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Category: Winter

Fernie and Fernie Alpine Resort Winter Season

American Values in the land of Canada

Wednesday, 12 October 2016 by Steven Threndyle

If Americans have a cultural stereotype about Canada, it’s that we’re a land of ice and snow inhabited by “Eskimos” and policed by red-coated Mounties on horseback. (The Mounties drive in police cars and they have the same tools as cops in America… and the Eskimos, well, they are actually called Inuit, and live much closer to the North Pole).

But Canadians certainly do celebrate winter, and of course, skiing and snowboarding. Our resorts – though perhaps not quite as familiar or accessible as Vail or Tahoe — compare favourably in every way. Whistler, of course, is the most widely-known—the resort hosted the 2010 Winter Games alpine skiing events—and it’s continuously ranked highly amongst the (mostly) American readers in SKI Magazine’s annual resort poll. And Banff/Lake Louise are on the radar map—though most Americans (like Canadians) visit there in the summer months.

Resorts of the Canadian Rockies believes that the best discoveries in skiing are the unexpected ones—and, like siblings, their three resorts—namely, Fernie Alpine Resort, Kimberley Alpine Resort, and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort—offer a rootsy, authentic Canadian ambiance that makes each of them worth visiting—even on one trip.

Perched above a historic mining town that still relies on nearby natural resources, FERNIE ALPINE RESORT is all about powder and adventure. Poking skyward like a giant baseball mitt, the rugged Lizard range hauls in over 35 feet of legendary Rocky Mountain fluff annually and attracts freeriders from all over the world. If you’re lucky, you’ll be in town during the raucous Griz Days celebration that celebrates the mythic mountain man who makes it snow. Independent “non-chain” stores and restaurants  thrive in the red-brick building main street of historic Fernie, once named the “Coolest Town in North America” by Rolling Stone magazine. Indeed, many Americans who visit here comment on how much it’s “like Telluride or Aspen used to be.”

Legendary Terrain at Fernie Alpine Resort

Legendary Terrain at Fernie Alpine Resort

KICKING HORSE MOUNTAIN RESORT west of Golden is a true “big mountain” experience, with 1,260 metres (4,133 feet) of vertical—fourth-highest in North America. Compared by those in the know to American resorts like Jackson Hole and Squaw Valley, Kicking Horse boasts 121 runs, four alpine bowls and 85 inbound chutes spread across 2,800+ acres of skiable terrain. No stay at Kicking Horse is complete without a visit to Canada’s most elevated restaurant: Eagle’s Eye Restaurant, a mountain-top, fine-dining experience. Four mountain ranges come together to create a mountain panorama that’s second to none.

Big Mountain Experience at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort

Big Mountain Experience at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort

Nestled in the majestic Purcell Mountains in BC’s southeastern corner, KIMBERLEY ALPINE RESORT receives more hours of sunshine than any other resort in the province. Its 80 runs range from open glades to gentle cruisers to thigh-burning bump runs. Dive into the Easter Bowl on the mountain’s backside or enjoy Kimberley’s front side cruising.  Kimberley even offers Canada’s longest night skiing/riding terrain. Stay slope-side and ski from your door in the morning or enjoy the charming Bavarian-themed town just down the hill. Kimberley compares favourably to the family friendly vibe found at Snowmass, Keystone, or The Canyons—with a superb ski school and perhaps the most high-value vacation packages in North America.

Sunny Kimberley Alpine Resort

Sunny Kimberley Alpine Resort

Thanks to Canada’s devalued currency, Americans considering a ski vacation north of the 49th parallel receive a thirty percent discount, before they even start shopping for the best deals of lifts, accommodation, and lessons.  “Our close proximity to the United States means that Fernie and Kimberley have always had visits from keen skiers in border states—folks who live in Whitefish, Kalispell, Sandpoint, and Spokane,” says “Powder Matt” Mosteller, spokesperson for the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.  Holidays at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Week and even Easter attract skiers and riders from a wider net, including Seattle, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and even major Midwestern and eastern cities.

