Sunshine Village Ski Resort

Sunshine Village Ski Resort
Banff Office:
Clocktower Mall, 2nd Level
Banff, AB

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 1510
Banff, AB T1L 1J5
Canada
Tel: (403) 760-5280
Fax: (403) 760-5282
Email: comments@skibanff.com
Web: www.skibanff.com

Location: 
Sunshine Village is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
- 135 km (80 M) west of Calgary International Airport
- Exit 8 km (5 miles) west of Banff on Trans-Canada Highway #1

Sunshine Village Statistics: 

Average Snowfall: 33 feet, 396 inches, 1,000 cms
Length of Season: November to May
Vertical Rise: 3514 feet, 1070 M
Base Elevation: 5440 feet, 1660 M
Top Elevation: 8954 feet, 2730 M
Skiable Acreage: 3168 acres
Snowmaking: Zero – We don’t need it!

Number of Lifts:
12 Total
1 - 8-passenger high-speed gondola
4 high-speed quads
2 Quad Chairs
1 Triple
2 Doubles
2 Magic Carpet Tows

Number of Runs: 103 named runs
Longest Run: 5 miles or 8 km
Terrain Breakdown: 20% beginner, 55% intermediate, 25% expert
Number of Mountains: 3 -- Goat’s Eye, Mount Standish & Lookout Mtn.
Season Length: Mid November to Late May
Number of Restaurants/Bars:
8 in total (2 Cafeterias, 2 Lounges, 2 Bars, 1 Deli, 1 Fine Dining)
Skiing/Snowboarding Parks: 2 parks (1 half pipe and 1 terrain park)
Longest Run: 5km (from the summit of Lookout Mountain to the Base area)

Sunshine Inn:
(403) 762-6555. The Sunshine Inn is an 84-room hotel situated at the top of Sunshine Village, at an elevation of 7,200 feet. The Sunshine Inn is the only on-mountain accommodation in Banff National Park. Access to the Sunshine Inn is by gondola only. The Sunshine Inn features a gigantic outdoor hot-pool, sauna, exercise room, games room, Eagles Nest Dining Room, Chimney Corner Lounge and general store.

Hours:
Gondola begins operation at 8 am and closes at 5:30 pm Monday through Thursday. Extended hours are until 10:30 pm on Friday and Sunday, and only until 7 pm on Saturday. Ski area lifts operate from 9 am to 4 pm (seven days a week).

Snowphones:
Calgary (403) 277-SNOW
Banff (403) 760-SNOW
Edmonton (780) 496-SNOW

Information:
1-87-SKI-BANFF (RESERVATIONS - North American Toll Free)
(403) 762-6500 (Mountain Office); (403) 762-6513 (Mountain Fax)
(403) 705-4000 (Calgary Office); (403) 705-4015 (Calgary Office fax)
(403) 760-5280 (Banff Office); (403) 760-5282 (Banff Office fax)

Ski & Snowboard School:
CSIA and CASI instructors. Group, private, ski, snowboard lessons or clinics for all age and ability levels. Call to book (1-877-542-2633)

Rental Shop:
Banff’s largest ski and snowboard rental shop. (403) 762-6592

SUNSHINE VILLAGE – World Class Ski Resort

Fall 2003
Thanks to over $40 M in capital improvements over the past 10 years, Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort has moved into the big leagues of world ski resorts.

Always known for its abundance of soft natural snow, spectacular Rocky Mountain scenery and convenient location just 8 km (5M) west of Banff, Sunshine Village has attracted over 500,000 skier visits four times during the past five years and has recently re-established itself as Alberta’s #1 Ski Resort.

“There are a ton of reasons for the recent success of Sunshine Village,” confirms Marketing Director John Ross. “The expansion and opening of Goat’s Eye Mountain (1995) added a lot of expert terrain to the resort and the opening of Delirium Dive (1998) created a big buzz with the extreme skiing crowd. But the big difference at Sunshine Village from a decade ago is the rapid improvement in lift infrastructure.

Sunshine Village completely eliminated base area lineups in 2002 when they built a new super high-speed 8-passenger gondola (2001). Skiers and boarders can now reach Goat’s Eye Mountain in just six minutes and the Village area in 13 minutes.

“From the time you leave your hotel room in Banff, you can be standing on the top of Goat’s Eye mountain contemplating your first powdery turns in under half an hour,’ confirms Ross. “The Goat’s Eye high-speed quad chair is an incredible lift as it has a capacity of 2,400 skiers per hour and travels a vertical rise of 1,900 feet in less than 5 minutes. An aggressive skier can pound out 23,000 vertical feet in just three hours, if they are so inclined.”

Thanks to the recent installation of quad chairs at Wawa (2002) Wolverine and Jackrabbit (2000) and this year’s new quad chair at Standish, Sunshine Village now offers a total of  seven quad chairs – the most in the Canadian Rockies.

“Lift lines are a thing of the past at Sunshine Village,” said Ross, who notes that the majority of lifts are sparsely used after 2:30 PM.

 “The quad chairs are so efficient that most skiers and boarders are burnt out after four or five hours and that’s a good thing. We’ve provided them with the opportunity to ski or board as much as they possibly can and everyone leaves satisfied.”