 Poster: A snowHead
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As confirmed Banff lovers, we are considering an alternative for January. Do any other Banffophiles have experience of Fernie? We were not thrilled with Whistler and would not go back. We always enjoy Banff but we are going there in March and would like to try somewhere else. Any comments please?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi paul.kin,
Have done all 3 that you've mentioned, and would choose Banff and Fernie over Whistler. Certainally would rate Fernie as a top notch place to ski or board. Mountain is great and snow conditions spot on in late March when we went.
Town of Fernie is a bit less geared to to the tourist trade than Banff is IMO. We stayed on mountain at Wolfs Den (cheapest place there thats ski in ski out) There is a regular ski bus service to town though (about 10-15 minutes) or about $15 in a cab. Was there in 2006 doubt too much has changed. We're planning on going back again in 2011 once juniors a bit bigger.
If you go you won't regret it, however, if you've got any newbies in your group, Banff may be better for them for their first time out - not that they wouldn't be able to get to grips with the mountain, but if they fancied a day or two off from the skiing they may have a wider selection of things to do in Banff than Fernie (easier to go to Calgary for example. Whenever i go to Banff i always try to go to at least one Flames game at the Saddledome).
Either way if you go to Fernie or back to Banff, please be assured that I am stinkingly jealous of 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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Richard_Sideways, Thanks for your reply. You have reassured me. We were looking at Wolfs Den as it happens! We have no newbies, but we will have 2 student kids with us who snowboard. We are all more into good conditions, and as much skiing/boarding as possible during the day and then a decent relaxing meal in the evening. Clubs/apres ski not important, hence Canada is our preferred choice.
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paul.kin, There are a few independant restraunts and hotel resteraunts up there and a couple of decent bars that should fit the bill for apres on the mountain, recall that one of them should be lively enough to keep most people entertained. And there is a small grocery store there too (although it's more essentials and snacks than shitake mushrooms and live lobsters).
The mountain had some of the best powder snow i've ever boarded on, easily a match for either Sunshine of Louise, and right outside your front door.
Put some turns in for me. 
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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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We really like Fernie, like the skiing and just like the whole experience.
The town is not really comparable to Banff as Banff is a tourist mecca with all the bars, restaurents associated with it. Fernie is somewhat quieter than Banff (especially the on-mountain choice)! The runs should be empty at that time of year (and warmer than LL/ Banff in Jan). There are some alternatives for the evening, you still might be able to see the locals play hockey, go to water park etc. I think the best selection of restaurents is in the downtown, and you may want to think about transport.
We haven't been to Whistler since 2001, but we weren't that enamoured with it.
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went to fernie in march last year . stayed in the best western at the top end of the town , its on the pick up bus route as are most of the hotels downtown . best western is the furthest away but still only about 15 min by bus to the hill .
i would opt for downtown rather than the hill lot more places to eat and quite a few bars . boston pizza is next door to the best western .
fernie is streched out along a highway , the town itself can look a little beaten up at times , but everyone seems very friendly . there is a swimming pool down near the old station .
we went in march last year and all but a few trails were open , be warned that even if there seems to have been no snow in town , there is always snow on the mountain and they will still shut some of the bowls for avalanche clearance , which they open around dinner time , depends on where the snow is overhanging .
went for two weeks and had couple of days of snow , but mainly quite sunny days , had one day in the second week that put 8" of snow down in the town so the hill was jammed packed with the local powderhounds , so you can still get some big storms passing through .
had a trip out to kimberley for there closing day last season , and got really sunburnt looked like a beetroot .
the mountain can seem a little scary at times , people complain about slow lifts , but i didnt think it was that bad , they seem slow because they are so long .
the mountain is not that bad to find your way around , i thought it was pretty easy to navigate , you can still find yourself some quite areas away from the bowls where everyone seems to go .
never skied banff so i dont know how fernie compares to banff .
ive skied panorama , kimberley , tremblant and fernie .
ive booked for feb and going to back to panorama , fell in love with the place first time .
there are other hidden gems along the colombia river valley , often fancied doing a diy booking and touring the whole area two or three nights in each resort , and heading over to the okanagan valley and trying silver star and big white , and back towards calgary via revelstoke and kicking horse .
mmm now you,ve got me planning for 2011 
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I loved Fernie though I haven't been in winter. The next time we cross the atlantic in winter it will be our number one choice. We stayed here and I would highly recommend it - really nice people.
http://www.beaverlodgechalet.com/
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Thanks all for the interesting input.
