Lifts & Terrain
Sunshine, Banff, doesn’t have the convenience of ski-in ski-out accommodation (for most people) and doesn’t have much in the way of après. However when it comes to the terrain and the snow conditions, Sunshine comes up trumps. It’s definitely the best of the three Banff resorts.
The terrain at Sunshine Village is vast and varied, and is suitable for all ability levels from the first timer, to the extreme skier who wants to access terrifying backcountry type terrain. Lift queues are not an issue at Sunshine as the infrastructure is quite developed with twelve different lifts including seven quad chairs. There is also a gondola, but this primarily is for access from the carpark up to the ski area.
There are three main ski areas or mountains within Sunshine. Goats Eye is predominantly black and double black terrain, and has steeps, fast groomed runs, bumps and some gladed runs (our favourite being “The Big Woody” – hee hee). Lookout has a variety of terrain for all levels. Mt Standish is predominantly easy terrain, although there are also some black runs close to the fall-line of the new Mount Standish Express quad chair.
The resort boasts 1,070m of vertical and whilst there’s ample fall-line, it’s not accurate in a real sense, as the drop in altitude below the gondola mid-station is just a home trail down to the carpark.
Beginner Ski TerrainThere is some beginner terrain mid-mountain served by magic carpets and the Strawberry Triple chair. For more confident beginners there’s a long run off the Continental Divide Express Chair, but this is not advisable for novices on a low-visibility day. There are also various green runs off other chairs.
Intermediate Skiing
There are some great cruising slopes from the top of the Continental Divide chair, and also some ungroomed areas for intermediates to get bumps experience. Plenty of variety is afforded to intermediates, with various blue runs off most of the chairs.
For the Family/Kids
In addition to the beginners area and the child friendly magic carpets, one of the benefits for families is that some of the lifts service runs for all levels of skiers, so everyone can ski or board together.
Freestyle Terrain A word of advice for shredders – it’s pretty cold at Sunshine so you might want to pull your pants up! There is some great natural terrain, but the park is adequate to keep most entertained. The park is large and varied, and plenty of fun for both beginner and advanced park-riders, and as such has been awarded the Powderhounds “Best Terrain Park” in Canada.
The terrain park is accessed from the Continental Divide chair. It develops throughout the season and obviously evolves slightly from year to year. It has some infrastructure for developing shredders such as small rails, boxes, small kickers and jumps. For more advanced shredders, there are much larger kickers and stepups, longer and more advanced rails and a wall ride.
Advanced Skiing Sunshine has an advanced grooming system that enables steep runs to be groomed. Goats Eye Mountain usually has at least a couple of steep runs that are fantastic for getting some speed that will make your eyes water, even with goggles on. There are also plenty of ungroomed black runs off various chairs, but undoubtedly Goat’s Eye Mountain will become your area of choice.
For the PowderhoundThere are lots of opportunities to sneak off the piste for both intermediate and advanced powder lovers. Goats Eye and the Teepee Town double chair offer plenty of fun on powder days.
Expert Ski and Snowboard TerrainThere are three in-bounds extreme areas where appropriate avalanche equipment is required. The steep Delirium Dive is the infamous extreme area of Sunshine. The area is gated and permission is only granted if transceivers are carried. We had the pleasure of meeting Trapper Jerry, a colorful local who celebrated his 75th birthday by taking a couple of patrollers down Delirium Dive. Apparently the patrollers had to stop for a few rests!
Other extreme zones are Wild West and Silver City, but both areas are often closed due to the high avalanche risk. These are not your average double black diamond runs, as the potential hazards are far from predictable, and there are lines and chutes that will end up in drop-offs. These areas could easily be perceived as triple black runs.
There are also some real out-of-bounds areas, but these require a decent hike (1-2 hours). Wawa Ridge, Twin Cairns and Assinbone National Park are options for experienced backcountry riders.
Snow conditionsSunshine boasts a fabulous annual average snowfall of over 9 meters, and generally it is fabulous dry powder. Even if it hasn’t snowed recently, the snow stays in great condition because Sunshine has a tendency to be very cold. The Powderhounds have awarded Sunshine Village the “Best Snow Conditions” of all Canadian resorts.
Like many resorts, Sunshine sometimes suffers from bad visibility days, but unfortunately there aren’t too many protected areas. The Wolverine chair has tree runs for protection, as does the bottom half of Goat’s Eye Mountain. However the top half is quite exposed, and in bad conditions the mountain requires some “skiing by brail”.