And there are a few other differences.  Take money, for example. Canadians use the same dollars and cents system that Americans have, but your wallet won’t be budging with one-dollar bills if you ask for change for a five. Canadians have “loonie” and “toonie” one-dollar and two dollar coins. Different denominations of dollars ($5, $10, $20, $50 and $100) are in different colours (and some words, such as ‘colour’ have an extra ‘u’ in them – don’t ask.) Gas (and all liquids) are priced in liters – $1.20 per liter equals about $4.00 per gallon of gasoline.

Snow depth is measured in centimeters (doesn’t  “thirty centimeters” sound deeper than “eleven inches”?). And the outside temperature is in degrees Celsius. Don’t freak out if the temperature is minus 5, that’s only 23 degrees Fahrenheit, perfect skiing temperature.

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Oddly, some things are the same. If you ask the bartender for a pint of beer, he’ll pour you a 12 ounce glass. And if you need anything else, just ask! To dispel another myth—not all of us speak French, (and we actually say ‘a-bout’, not ‘a-boot).’

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Welcome to Canada, partner. Your powder is waiting.

Words: Steven Threndyle
Photos: Raven Eye Photography, Vince Mo, Brooke Wilson, Abbydell Photography

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Fall Season Pass Sale Until October 15th

Wednesday, 05 October 2016 by Cali Burk

It’s your last chance of the year to save on season ski passes and multi week Winter Sports School programs.  Our Fall Season Pass sale is on until October 15th, make sure to order your pass before it’s over to save!

Multi week Winter Sports School programs are available for children as well as adults and all season passes come with over 20 member benefits including discounts on resort services, savings on food and beverage, free sticker, lanyard and more.

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Fernie: Why this Small Town is Just Right

Thursday, 29 September 2016 by Angie Abdou

I like to take videos from the bedroom window of my Fernie house and email them to friends in Ontario. I’m a jerk like that. I start by focusing out over the forest, spectacular in a new way every season. I scan along the peaks of the Lizard Range out to the world-famous cat skiing operation Island Lake Lodge, and then I pop over to Mount Fernie, its green glory so impossibly close it seems I could reach out and touch it. I like to end the video with a bang by panning to the magnificent rock faces of the Three Sisters. Usually, I caption these videos with something witty and profound, like:

Fernie, BC: It’s Not Ugly

This is gloating at its worst. Look where I woke up today! Just LOOK! It’s as if I have to capture this natural splendor on video and present it to an envious audience in order to believe it myself.

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I remember my first trip to Fernie in 1996. I took a picture of a friend in the Overwaitea parking lot, toque over her straggly hair, Mount Fernie towering behind her, the sky alive with a deep pink alpenglow. “Even grocery shopping is beautiful in Fernie,” I’d said. “I’ll never get sick of this view.”

Twenty years later, I can confirm: I never have.

Plus I’ve learned that it’s the kind of view that calls people out into it. I’ve stood atop each of those peaks that I showcase in my video. I’ve skied those runs.

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When I’m at my happiest in Fernie’s terrain, skiing down Red Tree in powder to my waist say, I always think of my Swedish friend Åsa, her cheeks red with cold, her eyelashes full of snowflakes, her smile vast: “You are so lucky to live here!”

Åsa says the thing she loves best about Fernie is the activity. When Fernie friends get together, it’s not just to do coffee or have lunch or drink wine. It’s to ski or hike or bike. We get out into that view. We live it with our whole bodies.

But there are other pretty mountain towns with active residents. What makes Fernie the right one? When National Geographic’s “digital nomad” Andrew Evans came through town, he fixated on The Bean Pod and the high-quality chocolate products offered by owners James and Mary Heavy.  The intricacies of the chocolatier process fascinated Andrew. He was also hooked, I think, on the family’s story of leaving Ireland and traveling the world to find just the right home for their product. Their quest for the best place to build the only bean-to-bar company in Canada led to this specific town of 5000 in the Canadian Rockies.

beanpod-outside

 

Though the particulars of the Heavy-family story are unique, the gist is common. People choose Fernie. They work to get here. They bring what they love. They live their passion. The shops lining Fernie’s main street – not a Gap or a Lululemon among them – reflect that character, that love. And if on especially snowy mornings, I find those shops locked-up and bearing POWDER DAY! GONE SKIING! signs, I understand. The signs remind me: yes, this small town is just right.

fernie-h-g

 

 

Photos: Henry Georgi

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Save on your ski vacation by booking early!

