On Saturday, 54 community volunteers came out to prune, thin, rake, chop, drag and dump twigs, logs and debris from the high-risk areas of the Thunder Ridge and Highline Drive, neighbourhoods at Fernie Alpine Resort.

What an incredible turnout for FireSmart Day!

Here at FAR we take wildfire safety very seriously. We have been actively working with our local fire department and the local community to take the necessary FireSmart precautions. Becoming FireSmart takes time and coordination with your neighbours, and we are lucky to have wonderful homeowners who take the responsibility seriously and have worked hard to lessen the risk surrounding their homes.

A team of FAR employees collected the piles of debris.

FireSmart is living with & managing

for wildfire on our landscape.

The Fernie Fire Department, who is a driving force and impetus for the FireSmart program in Fernie provided the volunteers with leadership, moral support and tools for the working bee.

It’s incredible to see what a community can do when they come together. The transformation is remarkable!

Thank you to our awesome RCR crew, Robin, Andy, Tyler, Tyler, Paul & Ugo who hauled endless piles of debris to the RCR burn pile.

Thanks also to the sponsors, and those who provided donations to the volunteers, Jason Andreola (Royal LePage), Sandra Goode (ReMax), Fernie Tim Hortons, The Chopstick Truck, FireSmart Canada and The Co-operators.

Calling all adrenaline junkies, fun seekers, and anyone who’s up for a little competition! Why not join us on February 9th for an event that’ll have you hitting the rails in style? That’s right! The Raging Elk Kinky Rail Jam is back, and this season we’ve made it even better with some exciting changes. So keep reading for all the details on our epic showdown in the rail park!

Now you’re probably wondering what we’ve done to change things up this season… We are excited to be announcing that the winners of each category will receive CASH prizes! You heard us right! The more entries into our jamming competition, the bigger the rewards. But we haven’t stopped there, competitors also have the opportunity to win some sweet draw prizes.

So how does it work? The competition is set in Jam Style, meaning instead of a specific number of runs, competitors have a set amount of time to showcase their best tricks. Hit the rails and boxes as much or as little as you want, as each run is, but only your best run is counted.

Why sign up for the Rail Jam? To answer that question we went to our resident Rail Park Attendant, James Rotor. According to James,

“The rail jam is all about trying to bring the park culture back to Fernie, to push one another to be better riders, both snowboarders and skiers alike… I competed in my first rail jam last year, I’ve remained friends with most of my fellow competitors, and we continue to push each other in our riding today… The name of the game is fun!”

The competition is open to both snowboarders and skiers, and the categories include Men’s Ski 16+, Men’s Snowboard 16+, Grom Men’s Ski 15 and Under, Grom Men’s Snowboard 15 and Under, Women’s Ski, and Women’s Snowboard.

Waivers are required for all competitors, and any competitor 15 and under must have a parent or guardian sign their waiver. Helmets are cool, which is why they are absolutely mandatory for this event.

Competitors can also receive 20% off their left ticket the day of the event.

To sign up for our best Raging Elk Kinky Rail Jam yet, head to the Daylodge between 9:00am and 10:00am the day of the competition. The Rail Park will be open from 9:00am to 10:30am for practice, with a mandatory competitor meeting in the park at 10:45am. Then get your jam on at 11:00am when the competition begins. Don’t forget to head back to the Daylodge at 3:30pm for the Awards Ceremony.

For more information please visit our Facebook event.

Did you know Fernie Alpine Resort has over 600 employees in the winter season? From skiers to snowboarders of any ability level, to anyone who just loves the snow, we have them all! With so many amazing individuals working with us, it was truly a monumental task to pick someone to feature in our blog, but for this post we went to the lift maintenance crew and caught up with Joey Kosolofski.

Joey, like the many others who visit our wonderful town, came for a season and ended up making Fernie his home. In the 2014/15 season Joey came to us as a lifty, caught the powder fever and has stuck around ever since, now working as an electrician in our lift maintenance department. When Joey isn’t working, he enjoys shredding it up on the new side, more specifically in Currie Bowl.

What’s a bucket list item for Joey? Heli-boarding in Switzerland of course! Because who doesn’t want to go heli-boarding, right? It’s every die hard snow enthusiast’s dream…

When asked who was Joey’s biggest hero, he didn’t hesitate for a moment in telling us it was his mother. She has a glowing reputation of getting people who are older or with restrictions to take pride in physical wellness and activity. By creating a program called Pathway to Wellness, she is truly rejuvenating her community one step at a time.

“Her pride and motivation in everything she does and her drive to make a change has always inspired me to do my best and take pride in everything I do, whether it is work or play.”

