 Poster: A snowHead
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We have just booked flights to Calgary for Feb Half Term 2010 and are intending to go to Fernie for the first time.
I'm now a bit alarmed (after reading comments on here tonight) by the prospect of crowds, slow lifts, lots of traversing and an overall non-too-clever ski experience. 
We love to ski bumps, steeps and powder and have enjoyed near-deserted (by Euro standards, at least) Transatlantic ski areas in the USA in recent half term hols - including, Telluride, Crested Butte, Winter Park, Jackson Hole, Alta and Vail.
Should we be having second thoughts about Fernie?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yep - its rotten, Val D'Isere or Meribel would be a far better bet that week 
Alta's got plenty of traversing and you basically just lap Collins chair all day but its still lots of fun. Fernie has plenty to keep good skiers entertained especially trees but it would be crap if you wanted to cruise motorways all day but that isn't you.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Bones, Fair point - forgot about the RCR banditry on lift pass prices. I've heard of people who've hit the place in drought or rain and had a crap time.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Make the time to go to Castle 45 min east it would be worth it then you have Whitefish down in the States too. Hit Fernie on a rain freeze cycle once but Whitefish was still getting snow so after a morning of skiing a nasty Fernie we skied the bar, girls only made a couple runs before heading in, we had a much better day at Whitefish/Big Mtn the next day.
I wouldn't bother with Kimberley it's much more intermediate overall but great for intermediate and beginner skiers.
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| John Crawford wrote: |
I'm now a bit alarmed (after reading comments on here tonight) by the prospect of crowds, slow lifts, lots of traversing and an overall non-too-clever ski experience.
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Sounds like you read nbt's report which made Fernie sound awful in a week it snowed 1.5m
Traversing is a small part of it normally - as it's a single mountain with multiple bowls rather than the Euro experience of tons of chairlifts linking alpine towns. There are some runs that're more hidden away that need a reasonable traverse to get to, but imo that's a good thing as the challenging runs are protected longer and don't get hammered by holiday skiers over-stretching themselves 
There are crowds on Canadian holidays. You'll more than likely find the mountain totally dead weekdays. Calling Fernie crowded is a stretch...
If it rains, it's bad times. We had trouble with rain this season two or three times - and this season was horrific snow-wise. Last season, there was none. Personally, I don't think it's an issue.
| Bones wrote: |
Be careful in the trees if they havent had their usual depth of snow cover, tree logs left lying around to break a shin on just under the surface Shocked I have never seen this at any other Canadian or US resort, and theres no warning s of it either !! |
You think every other US or Canadian resort manicures every glade like a golf course?  If you want to ski trees against Patrol's advice and comon sense early season, then good luck.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows obviously, but it's my home in winter for now for good reason!
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| pinhead wrote: |
Make the time to go to Castle 45 min east it would be worth it then you have Whitefish down in the States too. Hit Fernie on a rain freeze cycle once but Whitefish was still getting snow so after a morning of skiing a nasty Fernie we skied the bar, girls only made a couple runs before heading in, we had a much better day at Whitefish/Big Mtn the next day.
I wouldn't bother with Kimberley it's much more intermediate overall but great for intermediate and beginner skiers. |
Castle is an hour and a half away, but it's wicked there on the right day. Whitefish... I've been a couple of times to ride the park but ever bother if Fernie had one.
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John Crawford, If you've booked through a TO, buy the lift passes through them. Resort ticket office is the biggest rip off going. We saved about 40% by buying through the TO rather than in resort.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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it didn;t snow 1,5 m in the week I was there!
I really enjoyed Fernie, as I said it was the first resort I ever went back to. It helped me progress my skiing a great deal and if you;re alreasdy a reasonable skiier then you;ll enjoy the skiing on oferr
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We really really liked Fernie having been there for family weekend in Feb this year and back in march.
Crowded is a bit over doing it. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds on family weekend. Friday was quietish, Saturday was busyish as was sunday and then monday was quiet again. Calgarians will invade for saturday and sunday of family weekend. The sat and sunday we did queue but not for too long and I never once felt the runs were too crowded. We even had some to ourselves, on what is the peak weekend of the season.
We have skied Lake Louise, Naksika, Sunshine, Kicking Horse, Silver Star, Big White, Panorama and Kimberley. Fernie remains up there as one of the best in our opinion. Most calgarians prefer Fernie and Whitefish. I don't think we have hit epic snow there either, so not some fluke of the conditions.
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John Crawford, wouldn't worry too much about the "crowds", as compared to, say Whistler, or most bigger Alpine areas, they don't really exist. Gets busier around the weekend/holidays, but not usually enough to cause much of a delay. The most I can ever recall queueing at a running lift would be a couple of minutes or so.