Monday, 19 September 2016 by Cali Burk

Book your ski vacation to your happy place for the upcoming season and save! We have early booking packages with offers like third night free plus kids ski for free with packages booked before November 30.

Visit the Early Booking Vacation Offer page for more information.  See all our available packages, visit our Ski RCR Vacation site.  From the Ski RCR Vacation website you can book online, chat with a reservation agent online to ask any questions you might have.  Give us a call at 1-800-258-7669 to speak to a vacation booking specialist over the phone.

Don’t forget to book your ski vacation before November 30th, 2016 in order to take advantage of the savings!

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Pack your bags and embark on a region aptly named the Powder Highway!

Monday, 12 September 2016 by Andrew Findlay

Imagine arriving at a crossroads and finding a sign that reads Powder Highway.  What would you do?  Well, you’d take that road, of course.  Say it once or twice out loud. “Powder Highway.”  It has an alluring sound, doesn’t it?  A sort of “I dare you not to drive it,” quality that spells road trip.

There are few things I enjoy more than loading skis into the roof box, packing a change of long underwear, extra gloves and toques, bags of chips and whatever other road trip indulgences you desire, then hitting the highway.  The Powder Highway cuts through the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains, a region of such staggering density in skiing and snowboarding opportunities, be it resort, cat, heli and backcountry, that you’ll be struck with an option paralysis of the favorable kind; a too-much-of-a-good-thing problem that we skiers and boarders love to have.  Assemble your favorite winter superlatives – steep, deep, blower, big vert, cruisy, epic, etcetera – and that pretty much sums up the Powder Highway.

At Fernie Alpine Resort, the lifts service five alpine bowls in the legendary Lizard Range of the Canadian Rockies blessed with snow as light as the down in your puffy jacket.

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Legendary Terrain at Fernie Alpine Resort

 

Kimberley Alpine Resort, a little off the beaten track, has always been a breeding ground of ski racing talent with its fall line groomers and spacious terrain.

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Spacious Kimberley Alpine Resort

At Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, the Eagle Express Gondola shuttles skiers and boarders to the top of the Dogtooth Range in the Purcell Mountains in a more than 4000 vertical foot butterflies-in-the-stomach ascent. From the top terminal, choose your adventure.  A cruisy top to bottom groomer that will have the legs burning, or perhaps a boot pack to the top of Feuz Bowl or T1 followed by a drop into a spicy 45 alpine chute.

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Leg burning run at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort

Then there are the towns, archetypal ski communities.  Not cookie cutter prefab creations but towns with heart and history.
Fernie, with its main street lined in heritage buildings, steeped in the tradition of 19th century mining, where skiing has a long history dating back more than 50 years. Kimberley and its quaint Bavarian motif, also oozing with colourful mining and pioneering history.

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View of the resort from historic downtown Fernie

And Golden near the confluence of the Kicking Horse and mighty Columbia River and at the foot of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, where a tradition of mountain adventure has its roots in the golden era of railroading in Canada when Swiss guides arrived in the late 1800’s to explore the vast wildness of Canada’s mountains, many of them settling in and around Golden.

golden-from-tg

A Golden view in Golden, B.C

While a love of skiing will lead you to the Powder Highway, the towns, real mountain towns full of real mountain people, will steal a piece of your heart. On a rest day, after exploring between Fernie and Kimberley, drive up the beautiful Columbia Valley, next to frozen lakes and wetlands that spring to life in summer.  Pull into the HQ of legendary Kicking Horse Coffee in Invermere, where the smell of roasting beans drifts in the air.  Fill up with a mug of Kick Ass coffee, relax, and dream about the turns and terrain that awaits at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.  A little further north, slip into Radium Hot Springs, and watch wild Big Horn Sheep scale the surrounding cliffs.  How many more reasons do you need to explore the Powder Highway?  Next step –  pack your ski bags, load the vehicle and hit the road – your idea of the perfect winter road trip will be changed forever!

