Fernie Alpine Resort joins Avalanche Canada, other resorts and clubs to celebrate winter and avalanche education through Avalanche Awareness Days on January 21st and 22nd.

Here in Fernie, we have a weekend full of interactive and educational activities in the base area and on the mountain!

There will be several activities going on during the day, including:

• Transceiver Hunt – Did you know that Fernie Alpine Resort has a transceiver training area? It is located on Heartland just above the 100% road. Come out and learn how to use a transceiver (or bring your own) and test your practice area skills. For every buried transceiver that you find, you will get an entry into a prize draw for great prizes from Helly Hansen and Avalanche Canada.
• CARDA Dog demo – Come out and meet one of our Avalanche Rescue dogs as they demonstrate what they do and the training that goes into an Avalanche Rescue dog.
• Snow Pit Demo – Join our pro patrol at the top of the Bear Chair as they will go through a snow pit profile and how they use it to gather information on the snowpack.
• Fundraising Auction – Come to the Griz Bar during Saturday Apres to score some great gear from Avalanche Canada sponsors. 100% of the funds raised will go towards Avalanche Canada.

Schedule:

Saturday, January 21st
1 pm – 3 pm: Transceiver Hunt @ Transceiver Training Area (located up the mountain on Heartland just above 100% road)
Apres:  Fundraising Auction in the Griz Bar  (the auction will take place during the band’s set break approx 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm)

Sunday, January 22nd
11 am: CARDA Dog Demo @ Base Area – Above the Winter Sports School Meeting Area near the Deer Chair
1 pm: Snow Pit Profile Demo @ Top of the Bear Chair

Huge thanks go out to our sponsors:  Helly Hansen, Avalanche Canada, and our auction gear partners-  Marmot, Arcteryx, and MEC.

 

Fernie Alpine Resort promotes safety in the backcountry with Avalanche Awareness Days. For one week, you can learn more about the dangers of avalanches, watch virtual demonstrations from our ski patrol, and practice your beacon and probing skills in the on-mountain transceiver training area. Don’t miss out as there are amazing prizes to win from our sponsors, Helly Hansen and Avalanche Canada!

 

Avy Savvy Challenge  – January 18th – 23rd

Do you know everything about avalanches and the backcountry? Test your skills and knowledge with our Avy Savvy Challenge! Locations to our signs are below. Please answer each question on the sign and enter your response into our online platform. Each question answered enters you into one of our draw prizes sponsored by Helly Hansen & Avalanche Canada. Merino wool base layers, gloves, and so much more to win!! Plus, everyone that enters will receive a free one-month FATMAP Explore membership thanks to our friends at FATMAP.

How to play

• Visit each location below (choose a route that works best for you)
• Find our blue signs that say Avy Savvy Challenge (all signs are inbounds and posted beside the trail/mountain signs or on a bamboo stick)
• Answer the questions and enter them in here: CLICK HERE
• Each question answered is another entry into our draw prize!

(HINT – Visit Avalanche Canada’s Online Avalanche Tutorial to brush up on your knowledge before)

LOCATIONS:

Location 1. Weather Plot (IMPORTANT: DO NOT ENTER THIS FENCED OFF AREA – sign is posted on a bamboo stick outside)

Location 2. Entrance Access to Backcountry Area Lost Boys

Location 3. On-Mountain Transceiver Training Area

Location 4. Top of Bear Chair Beacon Check

Location 5. First Aid / Ski Patrol Top of White Pass Quad

Location 6. Top of Timber Beacon Check

 

January 22^nd – Visit Paul & Drift in the Avalanche Dog Training Area 

Paul and Drift will be in the Avalanche Dog Training Area from 11am – 1pm on Saturday 22^nd. Feel free to stop by and say hi to this dynamic duo. They will also be there to answer any questions you might have about what they do to help keep everyone safe at FAR.

Location: Straight off of Timber Chair – Straight onto Fallingstar – Area is right above Freeski Training area.

 

Buried Treasure Challenge – January 22nd-23rd

Bringing back last year’s challenge!

HOW TO PLAY & WIN PRIZES:

• *UPDATED TIMES* Drop into the Avalanche Transceiver Training Area between 10 am – 1 pm on Saturday 22 and Sunday, January 23rd.

• Bring your transceiver and probe or borrow one of ours (we recommend you practice with your own equipment if possible).

• Choose your difficulty level (easy, medium, hard), which will determine how many signals you have to find—the more difficult the challenge, the bigger the prizes.

•  To complete the challenge, you must find all the transceiver signals in the Avalanche Transceiver Training Area with a successful probe strike for all of them.

• Once you’ve completed the challenge, our event volunteers will draw you a random prize from the corresponding prize draw (easy, medium, hard).

 

Game rules and COVID-19 Safety Plan:

Here is our plan for how we are going to run the buried treasure game safely and effectively within the current COVID-19 guidelines.

Maximum capacity:

• Only one cohort group will be allowed at the Avalanche Transceiver Training Area at one time.
• If the Avalanche Transceiver Training Area is occupied, other participants will be asked to come back later (no waiting on-site).
• All social distancing rules of 2 meters apply while at the Avalanche Transceiver Training Area.

Shared Equipment:

• It is recommended that participants use their own transceiver and probe if possible.

• We will have two spare sets of equipment for use.

• Our event volunteers will thoroughly sanitize any borrowed equipment to participants before the new participant can use it.

PPE:

• All staff, volunteers, and participants must wear appropriate face coverings at all times during this event

• All staff volunteers and participants must follow all the rules set out by Fernie Alpine Resort surrounding COVID:  https://skifernie.com/covid-19/winter/

Prizing:

• The prize draw will be done solely by event volunteers

• Once a prize has been selected, guests will collect it from a safe distance on-site

 

Thank you to our amazing sponsors Helly Hansen | Skiing, Sailing & Outdoor Apparel | HH CA  & Avalanche Canada and their sponsors – MEC and FATMAP