'Snow magnet' Sunshine Village marks earliest opening in decades, local hills to follow suit

Sunshine Villagekicked off the ski season with its earliest opening in over 30 years, and many local mountains will soon follow suit.

By 10:30 a.m., an estimated 3,000 ski and snowboard enthusiasts had already passed through the Sunshine gondola gates just 1.5 hours after the official opening.

• Sunshine Village to open on Thursday for earliest start in over 30 years

"Conditions are beyond our wildest expectations for this early in the year," said Dave Riley, chief operating officer.

"We should probably rename ourselves Powder City or something. It's a snow magnet."

Snowboarder Ben Wall was on the first chair and said conditions were "amazing."

The past couple of snow seasons have been disappointing, Wall said, but he's hoping for "as much snow as humanly possible" this time around.

Riley said an early opening istraditionally a good sign of good things to come.

"When you have a good November, you have a good season," he said.

Local hills to follow suit

A handful of other mountains are slated to open very soon, including:

• Lake Louise:Nov. 10
• Nakiska:Nov. 11
• Marmot Basin:Nov. 11

Norquayand Winsport, otherwise known asCanada Olympic Park or COP, are expected to open in mid-November depending on the weather.

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