BIG WHITE, B.C. -- British expatriate Christopher Sherriff has worked as a bulldozer operator in Bosnia, a dishwasher at a French ski resort, and as a real estate agent in British Columbia, where he moved after marrying a woman from Penticton.

These days, he's a developer, overseeing the construction of big-windowed condominiums fitted with obligatory hot tubs and fireplaces at Big White, a ski resort about 60 kilometres southeast of Kelowna in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley.

"I felt Big White had a lot going for it," he says, explaining how he's gone from a two-unit project in 2001 to this 35-unit, almost-sold-out project dubbed the Ravens, where units are selling for between $200,000 and $1.3-million. "It's a 45- or 55-minute drive to Kelowna, the mountain infrastructure is great and growing rapidly, and the property value is lower than in Whistler."

And Big White is not the only British Columbia ski resort on the expansion track. Forty-four existing alpine ski resorts are projecting total new capital investments of more than $1-billion over the next two to five years, according to the annual service plan for B.C.'s Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts. In addition, the province is weighing applications for several new ski resorts, which would be multimillion-dollar projects if they get off the ground.

Nor is Mr. Sherriff, who bombs up to construction sites in a BMW plastered with the logo of his company, Solido Group, the only one to twig to Big White's potential.

The resort, operating since 1963 and owned by Kelowna-based Schumann Resorts since 1985, is in the midst of a construction boom. Residential projects are getting bigger and more expensive. There are more international buyers. Australians, a constant presence at Big White since the days when the current owners had a reciprocal employment agreement with a ski resort they once owned in Australia, have been joined by owners from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Industry participants chalk up the current flurry of activity to several factors, including the strong economies of B.C. and Alberta that are giving more people the inclination, and the money, to invest in recreational property.

There's also the Olympic factor. Whistler Blackcomb may be getting ready for its moment in the spotlight as a host venue for the 2010 Olympics, but other resorts are positioning themselves to catch the reflected Olympic glow.

Several B.C. resorts are developing master plans with 2010 in mind, and there is a similar trend in Washington and Idaho, says Brent Harley of Brent Harley and Associates Inc., a Whistler-based consulting firm that works on resort projects in Canada and abroad.

Those states "are very aware of the Olympics and very aware that the world is going to be shifting its eye to this particular region," says Mr. Harley, whose firm helped develop the pitch that brought the 2010 Games to B.C.

As evidence, he cites his firm's work for a resort near Kellogg, Idaho, a onetime mining town that has found a new life as a ski haven.

Resorts mean jobs, tax revenues and potential economic diversification for communities that depend on, say, forestry -- facts not lost on developers or on the B.C. Liberal government, which after taking power in 2001 said it wanted to double tourism revenue to $18-billion by 2015 from roughly $9-billion. Resorts, especially projects that feature aboriginal participation, are a big part of that strategy.

Ski resorts can be cash cows, as witnessed by private equity investors' growing interest in the sector. An American private equity group bought Whistler Blackcomb's owner, Intrawest ULC, last year and analysts say more deals are likely.

But the business also requires large, regular injections of capital, is at the mercy of the weather -- that's without taking global warming into account -- and tends to butt up against competing interests, especially on the conservation front.

The biggest challenge for resorts such as Big White, Revelstoke and Rossland's Red Mountain that are on the expansion trail may be growth without jeopardizing the charm that made the place a hit in the first place.

Assessed real estate value at Big White hit $585-million this year, says Paul Plocktis, vice-president of real estate for Schumann Resorts. He expects that to hit $1-billion by 2010. But he hopes to avoid the glitz.

"We're not going to become Whistler, with night clubs and fancy restaurants," Mr. Plocktis says. "We don't see the growth as changing our family identity."