However, personally my main gripes about Fernie centre around the lift system. The location and speed of the Elk chair just beggars belief, and you HAVE to take it to access Lizard/Cedar bowls, pretty much half the mountain. If you dislike slow chairs you'll find yourself mainly in Siberia/Timber/Currie. Also a lot of the terrain could be better serviced by the installation of one or two short drags, instead of having to hike/traverse. Bad enough on skis, apparently, sometimes not really an option on a board.
As regards the off trail hazards/obstacles, I've not really found that any worse than other places in Canada, though I guess they could all be cleared better.
Anyway, I wouldn't be put off going. Snow permitting I'd be surprised if it wasn't well worth the drive, and despite all the good advice there's only one way to really find out if you warm to a place.
Having been there the last two seasons, each time for a couple of weeks, I wouldn't say I've had my fill of Fernie, but it's off the radar for a couple of years, unless a really ridiculous deal comes along.
John.
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You know it makes sense.
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Fernie is good in good snow. I had a great 8 days there in 2008, so good I am not going back any time soon because I have skied with enough people who have had a totally horrendous time there with crap snow and poor weather. On our last day we did 10000m vertical of stuff which would mainly be classed as off-piste in Europe. Brilliant. If you are out for the season, and don't have to ski each day, variablity of conditions is less of an issue.
There are indeed extended traverses - particularly heading skiers left to access some of the good stuff,
RCR's approach at its resorts to lift pricing, customer service and catering quality does indeed suck compared with other US/Canadian resorts.
For me it is a place I would go back to in a good year - booking at short notice - as one of my 2-3 ski holidays, but I would never book it way in advance for my wife & kids as their only ski holiday.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Friends went to Fernie this year for the first time as they heard is was the "best" of the canadian rockies resorts for their type of skiing (pretty much hardcore off piste). They had a good time, but next year are off back to their regular haunt of Jackson Hole, as this is more "reliable". [Their terminology, not mine.]
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| DaveC wrote: |
Castle is an hour and a half away, but it's wicked there on the right day. Whitefish... I've been a couple of times to ride the park but ever bother if Fernie had one. |
Since we were there while Fernie was still a ice cube from rain and freezing Whitefish rocked as compared to the ice cube but hey I'd rather ski snow than skate about on ice with skis any day, and it is relatively close to Fernie.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Fair enough, I can't think of a day *that* bad over the course of the last two seasons, except when the avvy danger went off the scale this year when it rained at the base and nuked snow above the Elk top. Crossing the US border has always been so unpleasant I'd always take the Banff drive + scenery over Whitefish tbh - I went there monthly-ish over my first season since the USD was 2:1 and things were ridiculously cheap. Didn't do it at all this year.
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Fernie is definitely worth the visit....the town may be quite quiet and small, but it has an amazing atmosphere and the locals are great. without trying to sound silly its a very canadian experience, so if you're used to Europe please don't go with any expectations of it being similar because it is sooo different but it a good way! amazing powder skiing....always loads of snow when i was there....tree runs in the powder are probably the best i've ever had...amazing....!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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DaveC
I'm on Bergmeister's - the artist formerly known as John Crawford:-D - trip to Fernie so interested to know:
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We had trouble with rain this season two or three times - and this season was horrific snow-wise.
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This rain business: Is that unusual for Fernie? And does "two or three times" mean for days - or weeks - on end? And how much of the mountain got rained on?
In terms of the horrific snow: Was there none? Or just less than usual? Or is "horrific" a relative term which - for north American skiers - can mean packed powder instead of knee deep fresh tracks??
Cheers!!
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mountainaddict, Fernie is relatively low elevation so it, like the below treeline part of Whistler & some other BC interior resorts can get rain during the season if a particularly warm pineapple express from Hawaii comes through. What usually happens though is that the moist systems collide with cold artic downflow which is why BC has such a good snowfall reputation. If you hit Fernie during a (snow) storm cycle you certinly won't forget it , although I was unlucky this year in that it resulted in off the scale avy hazard for the few days I was there. The worst is if it rains (usually only a one day event) then turns cold with no further storms but you'd be really unlucky if that was your week. Rainline can be pretty high up the mountain say mid -Bear or top of Timber.
Horrific snow I think means not at least 2-3 days fresh snow a week and a lower than average number of "big" powder days plus possible coverage of some of the scrub and rocks required to make some of the more interesting lines skiable not coming until later in the season = locals might be moaning liek hell and you'd consider it a well above average day depending on what you're used to. Though don't believe RCR's hype - they don't even feed their guest information volunteers the right information when they know the hill will be largely closed or crappy for the day to encourage day ticket sales.
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Can be Dry but also very Wet
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FAQ
