The Banff range beckons on the western horizon as we leave Calgary, but we’re heading southwest to spend two days catskiing with Fernie Wilderness Adventures (FWA) in eastern BC. Those with a propensity for making wrong turns rejoice, as the driving directions to Fernie from the Calgary airport are fairly straightforward – take Highway 1, then take Highway 2, and then Highway 3. You’re there. Got it?
At about 3.5 car hours from Calgary, Fernie is nestled in the Canadian Rockies. Following a pit stop for food and drink (13 bucks for a sixer of “cheap” local fav Pilsner beer!!) we continue through the main drag, hang a left onto a dirt road, and reach the Fernie Lodge. Tucked into the Elk Valley, FWA’s log cabin base camp feels like a remote hunting outpost despite being only 15 minutes out of town. Don’t let a wolf call in the early morning deter you from taking a stroll to the nearby rivers and streams (in the summertime, guided trout fishing is offered). Upon arrival, our hosts show us to our rooms before inviting us to have a beer on the deck or a dip in the wood-fired hot tub. We share drinks and laughs (“I knocked up my wife when she was on the Pil! Har har!”) with our new friends while the burrito dinner is set.
Morning dawns clear and cold, and heads poke out of the two-person bunk rooms as the coffee brews. For lodge guests, hearty breakfasts and dinners are served up as a part of the package. For all guests, lunch is included on the cat, as well as snacks in between runs. FWA offers day skiing as well as lodging/riding packages, and the day crew starts rolling in at about 8:00AM. Following waiver signing, guests pile into one of three cats right at the lodge, and the hour-long ride to the top of the 3,000 acre operating area begins.
True to form with past Untracked Guides snow luck when visiting Fernie Wilderness Adventures, eastern BC experienced a serious drought in the months preceding our early March 2010 visit. It was actually bone dry down at the lodge, but as we climbed, snowpack began to build. Thanks to a snowy December, there was still plenty of coverage up top, but rather than blower powder this trip would include crust in the morning and corn in the later morning and afternoon. Once past the fact that there would be no pow, it was actually pretty nice skiing the corn on a spring-like day in tee shirts, enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. Our day started with a moderately steep south face, which the guides picked because the early morning crust would soften the fastest out of the options. After a few bumps to warm our legs, the snow started to soften, and we let the skis run to surf the corn time after time. Runs included a mix of mellow meadow cruising, steeper glades, and tighter trees. We stared longingly at a boulder-strewn field that would be pillow heaven on a powder day. Each of our days ended with White Russian, a great bowl and natural half pipe with plenty of smaller cliff drop options, leading to a tree band, followed by an open glade and ending with a creek bed run back to the cat. An aside regarding dropping cliffs on a spring day: bombholing into a sticky surface layer followed by a cartwheeling eject is not the way to impress the ladies.
Lots of options exist for turning a few days at Fernie Wilderness Adventures into a longer ski vacation. FWA is neighbored by the Fernie Alpine Resort, offering a much cheaper warm-up or follow-up take on the Lizard Range’s hills and snow, and the site of the Fernie Freeski Competition in February. About 4 hours to the north of Fernie lies Golden, home of Kicking Horse Resort. Between Calgary and Golden rests Banff National Park, home of the Lake Louise and Banff ski areas. A loop beginning in Calgary and either starting or ending with skiing at FWA would be a very fun trip indeed. Alternately, fly into Kalispell, Montana, to make the shorter but less picturesque drive to Fernie, punctuated by a day or two at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Follow up your Fernie adventure with a drive west to Wildhorse Cat Skiing in Ymir, BC, followed by a jog south to legendary Red Mountain Resort, and then head back to Spokane, WA or Kalispell to wrap the loop.
The photos and ski flicks (shot on-site) within the lodge are evidence of the amazing times to be had when the dry, interior BC snow comes like we all want it to, and most years March is a great month to head to Fernie. The reality of skiing is that you don’t always get the best weather, and this was one of those times (it did start dumping again in late March and into April). Given the conditions, the skilled team of guides and cat drivers still put us on untracked corn snow and we had a great time. The ski days are long by cat skiing standards, with skiing starting by about 10:00 and wrapping up at about 4:00 or 4:30. Add to the riding the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the base lodge, and Fernie Wilderness Adventures offers a unique and non-commercialized take on snowcat skiing. We highly recommend it.
Photos by Colleen Gentemann.
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