Sunshine Village, Banff
“We are getting to delirium,” the voice at the other end of the line informs me.
You know people are serious about a run when there’s a hotline devoted to it. In this case, I’m referring to Sunshine Mountain’s Delirium Dive, and the Delirium Dive Hotline. Hearing that this gnarly run is getting ready to open makes my palms sweat and my stomach clench a bit.
In case you haven’t figured it out, Delirium Dive isn’t a run for beginners. It stands out, in a ski area with some tricky terrain, as one of the more adrenaline producing, crazy, yes, delirium-inducing runs you can take. It starts with a literal dive over a cliff (yes, there are ways around the cliff, but what’s the point?) and follows up with some of the steepest, most challenging terrain you’ll find anywhere.
Spring fever
Talking to friends who live in other parts of the world, they find it fascinating that we’re still opening runs in March.
They ask me, “Aren’t you getting ready for spring skiing yet?”
You see, at other resorts they have this thing called “spring skiing,” which means sloshing around in melting snow while avoiding exposed logs, rocks and ski poles people lost in February’s last dump.
My friends all claim spring skiing is fun. I’ve literally had someone tell me that riding in slush is “awesome.”
Yeah right.
I have a feeling they’d rather be in the Canadian Rockies.
Here, “spring skiing,” is when the snow goes from deep to deeper.
Light and fluffy, all season long
And the thing is, it stays just as light and fluffy as always. Just in the last week, Sunshine received 32 cm of new snow, Lake Louise received 26 and Marmot got 10 cm.
So, Mountain Man’s advice to his fellow skiers and snowboarders outside the Canadian Rockies: stop fooling yourselves about “spring skiing,” and come grab some fresh powder.
And keep checking in with the Mountain Man blog, so I can let you know when Delirium is ready for you.