Innovating Winter Adventures: The Design Journey of the Ultimate Snow Cam Display

Whether it's checking weather conditions, tracking snowfall, or simply enjoying the live snow-capped vistas, a well-designed snow cam display can make all the difference.

The backbone of any snow cam display is the underlying technology. High-quality cameras, robust streaming capabilities, and secure data transmission are essential components to ensure scalability and reliability to handle peak usage during major snow events. The new Big White Ski Resort Pow Cam display just so happens to have a pretty neat story behind it.

In May 2023 the idea was floated to upgrade the Big White Ski Resort Pow Cam display. The existing Pow Cam was looking a little tired and as one of the most visited pages on the Big White Ski Resort website (1.6m annual visits), it was time to elevate its look.

Some of the greatest ideas have been scribbled down on a napkin: The Paramount Pictures logo, The Guggenheim Museum design, The concept of Southwest Airlines, the Seattle Space Needle, and a little closer to home, the CN logo. While not a napkin per se, the new Pow Cam design was scribbled into a notebook in pen, photographed with an iPhone and sent to the graphics team to mock up a design. This simple chain of events birthed the design of the Pow Cam you see today.

Lance Nicholls, a Big White Ski Resort veteran of 25 years, is a master craftsman in every sense of the word when it comes to cutting, shaping and designing custom wood pieces. Lance heads up the wood shop at Big White working on projects like the Big White giant chairs, the new day spa cabinetry fit out, accent pieces for the brand-new Central Mountain Check-in Building. You name it, Lance’s miters touch can be witnessed throughout the resort.

When first approached for the Pow Cam display project, Lance excitedly dug out a beautiful piece of cedar. The special thing about this piece of wood is that it had been sourced from a collection from the late Peter Schumann’s farm. (Peter was the former president of Big White Ski Resort who suddenly and sadly passed away in 2022). The wood was hand and machine, shaped by Lance with the additional finer touches of the mountain etching (an outline of Big White Mountain) and the resin-filled measurement lines and Big White logo added to complete the design. With the addition of some back and front lighting, the Pow Cam was re-birthed.

You can view the Pow Cam any time, day or night at www.bigwhite.com/mountain-conditions/webcams.