunrises and sunsets on the hill do not get old. It’s very wicked,” he said.

“Just look for me and my big orange gloves. You can’t miss me.”