Words: Andrew Findlay
Photos: Love Street Media, Raven Eye Photography, Antoine Caron Cabana, Henry Georgi & Tourism Golden

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The Ultimate Ski Lodge – our new Powder & Ice Package
Thursday, 30 June 2016 by Cali Burk

NEW this winter at Fernie Alpine Resort & Lizard Creek Lodge.

The Powder & Ice package!

This new vacation package bundles your accommodations with a day of Cat Skiing with Fernie Wilderness Adventures and 2 days of skiing at Fernie Alpine Resort!

FWA

Catskiing with Fernie Wilderness Adventures Photo courtesy of FWA Facebook

 

You’ll stay at the 4.5 star Lizard Creek Lodge, a recommended property on TripAdvisor with a idyllic slopeside ski and ski out location at Fernie Alpine Resort.  Debuted last season at Lizard Creek Lodge was the opening of the Ice Bar – enter the subzero room, made out of blocks of ice, and sample craft vodkas out of ice glasses.  The new Ice Bar is a one of a kind experience not to be missed while in Fernie.

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The Ice Bar at Lizard Creek Lodge

Let the Powder Fly and then hit the new Ice Bar!

With over 5,000 acres with a variety of Ridges to begin your descents from. The guides at Fernie Wilderness Company have a vast variety to choose from, the terrain ranges from ridges, valleys’ to spectacular gladed meadows. With the elevation at over 7,150 ft / 2170 meters the conditions keep the snow falling from the Coast and dry powder perfect for skier and snowboarders to enjoy world renowned Canadian Rockies.

Want Powder?  We’ve got that!  
Check out a Fernie Wilderness Adventures on their Vimeo page, for more information about them visit their Facebook page.

Coming winter 2016, booking will be available soon.

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Last Week to Save on Winter Season Passes & Ski School Lessons
Monday, 20 June 2016 by Cali Burk

Our winter Early Bird season pass sale ends on Saturday, June 25th, order your season pass or multi week ski school lesson online through the RCR Webstore before the deadline for the best savings of next season.F&B Card

Don’t forget about those lessons!  Get the kids in multi week programs or sign up for one yourself and brush up on skills.  Kids & Teen lessons available as well as Ladies Clubs, the Breakfast Club and more for adults.  View and buy ski school programs through the RCR Webstore.

NEW this year buy a $500 Food & Beverage card for just $399 when purchased with your season pass!  Find out more about this new Member Benefit and all the others on the RCR Webstore.

Buy Now

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A little more La Nina a little less El Nino
Thursday, 16 June 2016 by Cali Burk

That’s what the experts are saying.  And while many people across Canada may be rolling their eyes, for winter outdoor enthusiasts it’s music to their ears.

What is La Nina anyways?
La Niña is the positive phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and is associated with cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.  (According to Wikipedia)

Okay, but what does that really mean?
According to Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada – “In B.C. there is a high probability that we can expect a more frigid winter.  A little cooler, a little bit more snow..”

Read more about what exactly La Nina means and more from Dave Phillips on the CBC website.

For a longer and even more scientific explanation of La Nina visit the Weather Network website.

In conclusion,
La Nina = Happy Skiers & Snowboarders

nomark

Don’t forget to order your Fernie Season Pass before the end of the Early Bird Season pass sale on June 25th – order online through the RCR webstore now!

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Vote for Fernie to be named Canada’s Best Ski Resort
Monday, 13 June 2016 by Cali Burk

VoteNow-316x120The World Ski Awards have released their 4th annual nominee list and Fernie Alpine Resort has been chosen as an option to be named Canada’s Best Ski Resort for 2016!  Fernie needs your vote to win!  Voting is now open and runs until September 23, 2016.

Vote on the World Ski Awards website today.

etjaet

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2016 TripAdvisor Excellence Award Winner!
Thursday, 02 June 2016 by Cali Burk

Print_Logo_COE2016_en_UKWe’re proud to be recipients of the 2016 TripAdvisor Award of Excellence.  Now in its sixth year, the achievement celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include accommodations, eateries and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience.

Thank you for your great reviews and helping Fernie Alpine Resort receive this prestigious award!

View our reviews or leave your own on our TripAdvisor page.

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