Sunshine Village

Out of all of the Banff resorts in Canada, I think Sunshine Village was our favourite from a day-to-day boarding perspective. It's got a lot of variety, the location seems to attract passing powder dumps, the scenery is spectacular and there's a relaxed, local feel about the lodges and bars.

We were a bit unfortunate in being here during an El Nino year which resulted in some marginal conditions and icy days (not as bad as seen at Lake Louise though). So with the fresh powder on pause and icy corduroy piste conditions, we decided to go over to the 'dark side' for a few days and take some skiing lessons ... you heard right! It didn't take us long to master the basics. The edging concept and hip swivel is very similar to the boarding skills we already have, so we were shooping down the slopes and taking on the moguls after a couple of days of lessons and practice.

Then the powder did finally arrive, the boards were back out again and the cruising, jumping, tree dodging and bad mouthing of skiiers resumed.

We tasted our first Canadian cold power at Sunshine village and it was odd and fantastic at the same time. The boards glide over it like you're carving through clouds, and so long as you can handle the icy wind in your face it makes for a better experience. Having not seen the best conditions in 2003 and still plenty of ski resorts in this area to try out (Jasper jumps out at me for starters) I think its inevitable that we will be back.