Sunshine Village, AB: 03/25/07

[jamesdeluxe]

Arrived in Calgary late evening yesterday and drove up to Canmore, where it rained all night. I raced up to Sunshine early this morning, which reported about seven inches. I started at 8:45 and bagged really soft, mostly untracked laps for the first three hours, then nice leftovers and powder bumps until 3:45 when my legs gave out.

I clearly didn't perform enough due diligence as Sunshine was a lot better than I had expected with a nice selection of terrain, from wide open alpine to lots of tree shots from mid-mountain on down. Even with a pretty big crowd today, the longest I waited for a chair was three minutes (they've got lots of HSQs). They were bombing Delirium Dive in the morning and opened it in the afternoon.

I look forward to going back tomorrow and seeing how Sunshine skis without the crowds.

 

[jasoncapecod]

Nice!!!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

03/26/07
For today, a complimentary ski host showed me around -- a guy named Niels who moved to Calgary from Denmark when he was three. He manages to rip solidly even after tearing an ACL several years ago (not as a result of skiing) and never having it repaired. I had a tough time keeping up with him on my two healthy ACLs.

Although we didn't get more than a dusting overnight, there were tasty mid-winter leftovers all over the place (while the rest of North America is in spring meltdown mode).

 

[Patrick]

Couldn?t believe this is the end of March. Yeah baby!

I've been to Sunshine/Louise on full or partial trip 4 times. All the trips have been in April, except one in late March. I found some amazing conditions must of the times, sometimes even some April Winter Powder. 8)

I guess I didn?t perform enough due diligence, but Sunshine was a lot better than I had expected... had a nice selection of terrain ? from wide open alpine to *lots* of tree shots from mid-mountain on down.

There are some fun places that the average tourists don't even know about at Sunshine. I would say the overall reputation is still stuck with the intermediate label, however the ever expanding expert terrain starting with the Dive and now Wild West has surely made this place more desirable for every skill level of skiers.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Like me, you were in the right place at the right time on March 25. That storm was nearly all rain in Fernie.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Your Danish friend and I are among the "lucky 10%" who have blown out an ACL but still have full stability in the knee. In my case it occurred on my 3rd day on skis in 1976 but was not diagnosed until I had an MRI for a meniscus tear in the same knee in 1995. The orthopod told me that the stability is maintained by tight patella tendons and that the most famous ACL victim who has stability without one is John Elway.