Sunshine Village Reviews & Ratings

First visit to Sunshine Resort and we staying in the resort at the only lodge/hotel on the mountain. It wasn't like I had previously vacationed. First of all, the ski hill is located a little drive outside of banff, lots of busses from Banff to Sunshine run all day if you stay in Banff. You park at the base of the mountain, and take about 15-20 gondola ride up to the resort. This gondola runs during ski hill opening hours except Friday it stays open until about 10pm. So with that being said, you are on the mountain after hours, not able to go check out Banff and other activities after skiing.

It is beautiful! Large! Lots and lots of runs, almost 360° of runs! Lots of lifts, reasonable lines on Saturday, Friday was quite quiet with almost no waits.

During ski hours there are a good variety of dining. After skiing/evening dining is limited and expensive of course, there is a Rustic bar style, high end and sophisticated but casual option. Very very quiet after hours, not much going on.

Hotel is beautiful but doesn't even have mini fridges or microwaves so you are forced to eat out or pack in dry foods/snacks/fruit. I'd suggest bringing a cooler. Hotel buffet breakfast was way over priced. Hot tub was great! They also had little evening activities posted like smores from 8-9pm and tobogganing from 7-8pm.

Ski School lessons and childcare were 5⭐️! My 3 year old did 2 full days of Tiny Tigers which offered 2, 2 hour lessons per day plus outdoor play, inside play and food. Instructors were fabulous and kids were in small groups. I was so impressed how the instructors played with the kids non stop, not just watched them play with eachother.


Overall, loved the ski hill and ski school. For me, ill stay in Banff next time so I can sight see the area, enjoy Apres Ski events and check out other local activities. Will save some money staying in Banff too.

Great resort with lots of different terrain. The lifts going to the top are long and slow and right into the wind which isnt great. Snow is usually pretty good, lots for experts and beginners also. If youre looking for a terrain park with jumps there isnt much, mostly rails or XL jumps once they have their big park open.

Great time with friends, good food, fun runs.

Itll never be my go to but this season it has Albertas best snow so Ive gone a few times and honestly Ive began to like it a little more than when I first came. The gondola up does suck - it takes a while forsure.
But there are some hidden gem tree runs to be found and some awesome terrain once you know where to look.
Short runs but on recovery days those can be nice too haha

Sunshine village is an oasis for snow sports. You can skin up instead of taking the gondola for added challenges, or take the gondola. Sunshine can only be reached from a gondola, so no cars up there. The hotel is therefore directly on the slopes with the most amazing views. There are runs for everyone, and my favourite thing is the wall facing the hotel. It allows you to meander between green, blue, powder and black runs. Really awesome.
It usually is favored by Ullr with plenty of beautiful snow. Staff is polite and nice. A nice place to discover, for sure

Options for experts and beginners. Mountain can get cold due to exposure and elevation so bundle up. Great hill for learning and expert skiers looking for fun alike.

Such an awesome experience, from the start of the first gondola to riding all the eat down at the end of the day. Wide open spaces and an amazing variety of terrain to choose from

Beautiful resort with amazing mountain views and very accessible lifts. Friendly staff, big choice of terrain and runs

The resort is expansive with a wide range of terrain for all types and levels of riding from the bunny hill to delirium dive and the Wild West, sunshine is a great resort and well worth a visit with a few tips and tricks to help out along the way: always rent at the Salomon pro tent on your left at the top of the gondola and return at the base by taking the banff avenue ski out

Ski in Alberta and in BC the same day . Great lifts. Awesome staff and great eats. Never a dull moment skiing here .

Fantastic in bounds terrain and well managed zones by patrol and parks safety. Mind-blowing access to gnarly terrain , including back and slack country with seemingly endless space to enjoy great snow. Lift operations are reliable and everyone keeps the vibes high year round! Can get busy but knowing what days and times to go is key!

Sunshine often gets a lot of flack for having the worst conditions, no snow, and a gondola ride. I find that the gondola ride if used as a time to get dressed isnt too bad, and you can find some of the best terrain and snow as long as you know where to look.

The green runs at sunshine were quite a bit more difficult compared to greens at snow resorts in cities. "The Green Run" included unavoidable mogul fields that was at a gradient comparable to blues at Snow Valley or Rabbit Hill in Edmonton. Additionally, there were some areas with exposed rock on the green slopes, which I clipped my skis on a couple of times.

As for family friendliness, they don't allow non-skiing family to come along to the base unless they buy a sightseeing lift ticket which costs roughly 50 dollars.

Really great resort, when the snow is good theres really not much that compares. Overall a great resort and pretty affordable if you get early bird pricing as well.

The Sunshine Ski Resort at Banff is a really amazing ski resort for skiers of all skill levels. It offers a wide variety of terrain and slopes, from easy well-groomed green and blue runs and conversely some slightly more rough blue runs. It also has a variety of black runs of varying difficulty. Some of these runs are well groomed and have good powder while the others will be covered in moguls and may also be icy. It is important to check the conditions of the run before you choose to take it on. The sunshine village overall offers you 3 different mountains you can ski and snowboard on with 100s of miles of runs across different terrains.

The apres ski and dining services are reasonably decent albeit expensive. I would recommend bringing snacks and sandwiches instead of spending $24 on chicken tenders and fries.

Additionally, this ski resort is extremely family friendly and can therefore be heavily crowded on weekends and holidays. If you are skiing during these times, I advise you get to the gondola by 8am so you can be up at the first chair lift by 9am. Furthermore, there is one ski lift that closes at 4:30pm (different from the others at 4:00pm) which allows you to go up and take a run all the way down to the parking lot (so you dont have to use the gondola). I highly recommend using this run.

Finally, to avoid crowds, consider going on a weekday. Always check weather conditions. And look for the $200 for 2 lift tickets deal at Costco. It can save you $130!

Sunshine Village sits up in the Alpine of the Canadian Rockies. With a natural snow base the resort typically skis well and has Fantastic scenic views of the continental divide. The off piste terrain is epic. Special zones the Delirium Dive and Wild West are game changers. You can often find fresh turns in these zones mid day and the runs are life long memories. The backcountry access is also very assessable.. adventure awaits.
Murdawg

Love the fun atmosphere. Great chair lifts, fast and comfy. Lots of terrain variety. Food prices are crazy high.

The terrain is absolutely beautiful. When the snow is good, its some of the best in the world.
What I would say is the runs are not the longest and you can spend a lot of time on chairlifts. There are no microwaves, so you are somewhat forced to buy food, especially when its cold.
If goats eye and divide are open though, its well worth a visit. The teaching is excellent and I would recommend jumpstart for its quality and value. Hiring a guide and going to delirium is also an excellent off piste option.

Visited on a -30 degree Celsius day and the top of the mountain was very windy along with the park. The park did have a good amount of rails and boxes for tricking we wished we could have entertained. We eventually found a sort of secret tree run with light pow that we had a lot of fun in. There were not that many people there, but the temperature mightve been a factor. Overall I would still recommend this resort!

My son and I go to Sunshine a couple times a year, the restaurants are ok and we usually pack our own food. We love the ski out at the end of the day right down to the parking lot.