Travel to Sunshine Village with ski insurance from Essential Travel

Banff’s Sunshine Village is located eight kilometres west of Banff town and is about 1 hour, 40 minutes by road from Calgary. Throughout the development of Sunshine Village, care and consideration has been used in order to fit in with the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and Banff National Park (the oldest and most famous of Canada’s National Parks). The first log cabin from 1928, Old Sunshine Lodge, still stands.

Most of the runs cater for intermediate levels of skier. Sunshine Village lays claim to the world’s fastest gondola and has an amazing amount of natural snow, up to 10m each year, the most out of the Banff area resorts. Banff town has some interesting museums to explore, such as the pagoda style Banff Park Museum, which was built in 1903 – making it the oldest natural history museum in western Canada. Another museum worth a visit is the Whyte Museum, containing fine art exhibits and cultural/historic displays.

Sunshine Village is part of the Tri-resort area that also includes Lake Louise and Mount Norquay. The Tri-resort pass gives you bus and ski lift passes to all three resorts.

The ski season runs from mid-November to the end of May. Calgary has the nearest international airport to Banff; the Banff Airporter shuttle service leaves Calgary Airport for Banff every two hours.

Skiing in Sunshine Village

Sunshine Village is the highest ski resort in the Canadian Rockies, with a mountain height of 2,729m. Some of the best wide-open bowl skiing in the world is located on the three peaks at Sunshine Village. The lower slopes have tree-lined pistes. The Continental Divide creates a vast bowl of deep snow.

There are 107 trails available to skiers, with the longest being 8.1kms. The pistes are broken down into 20 per cent beginner, 55 per cent intermediate and 25 per cent for advanced/expert levels of skier. Twelve ski lifts service the area (including passenger gondolas, high-speed quads, a triple, a double and two magic carpets) and have a capacity for 20,000 people an hour.

The ski season at Banff’s Sunshine Village is from November 11 to May 23 (the longest in Canada). If you are planning to visit the resort early in the season, or to avoid the Christmas and New Year holiday times, various discount offers will be worth researching before travel. Some typical offers may include free skiing days, or deals allowing children to ski for free. Sunshine Village is situated near Banff in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is most easily reached by car or bus from Calgary.

Après-ski in Sunshine Village

The Banff Sunshine Village resort boasts the only slope-side lodging in the national park. The Sunshine Inn sits in the middle of the ski area, has 85 rooms and is located at an elevation of 2,195m. A day lodge is present with facilities such as: cafeterias, bars, quality restaurant, tea room, lounges, delicatessen and shopping. Child-care facilities welcome children from 19 months to six years old. Other accommodation is located at Banff (10,000 beds) or at Canmore.

Après-ski in Banff is a quiet affair; however, one interesting offer is the $1 Happy Bus that takes skiers to nightspots around Banff until midnight. Live music, English and Irish style pubs, along with two dance clubs are here to keep you entertained. For a sedate night after skiing, try the Fairmont Banff Springs’ Ruddle Lounge or Waldhaus.

Other activities on offer at the resort and in Banff include: national park tours, heli-skiing, helicopter sightseeing, snowcat rides, ice-skating, ice-fishing, dog sledding, sleigh riding, hot springs, ice-climbing, mountaineering and a children’s program at holidays and weekends. Snowboarders have a terrain park, half-pipes and quarter-pipes, along with the recently opened Wildwest Freeride Zone (a double black extreme area).

Transportation to Sunshine Village

Sunshine Village, near Banff in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is most easily reached by car or bus from Calgary. Travellers should be aware that Sunshine Village is situated in Banff National Park; this is relevant to people using hire cars as a daily fee must be paid.

By car from Calgary, the journey to Banff (15 minutes from Sunshine Village) takes you west along the well maintained Provincial Route 1/16 Ave Trans Canada Highway past Exshaw, Canmore, and then on to Banff (125kms; 1 hour, 43 minutes). The longer journey from Edmonton by car takes you to Calgary first, and then on the Calgary TRL NW/Provincial Route 2, heading south. Next, follow the directions listed above from Calgary to Banff (300kms; 5 hours, 30 minutes).

There is no rail option available to take you to Banff. The nearest station (287kms away) is at Jasper and has connections to Edmonton onboard The Canadian (5 hours, 10 minutes). An express bus leaves Jasper five times a week for Banff.

Calgary has the nearest international airport to Banff. A shuttle service named the Banff Airporter leaves Calgary Airport for Banff every two hours. The closest alternative airport can be found at Edmonton; the journey to Banff from here will take you through Calgary anyway.

The Greyhound bus is an option to consider from Calgary; its route to Vancouver takes it through Banff.

click here for a travel insurance uk quotation