Slush Cup brings another ski season to a close at Sunshine Village

A season that saw nine metres of total snowfall came to a close Monday at Sunshine Village with thousands turning out for the annual Slush Cup.

"Mountain biking yesterday in shorts, and now skiing, in shorts," said Erik Anderson, who made the drive from Bragg Creek and described this year's season as "awesome."

"We got in a ton of alpine skiing and a ton of cross-country," he said.

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Courtnay Romkey, a recent transplant from Ottawa, said the snow is one of the big perks that lured her.

"I've been up as much as I can this year, almost every weekend," she said. "The snow is amazing here, it's incredible how long it stays. I wish I could go a few more weeks."

Kendra Scurfield, media and communications manager at Sunshine Village, said this year was one of the five best in terms of overall snowfall.

"March and April brought ridiculous amounts of snow," she said. "We had over two metres of new snow that fell in March, and over another metre that fell in April."

The final numbers are still being tallied, but Scurfield said Sunshine Village saw more than 500,000 visitors this season.

"Largely, we saw more international traffic, coming primarily from the United States, thanks to our low dollar."

The annual Slush Cup is "an annual celebration of winter," said Scurfield, estimating upward of 5,000 people turned out.

"The sun is shining and it's shaping up to be an absolutely gorgeous day," she said, noting Goats Eye was still open Monday, along with Delirium Dive.

"Our settled snow base is still over [1.5 metres]. Last year at this time it was under a metre. The snow is going to be here all summer."