Skiing Banff Sunshine Part 1 | The Canadian Rockies of Banff National Park are INCREDIBILE!

Finally made it out to Banff, and it somehow exceeded our expectations. Watch my friends (Glenn, Easton, Quin, and Harry) and I explore the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park for our spring break trip in 2026. Video Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:23 - Travel to Calgary 04:31 - Rental Cars 09:14 - Drive to Canmore 10:00 - Sunshine Village Maps 10:11 - Sunday 11:50 - Drive to Banff Sunshine Village 12:48 - Get Ski-Ready 13:45 - Gondola Ride 15:00 - SKIING!!! 16:47 - Timelapse - Waxing Easton's Skis 17:15 - SKIING!!! 24:15 - Lunch - Mad Trapper's 24:32 - SKIING!!! 28:12 - Skiing Goat's Eye Mountain 30:46 - "Choose Your Own Adventure" 34:16 - Skiing to the Car 38:26 - Debrief 39:13 - Safeway (Grocery Shopping) 40:17 - Dinner - The Grizzly Paw 40:47 - Outro The Story: We flew into Calgary late Saturday night and headed to pick up our rental cars. Originally, we had booked an XL SUV through Expedia, but about two weeks before the trip we found out you cannot rent that class under 25 in Canada. At 21, that forced us to rethink everything. We spent a couple of days figuring out alternatives, tried Turo (and learned the minimum age there is 23), and eventually booked two smaller cars instead. When we arrived, they did not even have the cars ready and had to bring them around, likely just returned, but everything worked out. We ended up with a Camry and a Tiguan for about the same price we would have paid for the SUV. Not long after, we made a stop at McDonald’s, where we had one of the more memorable moments of the trip. The employee taking our order made it very clear he was having a rough day. At one point, when Glenn went up to ask for sauce, he responded, “I’m busy, please don’t do this to me.” It became a running joke for the rest of the trip. From there, we made the hour-and-twenty-minute drive out to Canmore, where we were staying. The entire drive was in the dark, so we had no sense of what was around us or what we were about to wake up to the next morning. On Sunday, we headed to Banff Sunshine Village, about 40 minutes from Canmore. This was our first time seeing the mountains, and it was unreal. They surrounded us in every direction and felt much closer and more massive than anything we had experienced before. The weather was nearly perfect. It was mostly sunny with a few clouds, but extremely cold, around 5°F at the base and even colder at higher elevation. Parking was quick and easy, the lift lines were short, and the day started with a gondola ride up to the main village. We spent the day exploring different parts of the mountain. One of the highlights was taking the Great Divide Express, where you can ski back and forth between Alberta and British Columbia. We also made our way over to Goat’s Eye Mountain, which felt more isolated and had its own midstation, giving it a completely different atmosphere from the rest of the resort. At the end of the day, we skied all the way down to the car. Even from Goat’s Eye, the run took over 10 minutes. It was fun, but definitely one of the more intense stretches of the day, narrow in sections, crowded, and with a steep drop-off along one side. We ate at Mad Trapper’s on the mountain and ended up going back each day. There were other options, including a ramen spot and a cafeteria, but Mad Trapper’s was simply superior. After skiing, we drove back to Canmore, showered, and stopped at Safeway to pick up groceries. Walking out of the store and seeing the mountains again was one of those moments that makes you pause and take it in. For dinner, we went to The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company, where I just had to get poutine (at least once). Like any day on the mountain, nothing felt better than getting back and finally lying down. Still, we had to be ready to do it all again the next morning. More from Banff coming soon.