Sunshine Customer Service

Um, with the risk of sounding like the 'ba humbug type', I'd say that the customer service in that story was, well, "sufficient", you know...

I mean, Sunshine Village is in desperate need of addressing the problem of hundreds of people being forced to park along several kilometers of their access road -- while their "shuttle service" is still somewhere between "pathetic" and "barely adequate". Last time I had to take one, they didn't even have racks. People everywhere, no signs, confused drivers, angry customers. It was a disorganized, time-wasting gong-show. And on a powder day?? Forget about it.
Seriously, you were forced to drive to BANFF and back again!? That's absurd! That's the only shuttle they could offer? I think that's rather terrible service for paying customers... and their only losing their own money with it now, as their handing out free passes...

So, you know, kudos for them in kicking in the free afternoon passes, (and to you, for focusing on the positive! seriously), but I think they need to address that ongoing problem in a more serious and long-term way as well... its getting worse every year.

I've had nothing but good service from the folks at Sunshine. This is even more true given the alternatives (RCR, ahem).

Yeah you would think after all this time they could get better organized with the shuttles. To bad they can't just get the parking closer, but that is up to Parks Canada.

there is f" all they can do about the parking....Parks Canada won't let them...they have protested and lobbied for more parking ever since i can remember but the feds won't let them...

Once that lot is full, the road is the last spot and they have seen increased skier visits in the last few years to finally create a constant headache.

I give kudos to them for fixing people up with free passes. Truth is like most resorts they usually don't step up to the plate like that because they really don't need too, and to give free passes, well that's just going above and beyond! Great on them!

well, true that. ;)

Showing up at 10:45 is a huge mistake, come on, it's barely over an hour from Calgary, no excuse for getting there much past 9 especially on a pow day, even hungover :). If I was showing up later than 10:30 I'd just go to Louise, or wait until 1 (parking will free up at the front by then).

Heh, Sunshine's parking staff can't direct cars. There's free spots at the front at 9 even, no problem.
Powder days at sunshine, last, 30 minutes? Unless you go to the right spots (at which point it's almost always good even if it hasn't snowed recently)

I know, I know; We had just flown in from the UK and had some beers the previous night. So we had to check out of hotel and get car from slow vallet, pick up food supplies and buy some snow shoes in Canmore for our stay in the Park that night (Num-Ti-Jah - great place). Also, we got stuck behind a snowplough formation between Canmore and Banff (If I had got a small coffee instead of a large one we would have been 30mins earlier.) All this + girlfriend inertia = 10:30.

Maybe I can show her this thread to illustrate how error of her ways. :lol:

We made up for it in Revvy the following week:

And Kicking Horse where Nina exhibited fine form...

...with some decent powder turns...

...although the powder was unusually heavy for Kicking Horse

On the subject of SSV parking lot. I only have sympathy. Parks Canada refuse every request to extend the lot. The access road is an accident waiting to happen on busy days and there is little they can do about it. It is also counter productive when you think of the extra time cars spend idling whilst waiting to turn around. I can't understand why Parks dont allow them to build a proper day lodge at Goat's Eye either. I doubt the environmental credentials of that temporary structure are good compared with a proper building.

No one said Sheila Copp's policies made sense haha.

Damn powder, haven't had many powder days this year, really starting to get to me...

It's going to take a pedestrian death or serious injury before Parks addresses it.

Well this Saturday we went up around 9:45 only to find a stream of cars coming the opposite way, some high-beaming us, others giving the "thumbs down" sign (thanks guys!). Yet when we got to the parking lot, people were still parking on the road? There was TONS of spots, I got one right in the first row next to guest services. And that was about the highlight of the day. Gondola running like molasses, only lifts open were sub-alpine (strawberry, wawa, wolverine, jackrabbit.) Combine this with the Calgary weekend crowds... well you get the picture. The crappy part is for anyone who checked the website to find news of "powder weekend awaits you", with no warnings of high winds or potential lift closures. What a slap in the face if you drove far to get there.

sunshine needs a big fucking kick in the balls
firstly, put a fucking weather report on your site, bannfs DOES NOT cut it, you had one last year, idiots

secondly

leave a few spaces open (put up a no parking sign or whatever) so your shuttle (which will be driven either but a blind old redneck child molester or an 18 year old deer in the headlights milktoast mommas boy) can turn around, or maybe suggest to them using the parking lot at the bottom that accesses healy creek or whatever its called

thirdly

cap the visits, there is no need to park people 15KM down the road, the lift lines are long enough as it is

and

can you guys do something about the chronic fucking smell of death in the trappers dens bathroom? i mean seriously, it smells like 800 monkeys gorged themselves on each others shit for a week, then died, and then exploded and rotted all over the bathroom, its fucking nauseating in there

LOL that rant was hilarious dude!!! And you definitely nailed it with a few points there.

The weather site they had linked earlier this year was Snow-forecast, which was apparently removed because of it's inaccuracy at predicting wind speed and therefore it was showing way-colder windchill factors and 'scaring' people off.

This is the direct link to the top-mtn forecast: http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Sunshine/6day/top

Most resorts don't provide much more than that either though... Another good site to check is the CAC weather links section at http://avalanche.ca/CAC_Weather_Images

If it makes you feel any better Louise also forgot to mention the hurricane winds and lift closures... I'm so glad their forecast of -7°C tricked me into wearing a shell with no face protection!

On the bright side, 10 cm's of windblown pow on eagle ridge and paradise bowl was the deepest snow I've had in January... :D :? :( :cry:

By "in january" you must bean just this year, I hope? And yeah I read on the lake louise lowdown blog that the winds got up to 140km/hr at the peak!

If sunshine is so bad, why go?
Look where you live man, you have a choice of countless hills, bitch less and go somewhere else.

It's like going to castle and complaining they have wind, honestly, if you have the ability to get to sunshine you probably have the ability to get many other places.

As for the cap on people visiting... The laws brought in to limit expansion in national parks also limit the number of guests, so they already have a limit, if you don't like lift lines, get some skins.

I don't really have all that much interest in Sunshine mid season, plenty of other hills I'd rather be, but it can't be all that horrible of a hill if people keep going.

@Upton789... who are you responding to? Look where who lives? Steve_randomno, in London?? lol... And I don't think people were complaining specifically about the conditions at SSV, more the misinformatin / lack of info about the winds (and the potential for them closing lifts). Since you seem to be the expert, where would you have gone that day? I think people are more or less trying to share their experience with others, so that we are all aware and who knows, maybe next time we will choose somewhere else to go. It certainly seems like that is a tough to do this season especially...

I know it's the smack talk forum... but your reply was pretty useless unlike most of the replies here.

Also, I was not aware of a guest limit at SSV??? I know lots of people who work there and have never heard of such a thing. The only limit is the physical parking space where they can cram people - I have seen it hit 7,500 on busy days with nobody turned away, and no talk of capping out.

Mountain weather is unpredictable. What are you complaining about? If you want predictable weather move to Los Angeles.

I heard there was meant to be some sort of skier limit built into the long range plans that are meant to be prepared by ski hills & approved by Parks. it takes into account lift capacity (per hour), area (size, runs etc), & food facilities etc etc. Not sure if the limits will ever be taken so literally that people will be turned away.

As has been said already, weather in the mountains is not predicable. The resources put into weather forecasting in Canada (in general) is miniscule compared to most developed countries. Couple that with unpredictable mountain weather & it shouldn't be any great surprise that mountain weather forecasts a wacked.
The only potential source for reliable ski hill weather is if the hills have their own weather stations. Sunshine can't even get the math right on the snow report on their website, expecting an up-to-date weather feed is asking a bit much!