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Try Mary at http://www.pemadesign.com

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People say bad things when bad things happen. This is not the time for this. Let the community grieve. Give them respect, support, space – but not bitching. Let it lie, at least for now.

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Do you know about the "health connections" hospital bus that goes to Cranbrook twice a week?

Trips are on Wednesday and Friday, departs Fernie at 9am, arrives Cranbrook 10.15am – will drop off in a few different locations. Departs Cranbrook 3pm arrives Fernie 4pm. $5 return.

People with hospital appointments have priority but there’s nearly always extra room for others (it was only half full on the two occasions I used it.)

Call 1 800 933 0025 to book a seat or for more info.

ftp://ftp.rdek.bc.ca/pdf/Elk%20Valley%2 … 202008.pdf

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There is no helisking in Fernie. I believe it’s an environmental issue. You can take heli-tours to view the mountains and wildlife, but they’re not allowed to land. We do have some fabulous cat-skiing in the area though, which makes for a pretty good alternative.
Check out:
Island Lake Lodge: http://www.islandlakeresorts.com/winter/
Fernie Wilderness Adventures: http://www.fernieadventures.com
Powder Cowboy: http://www.powdercowboy.com/index.html

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is this a wind-up? You have looked at their website right? Try the employment section on there. Yes, you get a season pass if you work for them.

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The only place to purchase season passes is directly through RCR or Fernie Alpine Resort (same company so it makes no difference.) All the rates are available online https://secure.skircr.com/pass_types/in … _id=4&js=1.

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Well for starters the Wood and Alpine Lodge have not offered restaurant services for the past year or two. There is a good chance there will be a new restaurant in the Griz Inn this year, but it’s not final yet and it won’t be the Wood, which was a bit of a Fernie favourite when it was here, and has now moved to Vancouver.
Your parking lots are a bit out, and the upper one is private parking for season parking-pass holders only.
In the resort base you’ve missed the sports alpine boutique, slopeside deli and the convenience store.
Not sure where the term "village region" came from, but the two main roads are Timberline Crescent (in your Timberline region) and Highline Drive (in your village region.) As guests driving to the resort will be looking for those street names (and others, like Boomerang Way) it would probably be a good idea to include them.
You’ve missed the entire Cedar Bowl, Haul back t-bar and outhouses to the right of the map. Also the Lost Boys restaurant and outhouses at the top of the timber chair, and the Bear’s Den at the top of the Elk chair.
If you’re not going to put on the names of the runs (and I think you should have at least the main ones) then you definately need to put the names of the bowls, ridges, peaks and the actual heights of the base and top of the resort.
It’s a good start but needs a lot of editing and is still very bare bones. If you want it to be interactive, then you need to include a ton of additional info – just having the names get bigger doesn’t really do anything useful.

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Hi

I think I saw your turtle on Wednesday around 4.30pm. I thought he was wild as I’ve seen wild snapper turtles in the Elk before, so I just left him there. He was on the footpath in the annex park, right around the point where the pond drains into the river, down at the end.

I hope you find him.

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Good for you Goldstar! (I’m not sure if there’s any truth in that last post or not, but there should be!) I’m so sick of people starting a job and then quitting after a day, a week, a month. It costs a helluva lot of money to train people, including actual time spent training, costly mistakes, trained employees having to re-do work…the list goes on.

These are seasonal positions – you work hard, you get paid, you go have fun after work. It’s five months – it would be great if just for once, someone would understand how much they are inconveniencing employers with this start-quit-start-quit-start-quit nonsense. If you don’t want the job, don’t accept it! This current trend goes way beyond the likelihood of the employers being at fault – I keep coming across people who’ve had 4 or 5 jobs in Fernie in the last 3 months, and employers who are tearing their hair out as a result, and are ready to pack up and quit themselves.

What people seem to expect from a part time housekeeping position is getting quite ridiculous. What exactly is it that you didn’t understand when you started, that caused you to quit before you’d worked there for a month?

GRRR. That’s my rant for the day. I do feel better now.

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If you’re just here for the season, you don’t need a PO box. I think you would have to pay for it if you wanted one. Just get the person sending the mail to put your name, plus “General Delivery” and address it to the Fernie PO, BC, V0B 1M0. on the mail and they will hold it for you to pick up. I think they hold stuff for two weeks.

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I voted for clubhouse, because I don’t know what a ‘restaraunt’ is. If you mean restaurant, then yes, I’d rather go there, but personally I feel that if the spelling is bad, the food is likely to be comparable so I won’t even attempt it.

And curiosity killed the cat, not the golf course. Courtesy on the other hand, is always an asset.

