Fernie Trip Report Jan 08

Fernie is a relatively small town tucked away in south eastern British Columbia in Canada. On the western side of the Rockies, in the Kootenay range of mountains - it is an area famed for its huge snowfalls. My girlfriend Bry (a member of staff at Ultimate Outdoors Skipton) and I took a 10 day trip to Fernie in January 2008. This is an account of what we found.

Skiing and Snowboarding in western Canada is all about one thing; Powder. Fernie marks one corner of an area known as the ‘Powder Triangle' along with the towns of Revelstoke to the north and Nelson to the west. Snow junkies everywhere come to the area to experience some of the lightest, driest and deepest snow on the planet.

DAY 1 - 3
We arrived in Fernie feeling a little worse for wear following a Trans Atlantic flight into Calgary and a 3 ½ hour coach transfer. The first couple of days brought us sun and blue skies, perfect for finding our feet and having a good explore of the mountain.


The Base area of Fernie Alpine Resort


The Elk Valley and the town of Fernie from the mountain.


Fernie Town itself is actually situated in the Elk Valley, a couple of miles from the resort base and mountain - a short $3 bus ride in the morning.

After a few runs in Timber bowl we dropped into Currie Bowl and rode the steep blue to the base area for what would become our daily lunch stop at ‘The Slopeside Diner' - a relaxed spot serving Starbucks and muffins.


Currie Bowl


We spent the afternoon and much of the second day cruising the rest of the mountain and enjoying the sunshine. Checking out the giant Lizard Bowl and Cedar Bowl:


Lizard Bowl





We spent Saturday wandering around town. Fernie is a traditional working town with real heart and soul - the locals are all super friendly and welcoming. Fernie is not a glamorous resort - people travel there (and live there) for the mountains the snow and the most relaxed lifestyle you can imagine.





Here the ‘20cm rule' applies at most businesses - over 20cm's on the mountain overnight (and that happens a lot in Fernie) and everyone takes the morning off and heads up the mountain.



Downtown Fernie - great if you like gear shops and coffee houses.


That afternoon the first few flakes of snow started to fall - little did we know it wasn't going to stop for the next week!

Days 4-9
The rest of the week we pretty much spent riding powder every day - this is what we came to Fernie for - but the amount of snow surprised even us.
The official Fernie Alpine Resort report read:
Sunday 44cm's
Monday 30cm's
Tuesday 3cm's
Wednesday 30cm's
Thursday 33cm's
Friday 30cm's

Nearly 2 metres in six days. Enough said.

It was cold too - Nearing -30c on the Monday - certainly the coldest day we have ever had riding. The next morning we overheard conversations on the bus of people getting frostbitten toes and noses - not surprising - it was brutally cold with a wind blowing too high up. It did mean the snow was incredibly light though - which all added to our fun:


Knee deep pow in Timber Bowl



Andy in Timber Bowl.


On the Wednesday we got lucky; most mornings the bigger bowls of Currie and Cedar would open only when the avalanche danger had been reduced to acceptable levels. The two Ski Patrol guys on the lift behind us pulled the rope and we had an untracked Currie Bowl almost to ourselves:


Bry waist deep


Bry enters the white room.



More Currie Bowl turns.


Thursday and Friday brought occasional glimpses of the sun:


The Headwall and Timber Bowl.


We enjoyed ourselves lapping our favourite powder stashes in Timber Bowl:


Bry sampling our stash.


Our 10 days in Fernie gave us some of the best terrain and snow in the world - i don't think it will be too long before we return.



Andy Malton




Bryony Shaw