Is the ski bus from town as regular and easy as in Banff?
Now we are persuaded to try Fernie it seems the decision has to be stay at the hill for convenience or town for interest/amenities.
As we are only going for a week our priority is the skiing/boarding. we like to be first up the lifts and stay until we are dog tired at the hill. We do like a decent meal in the evening but are guite happy to repeat at restaurants if they are decent.
We are not bothered about shopping,or clubs etc,- that can all be done back in England. How long is the bus ride? Is the cost included in the lift pass?
Thanks again!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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paul.kin, The bus is a set timetable and finishes early evening IIRC. It costs a couple of dollars, takes about 10 - 15mins depending which end of town you are in I would stay on the hill if only there for a week and bus into town maybe once if you really want a change - we bussed in an got a cab back, $20 inc tip. We stayed at Lizard Creek and loved it - excellent restaurant (pricy though)
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we stayed in the stanford inn - half way between the hill and the town. the busses ran hourly, with the first passing the hotel at about 8 or so, getting you to the hill before first lift which i think was about 8.30. i thought the bus ride was $3, or $2.50 if you bought a book of tickets (10?) and that's each way. it mounts up - once to hill and back for me, and the other half would go into town then join up for lunch, then back for both and maybe a return journey into town for an evening i guess we spent nigh on $20-$25 a day.
if you go to the resort, there's the cheapo lodge food, some of which good, some bad. the slopeside delli - excellent thai soup for lunch. lizzard creek - great food, but a little more pricey (still heaps cheaper than europe). kelseys - chain food, but still quite reasonable. lost boys is good for a lunch/coffee stop.
if you go into town, we only ate at the stanford ("indian cuisine" which i didn't much care for), the old elevator (good steak but pricey) and the best western (good steak less pricey).
given the choice i think i might stay in the resort next time - the stanford was a bit too much of a comprimise being neither town nor on the hill, and if you're not really fussed about nightlife go for the hill. do visit the town for a bit though - it's really nice (think southpark  )
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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What resorts are good for a whole season, this is a different question. Bamf sounds to come out on top. Which resort has the most range of runs , a small resort for a season could get boring.
Things I like - nightlife and apres ski, locality to the lifts, good supermarkets and low relative prices.
thanks for advice.
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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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fernie nightlife:
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You know it makes sense.
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if you go to the resort, there's the cheapo lodge food, some of which good, some bad. the slopeside delli - excellent thai soup for lunch. lizzard creek - great food, but a little more pricey (still heaps cheaper than europe). kelseys - chain food, but still quite reasonable. lost boys is good for a lunch/coffee stop.
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Thai soup was best lunch I have ever had on a canadian hill! Slopeside deli is a lunch only thing. Agree- really like Lizzard creek.
I would stay on the hill. For only a week you can cope with the meals!
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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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Fernie is not that similar to Banff. If the reason you like Banff resorts is lots of immaculate groomers & abundant dining/nightlife choices then Fernie doesn't compare. If you like ferretting about in the trees, bushwhacking alders and hiking the odd ridge plus a few reasonably lively bars then it's great. I would not personally stay on the hill.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I am looking for a season long spot to do my instructor course , which might have more runs and be better over a whole 4 -5 months banff or whistler ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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paul.kin, I found Fernie to be really quite poor compared with Banff and Whistler - though it had had its worst season for many years. One of the bowls was closed for the whole week which really cut down our options. Also, despite not caring much about nightlife, the bars and restaurants were pretty quiet. Thankfully there was an excellent cat skiing operation an hour down the road which made up for the failures of Fernie.
I guess that if you are going in January you shouldn't have too many problems (we went late in the season), but it was an El Nino year then and there are ugly rumours that 2010 may be one too.
