November 17, 2003
Photos and text by D. Savage
November 16th was a very snowy day in Fernie and my 1st run of the season at Fernie Alpine Resort. North Ridge is my usual early season run – probably because of the North aspect and steep pitch. Somebody had been down before me and took the best line however there was nice snow down to Cedar trail and from there I traversed to the base village. My run was fun despite my technique being a bit rusty. I constantly had to pull my arms forward to keep from crashing.
 The snow pack is looking great. Other than a nasty looking faceted (snow ball bearings) layer due to our cold spell, the snow is rather dense and providing a good coverage. At the top of the Boom chair there was about 50cm and lower down the snow was denser and about 30cm deep. It was storming when I finished my run and snow is forecast for the next few days.
The resort will be looking slightly different this season however most of the money has been buried – a new snowmaking system (costing the Resort a few million) is ready to blanket the lower mountain. The base village has been spruced up with new services, more ticket windows, and a new log building for retail. The Bears Den has been changed with the addition of new washrooms and a warming Yurt.
Overall the conditions are better than at this time last year. I know we’re all looking forward to an awesome season and FAR’s Nov. 27th planned opening date might be a reality.
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