Sunshine Village

 Experienced freeriders head straight for Delirium Dive, just steps from the Continental Divide chair. This area is roped off and accessed through an odd looking gate which only opens if youre wearing a Transceiver. This definitely separates the wheat from the chaff! Just peering over the edge would give any beginner vertigo - if shoots, drop offs and powder are your thing, head straight here.

 

Goat's Eye is home to the resort's most accessible yet challenging terrain. The Express lift hauls you to a series of wicked black and double black rated chutes, epic when filled with fresh pow. Try Eagle Creek and Rollercoaster

for some fun tree riding. 

 

 On Lookout, steep runs through the trees to check out include Little Angel, Ecstasy and Horot's Revenge, where you often find powder stashes. From the Wawa chair ride down a frozen waterfall on the aptly named Waterfall run. While in this area, ask a local to show you Sidedoor and Backdoor, just outside the ski area boundary. Paris Basin features a fun cliff drop.

 

 

 

Sunshine Village has two perfectly adequate parks with all the usual jazz: jumps, rails and boxes of varying kinds. The mini-park is good for entry level park riders and situated on the Strawberry Express Chair, is perfect for short laps. The more advanced Rogers park is located off the Continental Divide lift, featuring more of the same but bigger! 

Sunshine Village's secret, however, is that the whole place feels like one giant fun park, with natural hits, banks and rollers dotted everywhere. Add the fact that the resort seldom gets tracked out early and you'll understand the place's appeal. Rather than feeling like the Picadilly Circus of some bigger resorts, lifts can be cruised onto even at peak periods such as Easter. Less queueing = more pow = more fun! Shhhhh!

 

 

Some of the best wide open, sweeping runs can be found on Lookout. Try South Divide and Green Run to lay down some big, fat carves without having to worry about hitting any skiers! Avoid Standish if long cruisers are your thing; the pistes here are simply too short and best for jibbing. Some other great cruising runs are Sunshine Coast and Wild Fire; just make sure you're bombing it to avoid getting stuck on the long thigh burning traverse back to the gondola! If size is what you're seeking, remember that nearby Lake Louise has ski-outs to the valley bottom,  meaning much longer pistes.

Beginners and intermediate riders are well catered for on runs that include The Red 90, South Divide and Green Run. The Wawa chair gives access to some excellent novice free riding, although short. The Dell Valley run off the Strawberry chair has some great banks to slow you down when trying to link those first few turns. As with any boarding trip, try to get a few lessons under your belt before the holiday to experience a wider variety of the resort's terrain.There is an excellent snowboard school here however, with experienced instructors who can guide you to the mountain's most secret powder stashes if you treat 'em to a pitcher!