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Sunshine Village SnowHosts are on hand every day to help you discover three incredible mountains. Every day from early December until mid-April, SnowHosts give a free tour of the mountains. These relaxed and informative tours help intermediate skiers or riders here for the first time to find their way around the network of 12 lifts. They also provide a fun way to explore a wide variety of ski areas with a group of skiers and riders.

Tours begin at noon. Meet at the big trail map sign in the Village. There is no need to book in advance. No instruction is provided.

Visit our Banff section of the website for holiday ideas or contact us for ski holiday package.

Mt Norquay, The Lake Louise Ski Area and Sunshine Village are open!   It’s beginning to feel a lot like Winter!

Wednesday 22 September, was officially the  last day of Summer in Canada, and it brought over 20cm of snow to Banff-Lake Louise.  The ski fields open within 41 days.  Check out this nice and white photo.

Do you have a 2009 season pass for Coronet Peak, Remarkables, Cardrona or Treble Cone?

If so, you qualify for half price skiing at the following ski resorts -

* Banff - Canada (includes: Banff Norquay, Lake Louise & Sunshine Village ski areas)
* Bariloche - Argentina
* Val Gardena - Italy
* Saas Fee - Switzerland

This is fantastic value….ring Ski Traveller for more information.
Toll free 0800 11 22 99
Email: info@skitraveller.co.nz

My, my, my - 50cm of snow fell in the first two days of this past week! We drove up to Lake Louise from Canmore early on Tuesday morning and during the brunt of the storm cycle, it was an interesting ride to say the least on the Trans Canada Highway in a driving snow storm, scary at times too. It was certainly worth it though, the Powder Bowls on the Ptarmigan side were pretty much deserted, we skied the steeps in untracked boot top snow, an epic day had by all including our 8 year old daughter who skied right on my tail all day in fresh snow that was knee deep on her!  We all made it safely back to Canmore on the Highway at the end of the day as the temperature plunged and the storm cycle intensified. The next day ( Wednesday ) was an epic powder day at Sunshine Village, mid week, -29 degrees, no wind and very few people about. We skied Goats Eye Mountain hard all day in fresh powder that was easily knee deep, many of the black diamond runs were waist deep on our 8 year old, she hooted and howled all day long, stopping every couple of hours to warm up and consume hot chocolate. Thursday dawned a cracker, the storm cycle had passed, it was warmer, sunny and again there was very few people about. We skied what was left of the untracked POW and eyed up the ultimate prize, The Holy Grail here in The Bow Valley - Delirium Dive! Rated as one of The Worlds Steepest, In Bounds, Double Black Diamond, Extreme Skiing Areas, access is allowed via a closed gate and only with an avalanche transceiver, probe and shovel - unfortunately it hasn’t opened this season due to lack of snow and snow pack instability but man did it look good now - would 50cm plus make a difference? YES! We awoke on Friday morning to another blue sky day and our last day of skiing before heading home to NZ, the day was spent cruising the groomers in the sun with the girls and drinking beer on the deck at Trappers Lodge. Then came the call, as Chevy my old ski patrol buddy and now Mountain Operations Manager here at Sunshine Village rounded the corner and said ” We’ve been looking for you, we’re skiing The Dive, meet me at The Beaver Lodge at 2pm “! There were six of us, 4 patrollers, Chevy and me. You enter Delirium Dive from a set of metal stairs bolted to the side of a shear rock face at 9000 feet and at the top of The Continental Divide, then traverse around a rock buttress to an array of narrow chutes that drop over 1000 vertical feet into a classic powder bowl. We ski cut the top section and then made the most of what was the highlight and perfect ending to this 6 week skiing road trip - Untracked, Waist Deep Powder with an old mate and a true gentleman. 1000 vertical feet later with numb feet and panting for breath we snapped some photo’s and headed towards the Gondola via the trees. Grinning from ear to ear and admiring our handy work from ” The Bird ” I remembered the good old days and the advantages that a patrol uniform and pack allowed, one on the few perks for working day after day in sub zero temperatures, ” The Dive ” is still closed but with the snow forecast next week there are murmurs that it will open to the public before long. This roadie has been fantastic, from the smaller tree lined ski hills in B.C to the big open slopes and bowls here in Alberta the trip of a lifetime has gone to plan and without a hitch. Without Sarah and her team at Ski Traveller and her vast knowledge of the many Canadian ski areas that we visited we wouldn’t have had the accommodation that we’ve had and the good times that are now almost memories. We fly out of Calgary tomorrow and begin the long 24 hour non stop journey home to Queenstown, all of us longing and awaiting the snow to fall here, bring it on! Sarah, a big thanks to you and your team. - The Goat.          

Well, we’ve been here in Canmore, Alberta for 5 days now and have skied 3 days at Sunshine, there’s been 3cm of new snow in the valley in that time and some very fond memories and friendships renewed and dinner parties attended. Having worked here at Sunshine as a Ski Patroller almost 20 years ago I made some very close friends and many life long relationships. My old boss Chevy is now the Mountain Operations Manager here and most of my old buddies are still in town - Canmore rather than Banff now though. This season at Sunshine and like much of Western Canada has been a tough one in terms of snow, their snow pack being almost 30% down on an average year but the majority of the terrain is well groomed and open with the exception of Delirium Dive and The Wild West, which isn’t a bad thing! Banff has changed radically in 20 years and has become the expected tourist trap with wall to wall souvenir shops and tacky restaurants, although very pretty - Queenstown take note! Canmore on the other hand has flourished to become a well balanced functional ski town and is rapidly moving out from beneath Banff’s shadow. As I sit here in town resting up for tomorrows trip to Lake Louise with the crew it’s snowing steadily, with 20 - 30cm forecast for this region over the next 24 - 48 hours I have no doubt that it’s going to be a powder day tomorrow and the next…. We decided to extend our trip by 5 days based on the current forecast and by the looks of things it’s going to pay off - check out www.snowforecast.com for the best, most accurate and up to date snow forecasts anywhere in the world! We’ll ski at Sunshine again on Wednesday and make a day trip to Kicking Horse on Thursday and Friday before heading home to NZ on Sunday. The ski / road trip of a lifetime ( 6 weeks / 10 resorts ) has been a blast, the family are in awe of this beautiful country, it’s people their hospitality and the wildlife - we saw Moose yesterday! It’s not over yet though, with the snow still falling, fresh tracks on the menu and the vertical meter still ticking, by the looks of things we’ll leave here with memories, renewed relationships and friendships that will last a lifetime for the next generation too! The Goat. 

 This morning when Banff and Lake Louise locals woke up they found the town and mountains were covered with a lovely 23cms of fresh snow.Check out the photo that was taken this morning in the heart of Banff.