She sounds like she’d fit right in with the Fernie style, that’s for sure!

What else can we say about Joey? Well, how about mentioning his amazing talent as an artist?! Joey’s philosophy towards art is a “no rules” kind of approach. His passion for art was sparked at the tender age of ten years old, and was encouraged even further by his art teacher throughout high school. In describing his work, Joey says “I started with a lot of doodling, and then the painting aspect just naturally came along with that graffiti style of art, and now has developed into a vibrant rendition of landscapes and other abstract work.” Joey’s art is a magnificent combination of vibrant abstract colours and landscapes inspired by our mountainous surroundings. Perhaps due to the fact that he believes anything can be inspiration, people who know and recognize Joey’s artwork may describe it as “colour with motion”. Pictured in this post is a piece that Joey is most proud of, drawing inspiration from vibrant colours and his time spent fly fishing this summer, which has just found its forever home in Saskatoon.

How can you check out more of Joey’s incredibly unique artwork? We’re glad you asked! Keep a watchful eye at Fernie Alpine Resort, because you never know, Joey’s art just might make an appearance. But in the meantime, check out all his latest work by following him on Instagram @joeykozart.

Hey, Ladies! Looking for something fun to do in the outdoors with your girls this Saturday? Well, look no further! We, at Fernie Alpine Resort, are excited to be partnering with SheJumps to bring you, International Women’s Snow Day. This special day, tailored just for you lovely ladies and girls, is packed full of activities, opportunities to learn, and the chance to give back.

Claire Smallwood -Co-Founder & Executive Director of SheJumps

Before we give you all the details, let’s talk about the powerful organization behind this event, and for that we caught up with SheJumps founder and executive director, Claire Smallwood.

A passion for skiing was sparked in Claire at the tender age of five, and from that point on she never looked back. Thanks to babysitting and mowing lawns, Claire’s passion for skiing turned into a fire that continued to burn all through high school. This eventually brought Claire and her friends, Lyndsey Dryer and Vanessa Pierce, to a life altering revelation. What if they took the often solo sport of skiing, and turned it into an opportunity to unite women in their passions?

“Our main idea was to recognize the gifts that encountering fear and fun in the outdoors had afforded us as individuals, and the desire to bring that magic to women and girls of every background”, said Claire when describing how they came to their vision. Through this simple question, a bright new organization was born.

So, what exactly is SheJumps? Simply, creating opportunities for women and girls to get together through outdoor activities. SheJumps hosts a variety of winter and summer activities, from skiing and snowboarding, fat biking, fly fishing, SUPing and surfing. But they don’t just encourage activity, they also give women the opportunity to learn new skills by offering training for avalanche education and certification, bike maintenance, introduction to navigation, group hikes, and ski and snowboard tuning events. This is all based on their unique concept of Jump In, Jump Up, and Jump Out, which not only encourages women to try something new and gain more skills, but also inspires them to pass on the flame to the next generation. Through the aforementioned adult programs, SheJumps is able to offer subsidized youth programs for girls 6 and up, which creates the same wonderful opportunities to experience, learn, and be empowered.

Keep your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds, above chaos and drama!

SheJumps also partners with community organizations to reserve 50% of their youth programs for at risk or low-income girls. Their dedication lies in empowering women and girls to “keep our feet on the ground and head in the clouds, above chaos and drama”, as their magical mascot, The Girafficorn, represents. SheJumps is all about fostering confidence, pushing through challenges, and inspiring the female community to get together and help others grow in their own journey.

Feeling all fired up? Why not bring your fire to International Women’s Snow Day on January 12th! This is a day to celebrate the power of women who come together and accomplish their goals. We have planned a day exploding with fun activities like morning yoga, first tracks, SheJumps women’s breakfast, a mountain tour, avalanche education, and of course, après ski!

Don’t ski but want to attend the day anyways? You are welcome to attend yoga, an inspirational breakfast with Claire Smallwood from SheJumps, and the après ski event. Whether you’re signing up for the whole day or participating in individual events, don’t miss the opportunity to unite with other women and share your passion. Thanks to SheJumps and International Women’s Snow Day partner K2 Alliance, you will also have the opportunity to bid on a sparkling new set of skis at the event, the proceeds of which will support the Junior Ski Patrol program that SheJumps is hoping to bring to Fernie in the spring.

You won’t want to miss this adventure filled day, so bring your girlfriends, coworkers, mothers, sisters, daughters, anyone else from the female community and come join us this Saturday and keep your eye out on social media for a special Instagram contest running during the day!

For a full schedule and how to sign up, please visit our website.

You can also follow the event on Facebook here.