Fabulous Fernie

LISA KADANE

It’s got powder, steep terrain, stellar views and fun events all season that culminate in beers-on-the-snow come spring. Fernie Alpine Resort is also a hill with heart, and a welcoming mountain for children to learn to ski and, as they grow, shred. For these reasons I’ve spent the past seven seasons skiing here with my family, teaching the kids how to slide on snow, planning ski date days with my hubby, and trying to catch first tracks on plentiful powder mornings. Here are some highlights.

I caught first tracks down my favourite Fernie bowl, Currie Bowl, after a 15-cm dusting in January. This perfectly pitched mountain canvas called Big Dipper was tracked up in no time. 

During an epic season, more than 11 metres of snow will fall at Fernie Alpine Resort. By spring the white stuff threatens to block signage at the resort.  

The party moves outside come spring, when Downhill Derby competitors dress up for the annual cardboard sled race. Our team didn’t win, but we had fun  drinking trying.

After a season skiing in Fernie’s Extreme Club, my daughter rips it up down the steep 123s in Currie Bowl. I’m a proud mama. 

My son learned to ski on Fernie’s magic carpet (a.k.a. the Mini Moose). Though the resort is known for its “steep-n-deep” terrain, it has runs for beginners, too. 

You gotta love a ski hill that posts this kind of warning sign at the top of its gnarliest steeps, the white-knuckle drops off Polar Peak. My husband and our friend are shaking in their ski boots!

It’s rare to get a bluebird day in Fernie because it’s always puking snow. When the skies finally clear, head to the top of Polar Peak for the staggering views of the Lizard Range and the Columbia Valley. Photo by Blake Ford.

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