Sunshine Slackcountry Skiing Off-Trail skiing on 7-Jan-2026

With Avalanche Canada ratings at Considerable, Moderate, Low for the area, and reports of recent avi activity, as well as new snow and recent high winds, we decided to stick to low-angle terrain at or near treeline. We took the SSV gondola from parking, then the Standish chair. The first runs were in lovely new snow in somewhat open terrain down towards Rock Isle Lake.

We decided to move over to the slopes on the east side of Twin Cairns, but once there found our selves in a strong, cold wind. So after one run there, and lunch in a sheltered area, we moved back to ski the southeast slope between the top of Standish lift and the lake.

Early in the day there was a mix of sun and cloud, and the wind was only moderate, but going into the afternoon, wind gusts became stronger and visibility deteriorated. We could feel some wind effect (drifts, wind rolls and wind-pressed snow) in some of the more open areas. In mid-afternoon, we exited back to the downhill ski area by way of Rock Isle Lake, and skied to parking via the ski out. Through the day, we seemed to be doing a fair amount of moving around. Outside of the Sunshine ski area boundary we ran into only two other persons (and of course, Kim knew one of them).

Thank you to participants: Kim, Clifton, Scott, Chris, Peter, Janice, Ian, for a great day of untracked skiing and to Chris for the photo