SUNSHINE VILLAGE, AB: Is this really in-bounds?
Mike said to meet him at the gondy with a backpack for an overnight stay. He said the lodging accommodations at Sunshine Village (just a short drive from Banff, Alberta) were unique. A twenty-minute gondola ride later we arrived at the base area of Sunshine, which sits mid-mountain. A cluster of lifts, a day lodge and the Sunshine Inn all sit in a basin, where it all begins at this no-nonsense Canadian resort.
The weather was rolling in, so we got a milky version of the dramatic peaks surrounded the area. But on a clear day the sprawling views of Banff National Park are uninterrupted by any sign of civilization. Even the peaks that make up the resort are vertical, exposed monoliths, which give the ski area a high alpine feel.
We met up with Troy, patrol supervisor, who led the way to Delirium Dive, a full-on area opened in 1999 that requires avy equipment (the gate won’t open until it reads a transceiver signal) and a partner. A short low-angle hike accesses terrain that would be OB most other areas. It had been close to a week since the last storm, but the chalk was wind buffed to perfection. You can get as rad as you want in the Dive, from the main steep gut to cornice drops into no-fall zones, lines fill the oreo cookie bowl.
One side of the bowl that makes up Delirium Dive extends out to a lengthy ridge, which doesn’t look skiable. Silver City isn’t skiable for most of us, but Sunshine’s progressive patrol opened the area up last season.
“It was born out of the passion of the Sunshine Village Ski Patrol,” says Mike Moynihan, Media and Sales Manager for Sunshine Village. “They saw it as fantastic terrain and wanted to ski it. They put a lot of time, thought, and energy into making it possible. They went to some local pros to get their input and thoughts, including Andrew Hardingham, Colin Puskas, Kevin Hjertaas, and Chris Rubens. There’s a joint responsibility between patrol and the users. Patrol has the right to refuse anyone. In return, users have to respect patrol’s decisions, be responsible for themselves and others and even self police. This terrain is a privilege, not a right.”
It still needs some more snow to open this year, but if you want to ski some of the most extreme in-bounds terrain on the continent, get to Silver City this season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it as a stop on the Freeskiing tour circuit in the future.
Next up was Wild West, an area the resort opened in 2004, characterized by a large cliff band followed by a steep tree glade. Troy asked us how long our skis were and then traversed over to an entrance. The view into the couloir was unreal. I couldn’t believe it. The only thing comparable I’d skied was a chute in Chamonix. The rock walls were a good twenty feet tall on either side and the couloir was an excellent fall-line ski.
After shredding it was time to test my arteries and try the poutine (fries covered in an odd gravy concoction and smothered in cheese) at the Mad Trappers—an authentic log tavern that’s not just a bar built to look old, it actually is old. It’s pretty sweet to watch the masses head down at the end of day, while you wander over to your accommodations next to the lift. And it’s even better to wake up the next morning on a powder day with a huge head start. (It's not just a dream, while we were in town, they were offering two days skiing and one night's lodging for $129).