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Rudy has already given you all the rental places on the hill, and I agree that will be your best option to get going on your first day if time is an issue. Top Shelf were recently (within the last 3 years anyway, I forget exactly when it was) voted the best bootfitters in Canada by Ski?? magazine, and Quest rentals at Lizard Creek are the nicest bunch of people you’re ever likely to come across.

Just wanted to mention that unlike Europe, you don’t need to generally need to book, you just show up, they kit you out in 10 minutes and off you go – the lifts are about 23 seconds away, and there’s generally no queue. Also, if you are used to Europe, Fernie doesn’t open until 9am, so plenty of time to get organised if you are flying in from the UK the day before – chances are the jetlag will have you up at 5am anyway! Bear in mind though that Feb 16th weekend is school holidays across 4 provinces and will be nuts that weekend, if that’s when you are coming.

Enjoy, you’ll have a blast!

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Sorry to kill your dreams, but this is the wrong year for you. Usually the season ends mid April, but the powers that be, in their infinate wisdom, have decided to shut up shop on April 6th this year. Apparently the date is set based on the date of Easter, which happens to be early in 2008. I don’t understand what that has to do with the weather, but that what’s been decided. I heard that it’s always been that way, but RCR have had the mountain for less than 10 years, so it’s hardly set in stone.

As far as conditions go, it’s a very mixed bag in April. Generally the end of March and April can go either way. I’ve had more than one knee-deep powder day in April, and we get snow dumps as late as May. That said, the base of the mountain is at under 1000m, so fairly low for spring skiing and yes, the lower slopes are usually a slushy mess for the last week or so – from halfway up it can be fantastic though, and the entire whitepass area feels like mid winter skiing right through till the end of April.

Upshot is you could easily get two and a half excellent weeks after March 20th, but then the lifts stop turning. If you’re into touring/hiking, there’ll still be plenty folk trudging up the mountain for at least a couple of weeks after that and you might find a backcountry buddy for more adventures.

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I find it a bit odd that you would want to move to a place you have never visited, but most people do love it here so good luck! The earlier you come the better, summer is amazing here, try and come in late June/early July for a great summer experience, plenty of jobs at that time of year and you’ll find accommodation easily then. If you are staying permanently you’ll get a better deal if you go for year-round accommodation.
Fall is beautiful and there’s been tons of wildlife around this year. There’s plenty of accommodation in September, but you’ll be competing against a lot of people who are “prospecting” so you’ll find it harder to bargain. A lot of folk who are planning to come for the winter start their email campaigns then, so it’s just a bit tougher to get noticed, just ask around with people who are already here, don’t commit to anything until you have compared it to other places and don’t feel like you have to take something because it’s all you can find – there’s always other stuff out there. People in Fernie are pretty relaxed about advertising, a lot of stuff is word of mouth so you need to be prepared to put in the legwork and make some friends.
I’ve never done the drive across country, but definately post on all the Fernie sites and http://www.fernierideboard.com if you are driving across as there’s always people looking to get over here and you’ll save yourself a ton if you’ve got someone sharing gas money. That said, as a single person you DO NOT need a car in Fernie. I’ve lived here 6 years and only owned a car for 6 months of that time, I sold it because I found I didn’t need it. Everything is within walking or riding distance and there’s a shuttle bus or easy hitching to the hill in winter. Help us save our beautiful valley and leave your car in the polluted East. On the other hand, if you can’t live without KFC, Winners, and strip bars then you’ll need a car to get you out of town once a month – although even Cranbrook and Cowtown are do-able by bus or ride-share.

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Totally agree with Gavitron. I have worked for almost 20 years in hospitality, some of that as a server. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen (in bluebaby’s post) the industry standard for tipping being quoted as 15-20% for Canada. I would say the average is 15%. Anything more than that is incredibly generous. I tend to tip just a little more than 10%, I’ve been on the receiving end and there’s nothing wrong with that. You gotta remember that some of the people doing the tipping earn less than the servers, and make no tips themselves to supplement their incomes.

All around the world servers make minimum wage, North America is the only place where tipping is considered automatic. In all the other countries of the world, it’s just understood that serving is a low paying job, and people still do it there.

If you want to be making the $250 tips that are normal in the big cities, you need to go compete with the top servers and work you ass off in one of the high end restaurants in Toronto or Vancouver. Industry standards don’t apply in Fernie because we don’t get industry standard service (knowledgeable, efficient, well groomed, thorough etc, etc). I’m happy with what we do have though (friendly, welcoming and helpful) and I tip accordingly. Don’t anyone be fooled though, Fernie servers go home with $100 a night in their pockets, and there’s nothing wrong with that ON TOP of their wages.

PS Gavitron, love #7. And it’s so true!

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