With three different mountains, tons of vertical feet, and some of the steepest inbound slopes in North America, Sunshine resort should be on every rider’s itinerary while in Alberta.

From the base, grab your gear and run to the high speed gondola. Don’t waste time getting ready in the parking lot, do it in the comfort of the gondola. While enjoying the ride, look up to the left and check out the “Wild West.” Wild is an understatement for this spot. Mandatory cliffs and tight chutes are the only way down once you enter this area. To get here, get out of the gondola at the first stop and keep an eye out for Goat’s Eye. This high speed quad is the preferred lift on powder days for advanced to expert riders. If venturing to the Wild West, first see if it is open. If so, make sure you have an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe. They are required to get into this restricted area. It probably isn’t a bad idea to check with patrol and find someone who knows where they are going.

If the Wild West seems a little too wild, go right off the Goat’s Eye quad and look for Cleavage. The Cleavage chute is separated by two giant rocks. Once you get through the cleavage just keep going down and head for the small bushes. When covered with good snow, this run has been known to be orgasmic. If more stimulation is desired, hike up the ridge off of Goat’s Eye and check out Renegade, Stampede, or Saddledome. In flat light, these runs can be hairy. There are no easy runs off this lift.

The jewels of Sunshine are off of the Continental Divide Express. After checking in with ski patrol and being equipped with a beacon, shovel, and probe, the “Milky Way” ridge climbs up to the left. The knife edge ridge leads to the Galaxy Chutes, Delirium Dive, and Silver City. The entrances to these chutes are in the 40- to 60-degree range and require expert riding skills. If you fall at the top, you will not stop until 1,000 vertical feet later.

If riding during a storm or white-out conditions check out the Tee Pee Town double chair. A quarter of the way down some small trees will help provide contrast if the vertigo seems to be an issue. However, if it is a blue bird, sunny day, enjoy the Angel Express and the Continental Divide quad as they ascend over wide open mellow bowls.

The Strawberry triple Chair and the Wawa quad go to areas that access a lot of beginner and intermediate cruisers. Both these spots have wide open runs all the way to the base.

The Mount Standish Express (quad) hovers over rolling hills and a small cliff band that runs parallel to the lift. This region resembles one big natural terrain park with hips, cliffs, and rollers all in the same run.

Pipes and parks
The Angel or Continental Divide chairs can access the Roger’s Terrain Park. This park is the best in the Banff area and is meticulously manicured. Three different lines run parallel to each other, and all have a number of tables, kickers, and rail/box features.