Fernie

Fernie popped up on my radar pretty early on into my Canadian adventure as it has a strong mountain-biking scene. The way people described it made it seem like a cool up-and-coming town. It is in fact one of the best ski-resorts in North America with a pretty happening mountain-biking scene. It could possibly be the best snow resort but for the fact that it is a lot less developed and so is unlikely to compete on as level a footing as some of the more commercial ski-towns. The limiting factor for Fernie is that it sits at only 1000ms of elevation and so has a shorter snow season than the likes of Whistler, which while being at a lowly 600ms itself manufactures its own powder to keep business ticking over. In Fernie they rely on the real stuff and so the ski-lift operators only run the lifts for the four months from December to April as that is all they can make money from.

The thing about Fernie is that it is not trying to compete for the limelight. I don't know if it doesn't stack up commercially or if somebody just hasn't gotten around to stumping up the cash yet but the town is probably better off left alone. For eight months of the year it is a very small and practically comatose mountain town. Then, just as the animals are turning over in their deep sleep for the winter Fernie decides to wake up and goes wild from December to early April. Its ski-slope is only a couple of kilometres from town and as there are not a whole lot of hotels in the area it lacks the kind of congestion that makes getting to the top of the slopes in other resorts problematic. It seems to me that the Ferniens very much have their own vibe going and while they are very friendly and open you kind of know whether you fit in or not straight away. To appreciate Fernie you kind of already have to have some of that same vibe going on inside you. It's cool but it's not a brash cool, rather a very under-stated and humble kind of cool so it is possible that some people wouldn't quite get it. They are more than happy to share their town with you but it's refreshingly not in a way that they are trying to make money from you. The fact that it is a raw mountain-town where you can walk from the town into the countryside as opposed to having to drive makes it very appealing. It is great to be able to bike from your door to the trails in the Provincial Park or to the bottom of the gondola for some down-hilling. It is this natural setting which makes it so great; when you are riding it feels like you are discovering it just as the very first mountain-bikers did.

The great thing about Fernie is that the locals are proud of it and while they are happy to share it they are too busy trying to enjoy it themselves that they can't be bothered trying to sell it. I hope it stays this way as it is a place for the purists as opposed to the tourists who are likely better suited to nearby Banff.

I hope you are all well

Marco

800 year old cedar trees on the Old Cedar Growth trail