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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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This is really tricky now as everyones' views are equally persuasive!
Clearly all the opinions are subjective and the thing abount ski holidays is that the snow conditions have such a major influence on the whole experience.
We hated Lake Louise on our first trip there as the snow was poor and it was very icy. A couple of years later we gave it another try and conditions were fantastic and we had our best skiing experiences ever.
Its hard to say as to why we always enjoy Banff, but I think overall there are a good variety of runs form wide open cruisers to very tricky tree runs, and plenty of double blacks that my wife and I avoid, but our teenage snowboarding kids lap up! The atmosphere is so easy going,few queues and no hassle and of course the scenery never disappoints. The lift pass is expensive but the hol is cheap, early march 2010 a week including flights and transfers and room only is £480 each, which I think is amazing value.
As I write this I am beginning to wonder why we are looking to try Fernie when there is some conflicting advice coming through! Do we stick with Banff? Decisions, decisions 
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paul.kin, Your kids will love you forever if you hit Fernie in decent snow but the best skiing is traverse or (short) hike away from the groomers. Fernie cruisers are fine but not that numerous or long (except for falling star half of which is cat track return)
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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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As I write this I am beginning to wonder why we are looking to try Fernie when there is some conflicting advice coming through! Do we stick with Banff?
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I would always advise trying somewhere different. There's a whole world to ski out there - and our plan is to ski as much of it as we can. It's fantastic to 'discover' a new area/resort/country.
After great snow/skiing it's easy to love somewhere and want to go back. While we do go like to go back to places, our approach these days is to try new places. After (about) 120 ski areas in 16 countries I don't think there's anywhere that we wouldn't go back to. Guess we must just be easily pleased - mountain/snow/skiing/time off work/a few beers = good time .
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I would also give fernie a try. You can always to a day trip to Castle or Panorama if things turn out bad.
We have been twice and love it- going back for a thrid time this year.
This year is (as someone mentioned) an El Nino year and more often than not I understand this brings less snow than average to these internal resorts.
I think with fernie it will very much depend upon the snow, and hopefully you will have a good one. BUT Banff doesn't necessarily get good snow in Jan, it gets its best snow traditionally towards the end of the season in March.
HAve you considered the internal BC resorts of Sun Peaks, Silver Star or Big White?
Or maybe even Panorama with Kicking Horse as side trip options?
Dave C may hopefully be along soon as he has done 2 seasons I think In Ferenie and is going back for more this year.
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This thread has convinced me to give Fernie a whirl and I'm a die-hard Lake Louise girl (13 weeks)!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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DaveC,
We'll see you there. Family day weekend I think this year again!!!!
We'll book our daughter in for a lesson with you on the Friday!
Lot of snow this year so far in Calgary, Nakiska , our local hill, may well open 7th Nov at weekends!
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We went to Fernie in 2005, had a fantastic fortnight.
Stayed at the Wolf's Den - cheap, basic, clean - perfect for somewhere to sleep inbetween skiing. If the budget stretches to it, the Grizz Inn and Lizard Creek looked nice (breakfast at the Lizard Creek was yummy).
Slopes were great, kept all our mixed ability group happy. Superb fun dodging trees on the double diamonds.
We ate at Kelsys Burger Bar most nights, Canadian sized portions and a nice enough bar for a couple of pints in the evening. There is a free (or cheap) bus to and from town if you fancy eating/drinking in town or catching a hockey game.
Excellent curryhouse somewhere in town with currys from around the world.
We loved the ski-in location in the mountain resort, however getting the bus up in the morning wouldn't be so bad if you wanted to stay in town.
We would be back there this year if we could afford it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've skied in Fernie a couple of times - it's a great ski hill and town, much more down to earth than Banff and some of the others. I've been checking out the snow already this year too and the snow's come early, so there's a great base of a metre already - you and your kids would love it, I'm sure. We were there this Summer as well and stayed at a new B&B in down town - it was gorgeous - you should check it out - cinnamon bear lodge.
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FAQ
All I'll say is, everywhere can have bad snow at some point, and the highest snowfall average resort really should be the least likely to.
