So bit of catch up we’ve been out to Sunshine about 7 times since the season begun and every weekend since Christmas. The winter really kicked into gear last weekend where we undertook a massive journey for my work’s winter party up in Marmot Basin in the Jasper National Park. The area received 40cm in under three days meaning this normally 4 hour drive on glacier parkway was closed and the only way through was a small 8.5 hour detour in blizzard conditions via Edmonton into Jasper.

The drive was hair raising to say the least and akin to driving with a serious case of conjunctivitis. The amount of semi-trailers and cars that caught a edge of snow and veered into the ditch was too hard to count, beyond fingers and toes. But Putters, old Ford Focus, pulled us through the flurries of snow and kicked up dust from the trucks safely in Jasper.
The next morning -20 in the town, up the road to Marmot -3, fresh powder and sunshine. In reverse to the expected, the temperature actually rose as you climbed higher in altitude. A glorious day, locals calling in the best day in 10 years, the snow was knee deep in some tree sections. The front side through the boundary rope was an awesome ride through glades covered in snow, off or around a cliff then ducking through the trees and cliff faces back into the ski area.
The run of the day was left to the afternoon spent up at Knob Hill. Knob only opened after the ski patrollers had declared it safe, it seems most of the mountain heard about this as people flocked to the chairlift. We dropped off the backside, typically avoided due to a large flat spot but due to the crowds chopping up the front section it was untouched. We made first tracks cutting through knee deep powder like a knife through hot butter. The snow just gives away like frozen water crystals formed in a hexagonal shape. Needless to say everyone had a fantastic day!

To get a general feeling of what it was like check out this video i found on YouTube taken a day or so before we were there:

This week the snow has continued up at Sunshine, not as much and perhaps not as fluffy but winter has finally begun.