We arose in Fernie Tuesday to the Great Gray North, clouds and fog not much above town. We got on the hill about 10AM, headed up the Timber chair on the new side (since 1999) of Fernie. We skied Puff, partly moguls but good snow to the White Pass chair. At the top of White Pass we could see an impressive cornice on the ridge above
The clouds had risen, allowing the new (since last year) Polar Peak chair to open.
Liz skied down Currie Bowl while I checked out Polar Peak. I first skied Barely Legal under the lift. This is quite exposed on the narrow upper part, which held down traffic so there was some untracked lower down. The longest fall line is Papa Bear dropping into Currie Bowl. Some skiers there while I was riding the lift.
Up top there's a panoramic view of the Elk Valley and town of Fernie 3,500 feet below.
Papa Bear has a sustained pitch close to 40 degrees. The sign at the top says, "Falling is not allowed." The picture taken partway down does not convey the steepness.
The steep lines skier's left of Polar Peak face east. I think I was quite lucky with snow conditions, mostly loose snow over a firm but not frozen base. These runs would be closed (or quite scary) in bad light or with hard snow.
It was continued excellent skiing farther down in Currie Bowl.
Conditions were similar to Whitefish with a fair amount of recent snow skied but not packed down over the holiday weekend.
Liz and I went back up the 3 chairs to Polar Peak.
We skied the Shale Slope skier's right of Polar Peak.
This faces SE and had midday spring snow. It's 30-35 degrees, not quite so steep as the other side. The catwalk in the background allows intermediates access to the views from Polar Peak.
In Currie Bowl there is a traverse track skier's left which eventually reaches the ridgeline to drop into Easter Bowl. The highest such entry is Corner Pocket, so rocky that a bed of tires and a rope have been installed.
Liz struggled with the rope some (It would have been nice if there were more knots to hang on) but knew it was worth it for the very lightly tracked Easter Bowl below.
From the runout below, a view up to Lizard Bowl.
The cliffs at the top are too sheer to allow public access from Polar Peak though a cable has been installed to drop avalanche charges from above. Craig Morris (known for his Fernie reports at http://www.redtree.com/far since 1996) says avalanche control has been the biggest benefit of the Polar Peak chair. Before it, Currie and Lizard Bowls would often be closed a couple of days after big dumps.
After lunch we met Craig to ski the "old side" of Fernie. He took us up the Bear Express and out the Snake Ridge traverse to Red Tree (note name of his website) at the northern boundary of the ski area.
From the boundary rope we could also see the slackcountry Fish Bowl, which is accessible with a bit more Alta-style grunt work on both entry and exit. There was some low angle powder at the bottom of Red Tree.
We took the Haul Back T-bar and the Boomerang chair to a very nice run down Cedar Ridge.
Unfortunately our second ride on the Haul Back T-bar stopped abruptly as we were halfway up. People higher up soon bailed out to a catwalk and eventually we did the same though we had to hike 5 minutes or so to get there.
For our final run we rode Timber and skied Siberia Ridge at Fernie's far southern boundary.
Total for the day was 21,300 vertical. This was my 5th day at Fernie but most comprehensive view. My first 2 days in 1997 and 1999 had powder but also a lot of fog. My days in 2003 and 2004 were constrained by bad off piste snow conditions due to recent rain. This day illustrated the vast and impressive terrain quality for advanced skiers. There is so much of it that nearly all ungroomed snow was soft though not true powder by Craig's stringent standards. His reports are a great public service, but on balance they may have led me to underrate Fernie in the past. Liz was extremely impressed and would love to return for a longer visit to explore Fernie more thoroughly.
The clouds had risen, allowing the new (since last year) Polar Peak chair to open.
Liz skied down Currie Bowl while I checked out Polar Peak. I first skied Barely Legal under the lift. This is quite exposed on the narrow upper part, which held down traffic so there was some untracked lower down. The longest fall line is Papa Bear dropping into Currie Bowl. Some skiers there while I was riding the lift.
Up top there's a panoramic view of the Elk Valley and town of Fernie 3,500 feet below.
Papa Bear has a sustained pitch close to 40 degrees. The sign at the top says, "Falling is not allowed." The picture taken partway down does not convey the steepness.
The steep lines skier's left of Polar Peak face east. I think I was quite lucky with snow conditions, mostly loose snow over a firm but not frozen base. These runs would be closed (or quite scary) in bad light or with hard snow.
It was continued excellent skiing farther down in Currie Bowl.
Conditions were similar to Whitefish with a fair amount of recent snow skied but not packed down over the holiday weekend.
Liz and I went back up the 3 chairs to Polar Peak.
We skied the Shale Slope skier's right of Polar Peak.
This faces SE and had midday spring snow. It's 30-35 degrees, not quite so steep as the other side. The catwalk in the background allows intermediates access to the views from Polar Peak.
In Currie Bowl there is a traverse track skier's left which eventually reaches the ridgeline to drop into Easter Bowl. The highest such entry is Corner Pocket, so rocky that a bed of tires and a rope have been installed.
Liz struggled with the rope some (It would have been nice if there were more knots to hang on) but knew it was worth it for the very lightly tracked Easter Bowl below.
From the runout below, a view up to Lizard Bowl.
The cliffs at the top are too sheer to allow public access from Polar Peak though a cable has been installed to drop avalanche charges from above. Craig Morris (known for his Fernie reports at http://www.redtree.com/far since 1996) says avalanche control has been the biggest benefit of the Polar Peak chair. Before it, Currie and Lizard Bowls would often be closed a couple of days after big dumps.
After lunch we met Craig to ski the "old side" of Fernie. He took us up the Bear Express and out the Snake Ridge traverse to Red Tree (note name of his website) at the northern boundary of the ski area.
From the boundary rope we could also see the slackcountry Fish Bowl, which is accessible with a bit more Alta-style grunt work on both entry and exit. There was some low angle powder at the bottom of Red Tree.
We took the Haul Back T-bar and the Boomerang chair to a very nice run down Cedar Ridge.
Unfortunately our second ride on the Haul Back T-bar stopped abruptly as we were halfway up. People higher up soon bailed out to a catwalk and eventually we did the same though we had to hike 5 minutes or so to get there.
For our final run we rode Timber and skied Siberia Ridge at Fernie's far southern boundary.
Total for the day was 21,300 vertical. This was my 5th day at Fernie but most comprehensive view. My first 2 days in 1997 and 1999 had powder but also a lot of fog. My days in 2003 and 2004 were constrained by bad off piste snow conditions due to recent rain. This day illustrated the vast and impressive terrain quality for advanced skiers. There is so much of it that nearly all ungroomed snow was soft though not true powder by Craig's stringent standards. His reports are a great public service, but on balance they may have led me to underrate Fernie in the past. Liz was extremely impressed and would love to return for a longer visit to explore Fernie more thoroughly.
Last edited:
