February 16, 2004
Lifts/Runs
Lifts Open: 9/10
Runs open: 105/107
Snowfall
24 Hour: 1cm (0in)
48 Hour: 12cm (5in)
7 Day: 12cm (5in)
Year to date: 580cm (228in)
Snow Pack: 240cm (94in)
Photos and text by Gerry George
Valentine's Day, President's Day, Family Day, are there any holidays that I missed for this weekend? Well if there are, then I'm sure the people celebrating them showed up in Fernie this weekend for a bit of powder skiing.
 Yup, it finally snowed after a very dry spell. While not much fell, maybe only 10 - 15 centimeters worth it sure took an edge off of the hard pack that has been so prevalent for the past three weeks. I was actually expecting a ton of hidden death cookies and was really nervous about letting the skis run freely but it was surprisingly smooth across most of the mountain.
Cedar Ridge was very tasty and our last run of the day down Stagleap was just chopped up crud and very rippable. Unfortunately by that time my legs were so baked that it felt more like survival skiing and all I could think about was a nice nap on my couch when I got home.
The crowds were probably the largest I have seen in a while with lines running about 10 minutes on the slower chairs. Still, not too bad really and nobody seemed to be whining about them. There may have been some whining at the bottom of the Haul Back as I heard that lines down on the T-Bar were up to 20 minutes.
Here is the secret local's tip for the week. To avoid riding the Haul Back at all, take the trail that cuts across the Spruce. Follow it across the Haul Back and it will spit you out at the Wallaby. Funny that it took me till this year to figure that out.
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