Sunshine Village – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Ski-in and Ski-out at Sunshine Mountain Lodge

For some reason this year, I just don’t have the gusto to venture out into the cold. It’s not that I have the blues, or feel affected by the winter season and dark days as I have in the past. In fact, I’m attacking the year with trip planning, fitness endeavors, online courses, and work-related statistical modeling. But for reasons unknown to me, skiing and snowshoeing have been non-existent. It might have something to do with my muscle/back spasm that put me out of commission in November, but at this point, I think I’m using that as an excuse. Or maybe my Caribbean blood is itching for warm weather. Another excuse? Shrug shrug.

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Snowboarding at Sunshine Village

So I finally went snowboarding this season. On Saturday, Robbie and I headed out to Sunshine Village to hit the slopes. I decided earlier this year that I would make a committed effort to snowboard instead of ski (which is a much more comfortable activity for me). With XC skiing in the schedule, snowboarding would be a welcomed change. I also own snowboarding equipment, so I figured I should really give it a go.

Thankfully the runs weren’t too busy, and I had lots of time to practice. Of course, there were many falls, and turning continues to be the biggest issue for me, but overall I felt quite comfortable on the snowboard. For having only gone twice last year, this was quite a surprise! Luckily there will be many more visits to the mountains, and my hope by the end of the season is to descend a green run while manoeuvring from heel to toe without falling. I think it’s doable.

Sunshine: I’m a Green Graduate!

Yesterday was another great day in the mountains. I’d say it’s turning out to be quite a lively winter season! The weather wasn’t too cold and the sun was shining the entire day. It was a big group of us too, which made for an awesome outing even though everyone did their own thing, either snowboarding down the greens or carving snow on the blues.

I’m happy to report that it was the first time I’ve done blue runs in the Rockies! The difficulty and change in steepness were noticeable, but the fun-factor increased 10 fold 🙂 Of course, I attempted the blue runs on skis, since my snowboarding skills are nowhere up to par…. yet. The next time I go to Sunshine, I’ll be working on my heel and toe edge techniques and before I know it, I’ll be graduating to the blues on my board as well!

Kicking Off Ski Season

I’ve been here almost 4 years. In that time, I’ve managed to endure 8 month winters without immersing myself into winter activities. Well, that’s slowly starting to change. It may not be the end of November as yet, but here in Calgary and the surrounding areas, we’ve had lots of snow. And so far this year, I’ve managed to go snowshoeing, snowboarding, and this past Sunday, downhill skiing at Sunshine Village.

Similar to last year’s experience, Sunshine was quite sunny and the snow was fluffy. This made for an awesome skiing experience. Being a beginner, I did fall once, but overall I think I did pretty well. And the views while riding the gondolas and chair lifts are pretty spectacular, especially when the sun rays are beaming down on the snow and everything glistens. Overall, an incredible day with about eleven runs followed by the ski-out. I can’t wait to go again :).

Skiing in the Rockies. Finally.

I finally went skiing in the Rockies. Yay! (At Lake Louise)

I’ve had the question many times since moving to Alberta:

Person: “Do you ski or snowboard?”

Me: “No, I don’t.”

Person: “But you’re so close to the Rockies!”

Me: “Yes. Yes I am. What’s your point?” *punch to the face*

Okay, so I never punched anyone in the face. And I never did say “What’s your point?”. If I did, their point would be that I’ve lived almost three years in Calgary without taking advantage of the world-class skiing and snowboarding just outside of the city. In general, I’ve had a bit of fear when it comes to downhill skiing, since my previous experiences have usually resulted in almost breaking a limb. So I was hesitant. But should that stop me from ever trying skiing again?? That ish is cray talk!

A bit nervous before ascending the gondola at Sunshine

So now I can finally say that I’ve tried skiing in the Rockies. Twice this season, to be exact.

The first was at Sunshine Village at the beginning of February. The weather conditions were incredible! It was about -1 degrees and completely sunny. Of course, after skiing there I wondered: Why did it take me so long to do this! It was a very pleasant experience. I had a few falls, but nothing to cry about. The second was this past Friday at Lake Louise, which was also fantastic and so enjoyable. One bigger fall, but it was all in good fun. Pinecone Way was definitely my favourite :). (Well, it was my favourite out of the green runs, since I’m a newb and didn’t attempt any runs above the green circle.)

Sunshine Village

A snowboarder at Sunshine

So I’ve realized that as long as I’m living in Alberta, I need to take advantage of those ski hills! I may be all over the mountains in the summer with hiking and such, but since winter feels like 8 months of the year here, I may as well occupy my time with winter-like activities. Yes, I know… this makes sense. Next season, I look forward to attempting snowboarding. Thankfully my bro lent me his snowboard and bindings, so once I get some boots, I’ll be good to go. Whoohoo!

At Sunshine. The weather was incredible!

At Lake Louise. There’s always time for a mid-ski photo-op!

Robbie is all cl-ass! (He was posing. His form is much better than this :D)

Thanks Robbie for helping me cross off an item from my list. Well, sorta. Number 9 on the 31 before 31 is to “Try cross-country skiing”, which was added so that I do SOMETHING this winter. While this is still do-able, the craziness of life these days makes it difficult to fit this in, so I’ve changed it to “Go skiing in the Rockies”. And that I gone done did right there…

Sunshine Village