We all know the white fluffy stuff makes us a little crazy sometimes. Scanning the long range forecast every day at work when there are more important things to be done. Comparing multiple weather sites in the hope that one will have better news than the last and trying to work out which whispers are true when you take a walk down 2nd Ave and mention the possibility of a big storm.
The expectation and hype that comes with a powder day in Fernie will always spark something inside me. Late in the afternoon as the clouds roll into town and the snow starts to fall, excitement builds for what lies ahead! Feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve, going to bed early in anticipation, hoping to open your eyes and for it to be the morning. That fluffy stuff does funny stuff – hopefully I am not alone!
It was a powder day in Fernie not so long ago that got me thinking about all of this, sitting on the White Pass Quad heading for Currie Bowl in anticipation for the post storm grand opening. As countless chairs unloaded ahead of me with no signs of skiers coming back it could only mean one thing. Currie Bowl had opened and I was missing out! Everyone was skiing deep powder, and I was missing out!
As the chair rises to the top I can see hoards of eager skiers all standing at the rope waiting for patrol, what unfolds is daunting but something that every local knows well. The madness of a Currie 500!
Is it the pure love of powder snow that drives us all crazy? Or the fear of missing out, knowing that first tracks down Currie Powder is a feeling that you will never forget? Either way, no matter how many storms you have seen, how many times you have jostled your way down the cat track for your favorite line, or how many times you tell your friend as you sit on that White Pass chair that you don’t care about missing the opening because the chaos is all too much. Deep down we do! A big powder day in Fernie is one of the best experiences a person can have in their skiing or riding lifetime. If you are new to town don’t worry, there is plenty of snow to go around once the ropes have dropped and the powder cloud disappears into the distance. Some of us just can’t handle the thought of missing out. Let it snow!
Jack Viney
Fernie Alpine Resort Snow Reporter
