Next year might be a terrible ski year, so we decided to ski right now and stayed at Sunshine Mountain Lodge for a once in a lifetime summer skiing experience.
Sunshine Village in Banff is open for summer skiing until July 5th.
Note: this post isn’t sponsored. We paid for our stays and had no contact with the hotel at all. This post exists because I searched the entire internet to see if there were fridges in the room and everyone said there wasn’t, but there was.
My first visit to Banff Sunshine
I remember the very first time Mike and I ever drove up to Banff Sunshine. It was early summer and I was so excited to see the alpine meadows that promised vast swaths of flowers swaying in the breeze. After being stopped by several herds of unbothered mountain goats, we made it to the parking lot with the gondola that takes you up to the alpine village. To our dismay, it was closed! Who knew mountains close? Honestly, it was my bad for not checking the hours of the gondola. That trip, there were no alpine flowers, but it cemented in my mind a strong desire to visit Sunshine again.
Now, years later, Mike and I have visited Sunshine numerous times, to experience what Sunshine does best: snow. It’s one of our favorite places to ski. Sure, in the summer they have alpine meadows, but in the winter, Sunshine is home to some of the best skiing in the Rockies. They get an astounding amount of high quality, dry and fluffy snow. This year, they received so much that they’re opening for two weeks of Summer skiing from June 20th to July 5th. Summer skiing in Banff Sunshine shot right to the top of our ski bucket list. They don’t do Summer skiing too often (the last time was in 2022, for 6 days) so we made it a priority to get to the slopes.
Summer Skiing in Banff Sunshine
I didn’t have super high hopes for the summer skiing because a couple of days before we arrived, there were a couple days of rain that fell on their lovely blanket of snow. But, summer skiing isn’t about snow quality, it’s about vibes and the vibes were immaculate. They have two lifts open: the Standish and Strawberry. It’s not a huge amount of terrain, but the snow is remarkably good! The days we skied, the snow was not at all slushy the way you think it would be. It was more like early end of season skiing as opposed to slush-cup last day of the season skiing. There’s nothing quite like skiing in the middle of June and we had immense fun.
Why stay at Sunshine Mountain Lodge?
After deliberating between staying in Canmore, the town of Banff, or on mountain, Mike and I decided to splurge and stay at Sunshine Mountain Lodge for two reasons. Being right in the middle of the resort as ski-in, ski-out was a huge perk as staying anywhere else in the Banff vicinity would have required us to drive daily to the base and take the gondola up. Being on mountain meant we could maximize our ski time. The second reason was just as important, if not more so.
Before this trip, I didn’t know, but the cost of staying at the lodge includes your lift tickets for your entire stay! That made making the decision to stay at the lodge a no brainer. We haven’t stayed during the ski season, but now, we’re kind of convinced. If you’re a fresh tracks kind of skier or even if you’re a roll into the lift line after a relaxing morning, Sunshine Mountain Lodge is for you.
Where to stay in Sunshine Village
There’s only one place in Banff where you can stay on top of a mountain, and that’s the Sunshine Mountain Lodge, nestled in between three mountains: Standish, Lookout, and Goat’s Eye. The ski area straddles the continental divide, making it even more one of a kind. They’re open for two distinct seasons, winter and summer and you can stay in the lodge during both. In the winter, the ski-in, ski-out convenience is one of the best and can’t be beat. And if you’re going in the summer to explore the high alpine meadows, it’s truly special.
Everything you need to know before arriving at Sunshine Mountain Lodge
If you’re going to stay onsite at Sunshine Mountain Lodge, it’s literally at the base of the Standish Express chair lift and just minutes away from Strawberry and the Super Angel Luxury Express lifts. For us, it’s a no brainer to stay at the Lodge, but there are pros and cons, which I’ll get into below.
Checking in to Sunshine Mountain Lodge
Checking in is super easy: drive through the parking lot until you reach the building that houses the gondola, which will be on your left. There’s a door that leads to the lodge lobby with the check in desk. There are several parking spots right up front for checking in and loading/unloading and just past the main building, there’s a private parking lot for hotel guests. Park in one of the spots in front of the check in desk, head in and check in. When you check in, they’ll give you your parking pass, lift ticket(s) and ask for your luggage. They also have cute private change rooms right there so you can get into your ski gear right away.
How to get your luggage up
When you check in, they ask for your luggage and tag everything. Then they drive it up (shown below) while you’re taking the gondola and deliver it right into your room before you check in. It’s just like a regular/fancy hotel valet, but up a mountain. If you have anything fragile or precious, let them know or keep it with you to take up yourself on the gondola. We asked them to mark one bag fragile and everything in it (including a laptop) came through safe and sound. They accepted our 5 bags with zero complaints. From what I saw, people bring a huge amount of bags with them.
The Gondola at Banff Sunshine
After checking in, sorting out your luggage, and parking, it’s time to get on the gondola. From the check in desk, just walk on the street/parking lot level, around the staircase towards the right to reach the gondola. Get into the line, have the lifties scan your tickets, and then hop on. It’s all very organized and they’ll tell you exactly what to do. If you have skis, they’ll even help you put them into the ski slots on the doors. The gondola at Sunshine is a multi-stage ride with three stops (the base, the mid-station at Goat’s Eye, and the final stop, the Sunshine village. It’s a gorgeous ride with all the views, even through the scratched up windows.
If you’re staying at the lodge, ride the gondola all the way up to the top – it’s about a 20 minute ride. Oh, and very important if you’re staying at the Lodge. The gondola has hours so don’t go to town and miss the last gondola up, there will be no way to get to your hotel room. The hours change with the seasons and are sometimes longer on weekends and holidays, so be sure to check the schedule. They did give us a private link to request an emergency shuttle ride up if it happened that we missed the last gondola, but I’m not sure how reliable or common that is.
