Beginner's guide to FernieJournalist Rebecca Edwards moved from Britain to Fernie, British Columbia in 2008 to work for the town's local newspaper. She writes about life in small town Canada from a Brit's point of view.
A bit of history
Fernie: average snowfall 29 feet a year; famous for its powder, steep terrain and, since 2008, my home.
Snow Valley Ski Hill opened in Fernie in 1963 after the community made a bid for the 1968 Winter Olympics to be held here. This is the equivalent of somewhere the size of Ambleside or St Ives making a bid for the Summer Olympics – it was incredibly ambitious for the town to do.
The community didn't succeed in getting the bid and neither did some other Canadian bid towns you may have heard of – Banff, Whistler and Red Mountain in Rossland. The Games eventually went to Grenoble in France.
My walk to work – downtown Fernie at minus 25 degrees Celsius on a January morning.
Photo by Rebecca Edwards
But Fernie decided to set up the ski hill anyway and over the years it has grown from one tow-bar opening on weekends to one of Canada's biggest ski mountains.
In 1997 the name was changed to Fernie Alpine Resort when it was bought by Resort of the Canadian Rockies, who also own nearby Kimberley Alpine Resort, Banff's Sunshine Village, Nakiska and – over in East Canada – Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham.
The magic formula for Fernie powder is Arctic air and Pacific moisture, which cross over Canada and collide on the Lizard Range, where Fernie Alpine Resort is situated, and explode into the dryest, most airy, sugary snow you'll ever see.
Ask a local though and they'll credit The Griz for bringing the powder to town. The Griz is a mythical creature who is celebrated in town for bringing the powder – a half man, half beast who is said to dwell deep in the mountains and fire a musket into the air to create the snow. He is celebrated in the annual Griz Days festival each March.
Sunrise in Fernie from the top of the ski hill.
Photo by Rebecca Edwards
Fernie isn't “just” a ski town – one-third of the households here rely on the coal mines in nearby Sparwood for their income. This is no fake ski resort – it's a working, functioning community that happens to have a bit of a ski problem.
I'm going to fill you in on some of the things that make our life in Fernie a bit different to what we remember from the UK. If you have any questions for me, just email.
Posted by Rebecca Edwards - Thu, 11/02/2010 - 10:32am
Journalist Rebecca Edwards moved from Britain to Fernie, British Columbia in 2008 to work for the town's local newspaper. She writes about life in small town Canada from a Brit's point of view.
A bit of history
Fernie: average snowfall 29 feet a year; famous for its powder, steep terrain and, since 2008, my home.
Snow Valley Ski Hill opened in Fernie in 1963 after the community made a bid for the 1968 Winter Olympics to be held here. This is the equivalent of somewhere the size of Ambleside or St Ives making a bid for the Summer Olympics – it was incredibly ambitious for the town to do.
The community didn't succeed in getting the bid and neither did some other Canadian bid towns you may have heard of – Banff, Whistler and Red Mountain in Rossland. The Games eventually went to Grenoble in France.
My walk to work – downtown Fernie at minus 25 degrees Celsius on a January morning.
Photo by Rebecca Edwards
But Fernie decided to set up the ski hill anyway and over the years it has grown from one tow-bar opening on weekends to one of Canada's biggest ski mountains.
In 1997 the name was changed to Fernie Alpine Resort when it was bought by Resort of the Canadian Rockies, who also own nearby Kimberley Alpine Resort, Banff's Sunshine Village, Nakiska and – over in East Canada – Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham.
The magic formula for Fernie powder is Arctic air and Pacific moisture, which cross over Canada and collide on the Lizard Range, where Fernie Alpine Resort is situated, and explode into the dryest, most airy, sugary snow you'll ever see.
Ask a local though and they'll credit The Griz for bringing the powder to town. The Griz is a mythical creature who is celebrated in town for bringing the powder – a half man, half beast who is said to dwell deep in the mountains and fire a musket into the air to create the snow. He is celebrated in the annual Griz Days festival each March.
Sunrise in Fernie from the top of the ski hill.
Photo by Rebecca Edwards
Fernie isn't “just” a ski town – one-third of the households here rely on the coal mines in nearby Sparwood for their income. This is no fake ski resort – it's a working, functioning community that happens to have a bit of a ski problem.
I'm going to fill you in on some of the things that make our life in Fernie a bit different to what we remember from the UK. If you have any questions for me, just email.