About halfway up the 18-metre ice tower, I begin to doubt that I’ll make it to the top. Facing into the opaque wall of ice, I’m stuck in an awkward, gecko-like stretch with all four limbs askew. I try to reach my lower leg higher but see no obvious foothold. Meanwhile, each hand clings with a death grip to two ice tools, which I’ve tapped into the frozen water.

Panting, I lean my face into my gloved hand and push my sunglasses up my nose. My forearms are killing me. Recalling the instruction I was given on the ground, I realize I’m supposed to use the power of my legs more than my arms to hoist myself up. But how can I trust the tiny front points of the crampons to hold my weight on a vertical surface?

Cheers of encouragement drift up. This propels my feet into action, along with a stronger motivator: the knowledge that children reach the top of this structure on a regular basis. No doubt these are the same kids who whip by me on the slopes, the ones who it seems were birthed directly onto a ski hill. But I’ve been told that even climbing beginners like myself can scale this ice tower on the first go. I’ll be damned if a five-year-old can do it and I can’t.

I’m at Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna, where the ice tower is offered as one of many family-friendly activities. Open for its second season, the tower was built by cross-bracing four telephone poles and flooding them with water. The resulting ice yields four 3.7-metre sides for climbing: one for beginners, with more obvious footholds, and the others more sheer for advanced enthusiasts.

The tower is run by avid climbers Toni Clark and Jim Ongena, who is a guide certified by the American Mountain Guides Association. For $20 per climb or $55 for the day, they’ll outfit you with boots, crampons, and ice tools (which come in kiddie sizes as well), strap you into a harness, add a helmet, and send you out with a belayer to coach you up. Last year, the oldest person who made it to the top was 75 years old, and the youngest five years old.

“Your first time is the hardest because you’re learning as you go,” Clark tells me later. She explains that kids can do it as well as adults because it’s not about strength. “It’s a technique sport. Guys don’t do better than girls necessarily.”

Boots, crampons, and ice tools come in kids' sizes, too, for those climbing Big White's ice tower. Carolyn Ali photo.

Clark thinks Big White’s ice tower is unique because it gives people an opportunity to try the sport without a major investment of time and money. “To try ice climbing otherwise is almost insurmountable,” she says, pointing out that you need to have the proper gear, must hike into a suitably frozen waterfall, and go with somebody who knows how to ice climb safely.

According to Clark, about 75 percent of those who give it a try at Big White make it to the top. While the belayer assists your climb, he or she can’t pull you up. “It’s really about you making your own progress and us helping you,” she explains. For many people, “it’s more of a mental decision at some point than a physical one….The hardest part is emotional. People have to overcome their belief system that they’re going to fall.”

“It’s a lot about trust,” adds Ongena. “Trusting your feet, trusting the belayer. Trusting is a major part of learning to manage fear.”

Often, one family member does the climb and others are inspired to follow. The tower wasn’t designed for kids, but the pair learned that many wanted to try. “We shouldn’t be surprised because they haven’t yet had the adventure beaten out of them,” Clark says with a laugh.

Over a sashimi salad at the resort’s new BullWheel restaurant, I learn that there are beginner-friendly areas for skiing and snowboarding, too. Big White designates 12 rotating runs as slow zones. Three per day are roped off with controlled entrances for young families and seniors who want to ski or snowboard without fear of being hit by somebody zooming down the hill. (The runs are monitored for people going too fast, who will be asked to leave.) Because the runs change each day, novices can still experience a variety of terrain but in a more controlled atmosphere to build their confidence.

As someone who hasn’t skied in years, I can appreciate a less intimidating run. But I find my first time on shape skis is just like riding a bike—the old technique comes back and I’m swooshing as well as the average five-year-old in no time. Later, I join the huddle of families in the mountain’s Happy Valley Adventure Park to spin down the hill in an inner tube and glide around the outdoor ice rink at sunset.

Outdoor hockey and figure skating at Big White's rink. Carolyn Ali photo.

I also experience several decidedly adult activities over the course of the weekend. One is Big Reds at Big White, an annual December wine-tasting event that celebrates the newest releases of Bordeaux-style wines from the Okanagan. Over 30 local wineries such as Laughing Stock and Ex Nihilo show off their wares while guests graze on small bites made by chefs from the resort’s many restaurants. (The white wine version takes place on March 31 next year.) An associated event, the Winemakers Barrel Sampling Challenge, lets guests taste some of the latest, yet-to-be-bottled vintages.

Our group also takes in a spectacle that can be seen any night. At the Gunbarrel Grill, we watch three people make Gunbarrel coffee, a flaming version of a Monte Cristo coffee that’s prepared tableside. Michael J. Ballingall, who is now Big White’s senior vice president, explains that he and several others invented the drink at Apex Mountain Resort back in the ’80s when they “needed to create theatre” to attract bar business.

Michael J. Ballingal prepares Gunbarrel coffee at Big White. Carolyn Ali photo.

Standing over a gas flame, servers sugar the rim of a glass and add brandy, crème de cacao, coffee, and whipped cream. They warm the barrel of a shotgun, hold it vertically from one shoulder down toward the drink, and light a ladleful of Grand Marnier on fire, pouring the alcohol slowly down in a flaming blue line.

Ballingall likes to dip his finger into the alcohol to light the barrel. “The tips when you light your finger on fire double,” he says merrily, adding that a callus develops if you do it on a regular basis, so “after a while, it just doesn’t hurt.”

This kind of fire play is not recommended for amateurs, and I’d want all my digits fully functioning to climb that ice wall anyway. In the end, I scrambled my way to the top after deciding to trust my crampons and use my legs. I also imagined a 127 Hours–type scenario, in which my life depended on climbing higher, to get me there.

While I found the climb very strenuous, apparently it wasn’t that long. I was shocked to find out I’d scaled the tower in about seven minutes. It felt like 25. According to Clark, five- to-seven minutes is average, although little kids take about 15. Last year’s record time was 24 seconds by a British man. Clark holds the female record at one minute, four seconds.

However long it takes, ringing the victory bell at the top is just as sweet.

Access: Big White is located 56 kilometres southeast of Kelowna and offers ski and accommodation packages. Those who fly WestJet and present their boarding pass may ski free on the same day of their flight. The writer travelled as a guest of Tourism B.C. and Big White. For Okanagan travel and ski information, see the Hello BC website.

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali