Summer is just around the corner, and we’re excited to have three amazing outdoor adventure camps to keep your kids entertained and having fun all day long!

Experienced camp counsellors & bike coaches are ready to fill your child’s day with action-packed adventures and exciting new knowledge that they just can’t wait to share with you!

The Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) is forever grateful for the passion of their employees, guests and especially the home towns where the resorts are located. In each town there are people who have supported the resorts for many years and in an effort to give back to these communities, the Community Summit Fund was born. 2007 marked the first year of the Summit Fund program, with an initial five-year commitment, RCR donated over $150,000 to over 100 community organizations. After the first five years, RCR decided to officially renew the Summit Fund indefinitely and continue to donate to organizations, schools and charities each and every month.

At Fernie Alpine Resort, our Community Summit Fund has helped transform the local Fernie community by supporting sustainable local projects that help create positive opportunities and outcomes for its citizens, especially youth.

In the last six months, we have donated just over $11,000 to 22 different local organizations and projects including:

• Fernie Chamber of Commerce – support of 2018 Griz Days

• Fernie Mountain Film Festival

• 

  Freeski Competition support for local athlete, Andrea Byrne

  Local athlete, Andrea Byrne – Freeski Competition support

• Fernie & District Arts Council – support of the Out of the Box: Dumpster Project

• Fernie Secondary School -support the ski/snowboard team to attend 2018 provincials, teaching classes on outdoor trapping traditions, new school fitness room equipment, annual scholarship program

• Emily Brydon Youth Foundation

• Fernie Alpine Ski Team – support of FAST Film Festival 2018

• Isabella Dickens Elementary School – support annual spring tea fundraiser

• Elk Valley Dolphins Swim Club – support club to attend swim meet

• Elk Valley Society for Community Living

• Canadian Adaptive Network – support Fernie Disability Awareness Night

  

  A commemorative display celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Fernie Golf Club.

• Fernie Golf Club – support 100^th anniversary commemorative display

• The Ghostriders Adventure Camp

• Wapiti Music Festival Society

• City of Fernie – support for Canada Day celebrations

• Fernie Heritage Cemetary and Restoration Society

• Fernie Tennis Community Association – support of East Kootenay Open 2018

• East Kootenay Foundation for Health – support for 2018 Starlite Ball Fundraiser

• Friends of the Fernie Heritage Library

The Community Summit Fund isn’t just about cash donations, but it’s also about being involved in the community ourselves. Our very own Robin Siggers is a great example of an employee giving back to the community. Robin is involved directly with the Fernie Ski Touring & Trails Club. He also volunteers his time working on the Fernie Dirt Jump Park – using the RCR loader, he moves dirt and shapes the jumps. On top of that, he’s a regular contributor to the Fernie Trails Associations crew – working nights maintaining the trails.

For more information on the Fernie Alpine Community Summit Fund and how to apply for a grant, please visit: https://skifernie.com/summit-fund/.

Supporting the Fernie & District Arts Council’s Out of the Box: Dumpster Project

Fernie Secondary School recipient of the Fernie Summit Fund Scholarship program, Elizabeth Pater

Support of the Elk Valley Dolphins Swim Club to attend competitions.

It’s the final countdown…

We’re coming into the homestretch for opening day 2018. In less than 24 hours our doors will be ready to blast open for another Legendary summer of bike park operations, lift accessed hiking/camping and treetop adventures in our Aerial Park. Our to-do lists are long and with a severe storm watch in effect for today we’ve got to get back out there to get things in order for you before the rain falls, but here’s a quick update to wet your taste buds.

In our last crew report we told you about all the great work done on our Elk side trails this spring. Shout out to AERE Films who shot some amazing footage showcasing some of the tune-ups on Top Gun, Duff Dynasty and Deer Trail. You can check out the short video posted on our social media channels here.  The dappled light kept much of our work shrouded in shadowy secret during the vid but there were quite a few hoots and hollers heard while they were filming – you’ll just have to come out and inspect those corners for yourself this weekend! We’ll have all Elk side trails open for you with the exception of Alternate Flight Pattern, Holo Bike and Kodiak Karnage. We’re working on a new section of bermy / jumpy trail on the Lower Lizard ski run to bring Elk side riders into the base. This is still a work in progress so, in the meantime, all riders will need to ride a short section of road to return to the plaza and the lifts. Please respect your fellow riders and other users sharing this road – SLOW DOWN.

With snow finally melting off our alpine zones, our crews have spent the last seven days focusing on our Timber side biking and hiking trails. Last Saturday, we hosted our first ever volunteer trail day work party. A solid crew of seven came out to kick off a rejuvenation project on Rumplestumpkin. The work continued all week as we repaired cribbing, rebuilt corners and took care of some other messy sections that needed love. There is still a lot of work to do here over the season but we’re pretty stoked on the great start and look forward to getting this trail back in primo shape for all you dark side riders. Current Timber side trail status – Upper TNT will remain closed for the weekend, however we will be offering Bike Thief, Bin Logdin, Lower TNT and Neverland in addition to the 4km alpine to valley bottom Rumplestumpskin. Hikers can access outstanding alpine views on the Siberia Ridge, Lost Boys Lookout, White Pass, Pika Pass and Milky Way Trails. Note – some of the hiking trails still have snow such as Pika Pass, but the trail crew has marked the trail and it will be a very “cool”  hiking experience.

A few friendly reminders as we unleash summer on you. Many of our trails have changed and early season conditions exist across our mountain. Take it easy. Do a few slow inspection laps to scope out the changes, gauge your speed accordingly and get reacquainted. If this storm produces tonight, there could be blowdown and slippery conditions out there tomorrow. Watch for workers out on the trails and please stop to give us your feedback or voice any concerns you may have. For on-mountain emergencies please feel free to program the Patrol Emergency Number (250-423-2426) into your cell phones. Can’t wait to see everyone out there!

Nicole & The FAR Trail Crew

Photos by Nicole Matei & Nik Dunn

Volunteer trail day work party

Hiking Lost Boys Pass

Rumplestumpkin trail work

Pika Pass open for hiking

Rise and shine it’s almost bike park time! With barely a moment to wipe winter’s sleep out of our eyes, the Bike Crew commenced our clean-up earlier this month. The FAR trails emerged from their snowy slumber with only a few ‘nightmares’ to be soothed away before we swing open the doors on opening day on June 23^rd, 2018. 

Last fall’s dramatic wind event left a clever game of forest pick up sticks best suited for woodland giants. We have to give a huge shout out to the FAR Saw Crew for their extraordinary talents helping to clear the challenging forest floor tangles and treetop snags. Once these hazards were removed, our forest gnomes headed to work in the dirt and to repair damages to wood features. Top Gun, Deer Trail, Duff Dynasty, and Bin Logdin have since had machine touch-ups throughout. Will Power, Monorail, Mr. Berms, and Ben’s Big Rig are next up on the list.

The majority of our summer mountain signage has been deployed with a major upgrade this year to the new Ride Smart trail marking program. This new system differentiates freeride vs technical trails and helps to identify trail progression, ensuring riders have an enjoyable and safe experience on the mountain. Not to mention, we also have a brand-new hiking trail map and guide brochure this summer.

As of today, this is what we’ll be able to offer for opening weekend: all Elk side trails, all multi-use trails, Rumplestumpskin from the top, all lower Timber trails, and the bike skills park. For the hiking crowd, again all multi-use trails, Megasaurus, Siberia Ridge Loop, and Lost Boys Look Out. All other hiking trails are currently snowbound and will remain closed for safety.

What else is on the plate for summer 2018? We’ve decommissioned Canada Cup, Cripple Creek, and Hornet from our Bike park trail portfolio to make room for some exciting new projects. We would like to ask all riders to respect these closures so that we can focus on moving forward instead of repeatedly heading ‘back’ to enforce signage and fencing during the season. The BC Cup / Canada Cup is returning to Fernie, July 21-22^nd with the intention of having the full upper BC Cup course open for public consumption the remainder of the summer. In addition to our legendary Thursday Night Race Series presented by SCOTT, we have partnered with the North Face to offer an all new Running Race series on Thursdays as well.

See you out there,

Nicole & The FAR Trail Crew

Photos by Nicole Matei