"Best" Mountain in Banff area?

H

~Hutch~

New member
Me and a friend are planning to move out to Banff to work and ski for the winter, with the drop on earlybird prices coming up, i need to decide which mountain i want to ski. From what i've been told i'm edging towards Sunshine because of its proximity to Banff (where I'm going to be working) its av. snowfall (30 ft) and its large amount of terrain. But i don't want to be forced into a blind decision, so i'm hoping some of you can help me decide.
From what i have seen Lake Louise and Norquay don't get any more snow than i do here in Ontario, and that concerns me, I don't ski groomers, I love park, and backcountry/tree skiing and thats why i'm getting out of here.

In what ways are other mountains better/worse i.e. Lake Louise or Norquay? How is the park? How is the backcountry skiing? How is the community? As well as any other helpful hints would be appreciated.
 
well norquay is more of a family hill, but they have a decent park, and its only 5 mins from banff, sunshine has a really fun park, and great snow, and good backcountry that u can access, lake louise has no jumps and decent rails, with good backside skiing if it snows, sunshine is your best bet
 
thanks for the reply, Sunshine seemed like the best glad you could help me decide, at this point, i'm getting pretty fuckin stoked
 
-Depends on the snow. Norquay can be pretty fun sometimes but they hardly ever get enough snow.

-Sunshine is dope, always good snow, fun park and its huge.

-Louise is sweet as well, steep runs, but doesn't the snow that sunshine does. But honestly if it ever gets decent snow its way funner and challenging, (with the exception of the Dive and Wildwest at sunshsine)

its more expensive, but you can get the big three pass as well.

where you working?

 
Sunshine doesn't get the 900 cm advertised. It is more like 600 cm. Louise usually gets close to 450 up top. While sunshine does get more snow, the snow in the backbowls of lake louise is well preserved and skies really well.

Louise has better expert terrian than Sunshine (not including the freeride areas). If you don't have a beacon, you might find sunshine is geared more to intermediates.

Get the big 3 pass. Although most people favour one hill, it would be a shame to not experience the two of them.

Norquay is too small to keep your interest for a season, but if you have the big three pass, it makes for a nice alternative to the other mountains.
 
^ and Norquay has a free shuttle and if theres enough snow you can ski from Noquay to the Juniper, sweet if you gotta be at work in the early afternoon.

Not to mention Friday night skiing at Norquay are always good times.
 
Word man. I think me and my friend are going to leave right after school on fridays and hit norquays park for a few hours.
 
Later in the season they have night skiing till 9PM on Fridays.

I like Louise for steep skiing if they have enough snow. I usually go to Sunshine though because RCR and their park policy pisses me off.
 
. Their park Norquay is very small, but the park can be the best around. Sunshine is big, but has the worst fall-line of any resort I've ever been to. Lots of roads, flats, up-hill traverses to get where you want. Sunshine does have a decent park, but the lap is a long one and you have to wait in the longest line at the hill to access it. Sunshine also has some really good backcountry access, definately the best around. You'll need a tranciever, probe and shovel though. Louise has decent terrain, but doesn't get the same snow that Sunshine gets. Between Louise and Sunshine, I'd go with Sunshine, even though the flats kill me sometimes.
 
whats wrong with rcrs park policies? that you have to take 10 mins out of your day to get a pass? and they do have jumps this year they just wont be anywhere near what they used to be like.
 
So far this season, its all about Lake Louise. We're getting the snow, the park and we already have the best terrain. And to whoever said the shine has better BC access, I would argue that. Its pretty even.
 
I work Park crew at Sunshine and i love it. Got a little of everything. I don't know if the freeride is just for intermidiates, because i just look at Silver City and shiver. Were going to have a pretty huge park, with new features ordered up. They also have free buses from Banff/Canmore and tons of different times. The buses can suck sometimes, but they pretty save me a bunch of money.

I have ridden most of the other hills, and i would say that Sunshine has the most variety.
 
what are the plans for shines park this year? i heard rumors it was ognna move back to wawa, also what size jumps are planned? and good jump lines?
 
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