Sunshine Village Ski Resort Guide

I have just stayed in Banff with my family and skied at Sunshine so thought I would share some feedback. We normally ski twice a year in Europe (France/Italy/Austria) so have experienced numerous different resorts.

Positives - the natural snow cover and condition of the pistes was very good. The variety of runs was good, something for all abilities. Having most runs lead to the central village was convenient for easily meeting up. The food and drink was basic, but not expensive.

Negatives - Mostly by comparison to European resorts - The lift passes are very, very expensive. The lifts are mainly very old and slow with no footrests or covers. Fast modern covered and heated lifts are common in Europe, where it is usually much less cold.

The bus service from Banff is terrible, really terrible. In Europe the ski bus is one every 10 minutes in the morning 8am to 10 am and from 3pm - 5pm. Here it's one every hour or so. Consequently, large queues build up at the bus stop (in minus 28 when we were there) and the bus cannot take all the queue, so you wait for another bus, sometimes again. On arrival at the lift station, the car park is huge (not surprising people prefer to drive as there are not enough buses). How poor for the environment is that?
Then as all the buses arrive at a similar time the queue for the gondola is huge as well. This was a considerable waste of skiing time and a very poor experience.

Overall, we had a good time and really liked Banff, Sunshine and Lake Louise. A few improvements to the bus service and the lifts would make the whole experience much better.