Ski Week



Ski Week has been a unique and integral part of Shawnigan’s annual calendar since 1973. Taking place in February each year, Ski Week is timed to take everyone off campus to a fresh, fun environment at a point when the usual dark, rainy West Coast winter days seem to be stretching unrelentingly on. Manning Park Resort is located in the beautiful British Columbian Cascade Range, and for the duration of Ski Week, Shawnigan takes over the whole resort, turning it into an experiential learning playground where students, teachers, and staff families spend memorable quality time together outside of the classroom.
 
The week is designed to be a tremendous experience for students of all skill levels. From downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding lessons, to snowshoeing, sledding, snow sculpture, ski races, snow camping, and polar coaster, the days are a celebration of an active outdoors life, with the whole community coming together in the cozy evenings for broomball, karaoke sessions, our classic Reach for the Top quiz night, and the ever-popular Shawnigan staff skit, the Staff Review.
 
For each student, the Ski Week journey might look different—from embracing new snow sport skills to trying out a winter camping experience or taking on a leadership opportunity—but at the core are the shared aspects of rejuvenating adventure and a profound sense of togetherness. Each year, we return from the mountains to campus as an even closer-knit community than we set out.
 
Ski Week seeks to encapsulate our core values in a different, wilderness location – Curiosity leading students to try new activities; Compassion and support shown to beginners; Community-building underpinning the whole week; and Courage displayed by students facing fresh challenges, forging new friendships, and charting their own path in the BC wilderness.

Ski Week News

List of 7 news stories.

  • A Sensational Ski Week

    While winter sports aficionados around the world were focused on the ice and snow of northern Italy last week, Shawnigan students and staff took to the mountains of southern BC for Ski Week 2026.
     
    Like the Olympics, the week at Manning Park, between Princeton and Hope, featured alpine and Nordic skiing, and snowboarding, but there were also events, such as karaoke, and Reach for the Top, that may not be specific to the season but are Shawnigan Ski Week staples nonetheless.
     
    Just as the student body as a whole gets away from campus, the individual students have the opportunity to get out of their comfort zones, and many of them take advantage.
     
    Read More

  • Another Splendid Ski Week

    Ski Week could be described as Shawnigan’s “alternate reality” – a parallel universe where the School exists in a different form for a few days.
     
    This year, both organizers and students were unsure what to expect. Conditions on the hill at Manning Park were said to be dubious, and only limited runs would be open. Of course, when all was said and done, many were calling it “the best Ski Week ever.”
     
    “Maybe that was because we were expecting less and got so much more,” Student Life Coordinator Ms. Katrina Cholack said. “The kids kept a positive attitude and took advantage of what was presented to them.”
     
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  • Ski Week Reaches New Heights

    Shawnigan’s 52nd Ski Week was the biggest ever, and featured the return of one of the most exciting traditions – after a year’s absence – in the annual excursion.
     
    The 515 students who made the trip to Manning Park were 35 more than the previous record, Student Life Coordinator Ms. Katrina Cholack noted. Some students who may have opted out in the past – like Grade 12s with academic or university application responsibilities, or injured students who wouldn’t be able to fully participate – still chose to join the festivities this year.
     
    “Everyone wanted to come,” she said. “When you have buy-in from everyone, the feeling is different.”
     
    It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect; skies were blue all week, and although it was cold, no one suffered from it.
     
    Read More

  • Ski Week 2023

    It was with a mix of anticipation, delight, and uncertainty that the Shawnigan community departed for Manning Park on February 12 for our first Ski Week since early 2020. One of Shawnigan’s most cherished and longstanding traditions, this year’s Ski Week was particularly special not only because it marked our post-pandemic return, but because it meant we had reached a milestone.
    Read More

  • Apres Ski Week a Success!

    Shawnigan Lake School’s much anticipated annual Ski Week looked different this year, because, like so many things, the pandemic has required a shift in how things happen. The creative minds at the School took to the challenge and designed and executed a week to be remembered. With the goal of providing an opportunity for the students and staff to enjoy a change of pace midway through the academic year, the week was rebranded as Apres Ski Week and succeeded in encapsulating the core values of Shawnigan: Curiosity, Compassion, Community, and Courage. Curiosity and courage were witnessed in the many who challenged themselves and tried new activities – from skiing and snowboarding to bowling, esports tournaments and Reach for the Top quiz games. Compassion was shown to the younger students as older students led activities and helped on ski days, gaining valuable leadership skills. Throughout the week, with all that was taking place, the community building that occurred only made our foundation as a School community stronger. 
    Read More

  • Ski Week

    Snowy adventures for the whole School

    For five wonderful days, Shawnigan Lake School was transplanted to Manning Park Resort. Our 47th annual Ski Week was at once unique and yet rich with beloved traditions. Thanks to several newly built accommodations at the resort, we were able to include our grade 12 students for the first time in many years. That was not the only change Manning Park had in store for us – they also had a brand new four-seater chairlift servicing one of their two hills!
    Read More

  • Four weeks to go!

    47th annual Ski Week

    The start of the winter term at Shawnigan means that Ski Week is just around the corner! In a little under four weeks, the majority of the School community will make the annual trek to Manning Park, where we will take over the resort’s accommodations and fill the mountain slopes. 
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We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
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Shawnigan Lake, BC V8H 2G7
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Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.