The best rooms in Sunshine Mountain Lodge
After you make it up the gondola, if you’re anything like me and Mike, you’ll just want to ski. If you want to go to your room, however, head towards the leftmost building that is the farthest away from the gondola. That’s Sunshine Mountain Lodge. We stayed in the recently renovated West Wing and that’s where I recommend you stay too. The room we were in had a balcony that looked right out onto the Standish Express lift, a super comfy king size bed, a fireplace, and separate shower and bath. The room was bright and airy and the balcony was great for watching sunrise, sunset, and looking at the milky way.
What they have in the rooms at Sunshine Mountain Lodge
Sunshine Mountain Lodge is a resort and it has resort things. Mike and I both enjoyed the slippers and robes they had at the ready. They also have bath salts for the bath tub, several kinds of bar soap, and environmentally friendly ski-themed shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. There’s a Keurig along with coffee, decaf, and hot chocolate, a kettle, a humidifier, a corkscrew, and complimentary bottles of water. The best thing though, was a little fridge! I looked all over the internet to see if the rooms at Sunshine had fridges and everywhere I looked said no.
I guess they must’ve updated because there was a glorious fridge and we were able to put our drinks and some cut up veggies into it. Still no microwave so that’s a minor qualm, but having a fridge is a big plus because you can (and should) bring your own drinks to the lodge. In fact, they encourage it. You can bring up your own alcohol if you’re having it in your room and it’s nice to not having to go out and just enjoying the balcony.
The hot tub at Sunshine Mountain Lodge
Apparently Sunshine Mountain Lodge has Banff’s biggest outdoor hot tub. When I read about this, I thought it was going to be massive, but I think my imagination is a little too wild. It’s basically a round hot tub, and it’s big, but not huge. Mike and I declined to visit and opted for the bath in our room instead. If you’re an extrovert, the hot tub in the snow is always a good choice. It’s open from 8am – 10pm and there are all the usual hot tub facilities: showers, sauna, washrooms. Don’t forget to pack a swimsuit!
What to do at night in Banff Sunshine
The thing about staying on mountain is that you’re on mountain. You can’t really go to town unless it’s one of the special days when the gondola is running late. If you want a crazy après scene, Sunshine is not the place for you. It’s more chill vibes with the one bar and several restaurants. My favorite thing was the nightly s’mores. They have a outdoor giant fire pit on the second floor of the Lodge and they provide roasting sticks, Jet-puff marshmallows, and Celebration cookies (the iconic buttery-crisp Canadian cookies with a layer of chocolate on top). Mike doesn’t even like s’mores and he said this one was decent. I give it a 9/10. If they had the dark chocolate Celebrations, it would have been 11/10 for sure.
Where to eat in Banff Sunshine Village
There are several on mountain options in the village, but if you’re staying for a while or picky about food, keep your expectations in the middle. Like all ski resorts, the food is sometimes good and sometimes just passible. It really depends on the season, the snow, and if the line cook went out the night before. Anyway, we have eaten at these places and weren’t too fussed about them:
Mad Trapper’s
This is the main bar/diner type location where you’ll find typical bar food like nachos, burgers, chicken tendies, and fries. Skip the burgers, but the nachos and fries are decent.
The Coco Lab
Coffee and hot chocolate with different flavors and toppings. The Coco Lab logo is the cutest and the one time I decided I wanted an $8 hot chocolate, it was really good! I don’t know how you can mess up hot chocolate so if you want a decadent drinkable treat, The Coco Lab is a good choice.
Nikko Ramen
Mike got a bowl of ramen here and said it was at least as good as the ramen he had at Whistler. I kind of remember getting some edamame and gyoza that were tasty, but not spectacular.
Chimney Corner
This is the casual in-lodge restaurant with a similar menu to what you’d find at most mountain lodges: large format salads, pastas, fish, steak frites, and burgers. We had dinner there one night and it wasn’t fine dining but it wasn’t Trapper’s either. It sits firmly in the middle of restaurant choices.
To be honest, we wanted to go to Eagles Nest because the menu looked the most interesting, especially with the fondue experience, but it was closed for the season. If you’re looking for a great dining experience, I would suggest going into the town of Banff where there are some really good options.
Tips for staying at Sunshine Mountain Lodge
Bring your own snacks
They don’t really have any grocery store/convenience stores in the village so if you’re a snacker, I’d suggest doing a shop before you arrive in Sunshine. Processed foods aren’t the healthiest, but after skiing, nothing hits quite like Hawkins Cheezies (which are Canadian, so on brand for Banff).
Bring water/drinks
The tap water in banff is exceptionally clean and sourced from underground wells and natural aquifers (they even sell Banff wanter in bottles) but if you’re a bottled water drinker, you should bring up your own supply. Ditto for beer or any other drinks you want to enjoy. Mike brought up some beers and I brought up some cherry float coca cola and it was nice being able to relax on our balcony with a drink without having to stop into a restaurant or bar.
Make plans for the evenings
Even if your plan is to sleep early so you get fresh powder the next day, make sure you know what the night time options are. Once you’re on the mountain, you’re on the mountain, if you know what I mean. This is both amazing and a little alarming if you have anxiety. Amazing because you can be first in line on a powder day right when the lifts open and alarming because your food choices are quite limited.
That’s it! It was our first time staying in Sunshine Mountain Lodge, but I hope it’s not our last because I loved the room, the ski-in ski-out, and just being on the mountain in general. Fingers crossed we get to stay there in the middle of winter and a giant snow storm piles up the snow for a sunny bluebird powder day!
summer, ski, and sunny skies,
xoxo steph