The inaugural Fernie Singletrack 3 kicked off Thursday, June 25, with registration and opening ceremonies at the Montane Barn, launching a new chapter of TransRockies mountain bike racing in Fernie.

Mayor Nick Milligan welcomed riders to the community and opened the event with a land acknowledgement. He was followed by Jikke Gyorki, Executive Director of Tourism Fernie, who highlighted Fernie’s trails, food, culture, and activity offerings for visiting riders, families, and supporters.

From there, the racing began.

Stage 1 put riders onto the legendary Fernie Ridge, Montane, and Castle Mountain trail networks. Leading into race weekend, the weather forecast seemed to change by the hour, but when it mattered most, conditions came through. Instead of rain, approximately 500 riders were treated to near-perfect racing weather, with partly cloudy skies, temperatures around 20°C, and just enough cloud cover to keep things comfortable.

The pace was fast from the start as riders left Montane and headed for Fernie Ridge and perfect singletrack. Long Course riders tackled 29.6 kilometres with 1,100 metres of climbing, while Short Course riders covered 19 kilometres with 504 metres of elevation gain.

Following Fernie Ridge, Long Course riders headed to Castle Mountain for an epic climb on Hypervent, before everyone finished on Montane’s buff singletrack with plenty of finish-line smiles.

The day wrapped up with a relaxed barn-side gathering at the Montane Barn.

Stage 2 took riders from Sparwood to Fernie along the Elk Valley Trail on another warm, dry day. The forecast gods smiled again, delivering blue skies, warm temperatures, dry trails, and just enough breeze to keep things comfortable. Short Course riders started on the Elk Valley Trail in Hosmer at the ruins. The Elk Valley Trail offers a perfect XC ride and all riders finisged wiuth a climb on Sidewinder on Fernie Ridge to Montane and the barn.

The Ride & Roast Bike Festival welcomed finishers back at the Montane Barn, where the Coal Creek Heritage Society helped stage a full afternoon of public activities. The day included a Kids Bike Rodeo, Trailforks E-bike Rally, Coal Creek Heritage Tour, Pimp Your Townie, a pig roast, food trucks, and live music.

The Kids Bike Rally drew 75 happy young riders. Event proceeds also helped fund one child to attend camp through the Ghostrider Adventure Camp Foundation.

Stage 3 brought the inaugural Fernie Singletrack 3 to an unforgettable close with an increased technical challenge.

For the third day in a row, the weather held. Riders were treated to another dry day on the trails, allowing the final stage to showcase the technical rooty riding Fernie is known for.

The final stage was anything but a victory lap. Riders faced epic single track on Ben Emmitt and Double Creek followed by a serious climb at Fernie Alpine Resort through the first half of the course, testing tired legs one last time. But as every mountain biker knows, the best descents have to be earned.

The reward was a ripping finish through Playground, Black Forest, Old Goat, and Verboten, with hero dirt, huge smiles, and plenty of hoots and hollers all the way back to a packed finish line at the Elk Valley Nordic Centre.

It was a fitting way to close three big days of racing.

Fernie was well represented throughout the weekend, with 16 local riders taking part and local U20 riders earning podium results.

Hugh McDougall was Fernie’s top rider, finishing first in the U20 Men category and second overall behind pro rider Peter Disera of Victoria, B.C.

Aida Morrison was Fernie’s top female rider. She reached the podium in the U20 Women category on Stages 1 and 2 and went on to win the overall category despite battling a persistent flat tire in Stage 3.

See the full results here on Zone4.

Fernie Singletrack 3 would not have been possible without the support of Tourism Fernie, Gearhub Sports, Island Lake Lodge, Coal Creek Heritage Society, Fernie Trails Alliance, Fernie Alpine Resort, Sparwood Trails Alliance, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Trailforks, Park Place Lodge, Coal Creek RV & Camping, Fernie Fox Hotel, Snow Valley Lodging, Fernie Stanford Resort, Easy Stay Inn, Red Tree Lodge, Elk Valley Nordic Centre, Ghostrider Equipment, Coast Optics, Fernie.com, Trailhead, The Cedars, Ghostrider Adventure Camp Foundation, Gi’ver Shirtworks, and Happy Cow Ice Cream.

Editor