FERNIE - Beta Request

[Barnballs]

Hey All --
Fernie is on our road trip agenda this year, and wasn't sure if town or resort was better for lodging (group of 6 -8, 1st week of March).
Appears to be options at both, and there's a shuttle connecting the 2 that seems pretty easy?
Group likes boozing and eating at different spots, but the carpet rolls up early to get on the hill.
Not sure if 2 or 3 skiing days is sufficient to cover, or maybe there's another area nearby?
We're headed to Rossland afterwards, but no set schedule.

Thanks, and sorry if this is covered elsewhere.
-BB

[teamdirt]

Stay in town…not much on hill. Very Limited taxi’s

2-3 days will either be not enough or way to much, will depend on wether it’s raining or snowing….

You won’t know till you go!

[Fishskisurf]

Fernie town is great and plenty of lodging/food/drink options, and it’s maybe a 15 minute drive from the lifts.
Nearby-ish, you have Castle and Whitefish, not sure where you’re driving into Fernie from?
Years ago Fernie Wilderness Adventures was pretty affordable for a day of cat skiing (Canuck to USD exchange rate helped) albeit it’s a bit cowboy of an operation, but we had a good time and it saved us as their terrain was 1,000 feet higher than Fernies lifts, and we rolled into town after a warm up.

[apex dave]

Fernie town is great and plenty of lodging/food/drink options, and it’s maybe a 15 minute drive from the lifts.
Nearby-ish, you have Castle and Whitefish, not sure where you’re driving into Fernie from?

Info on Castle
https://www.skitalk.com/threads/unof...esort-ab.4764/

[tang]

2nd both castle and FWA. And yeah, town is great

[Northway]

Just back from our first ever Fernie trip last weekend. Mountain is rad. Quick trip, skied two days and stayed on the mountain, which was great for us but not a lot of options for food/drink.

Would have LOVED to have a third day. First day explored from boundary to boundary, hitting every bowl. Second day revisited and expanded on our favorite spots, would have loved a third day to find our way into some of the really cool looking lines that linked bowl to bowl.

First day was mix rain and snow at the base but snow up high was still fantastic.

Will go back for sure. And polar peak never opened due to vis so a great reason to return.

[54-46]

Can confirm town for lodging. Go see Ghostriders hockey. Also, def hit Castle > third day at Fernie. Check out the last year of powder stagecoach cat op. Fun day and friendly op.


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[thecadgod]

Big Fan of FWA been there a bunch will be there March 3rd and 4th. Riding Fernie on the 2nd. We rent a big house, supposedly they used it for hot tub time machine. But before that the Super 8 in town "powder for the people" on their sign for years. And yeah FWA used to be like 450ca a day.

Big Red Cats is an other great operation outa Rossland, been there a few times. If you are coming via Calgary Kpow can be a blast.

https://youtu.be/9W2rHhTbKvA?feature=shared

[singlesline]

Got on a last minute cat deal at FWA last year and it was great. Hope to find an open seat in a cat again this year.

Stayed at the little pod hotel…not sure I can recommend that. It was fine for one night with a last minute reservation but…you don’t have to pay that much more to stay in a normal hotel. The hotel on the edge of town has a waterslide and actual doors with locks.

[thecadgod]

I haven't gotten over to Castle, maybe this year, but we have shot south to Great Northern Powder Guides outside of Whitefish. Had a blast.

But all Cat places even lodges, it is all about the snow condition and snow pack, the guide and the group. Those effect the day way more then the name on the Cat. Can have a blast a little ol Kpow with 70cm of fresh!

[tang]

Had two days at FWA a couple years ago when the area was in a 10-15 day dry spell, and we had superb boot top+ both days, untracked. Seemed to defy science. Guides were fun and great. Fun terrain. Huge tenure.

[Shredhead]

Wasn't the best op I ever skied, but I sure had fun at Big Red Cats.
Did Kirien pass? What's Paula doing?

What about Steve Kujit?

Just an old fuck reminiscing.

[thecadgod]

I'm not sure, I know Kirien was real sick and in 22 or 23 it changed hands. I don't think Paula is around.

[mooseknuckles]

Blackstone Bed & Breakfast

[singlesline]

I haven't gotten over to Castle, maybe this year, but we have shot south to Great Northern Powder Guides outside of Whitefish. Had a blast.

But all Cat places even lodges, it is all about the snow condition and snow pack, the guide and the group. Those effect the day way more then the name on the Cat. Can have a blast a little ol Kpow with 70cm of fresh!

Yeah, I think my last minute day at FWA was a cancellation of a full private cat, so everyone who signed up was the kind of person who is nearby, watching the weather, and on their mailing list. Wasn’t a cat full of rippers or anything, but everyone was competent and excited to move.

Liked their setup too. Guides were good, every cat gets some professional photos, lunches are sack lunches on one of the rides up, etc. Price converted to USD was pretty good too.

Had a less than stellar day with Great Northern… group sucked which limited everything. But even then they did stuff that rubbed me the wrong way. No tail guide. I think they said they would have one if it was a full cat…but we were plenty big to warrant it (and it sure would have helped when the geezers got lost or stuck and nobody knew where they were). Didn’t even put full avvy gear on everyone…if you didn’t bring your own pack, there was one shared pack they expected the guests to take turns carrying and skiing last. How much does a backpack/probe/shovel cost? If I was in a slide I’d sure rather everyone have the damn tools…not that there was any risk in the terrain the guide was willing to take us on given the ability limits of a couple of the group members. Also the cat had way too many diesel fumes and the lunch break was a huge waste of time where we went to a cabin and the guide cooked us hot food…I came to ski…not to watch someone grill burgers.

[tang]

Yeah lunch management is a good gauge of a cat operation - eat while riding is best practice for sure. FWA is chill but dialed.

[LeeLau]

I'm not sure, I know Kirien was real sick and in 22 or 23 it changed hands. I don't think Paula is around.

Kieran sadly passed. Paula was involved on back end. The Red Cat is still there.

[thecadgod]

Yeah, I think my last minute day at FWA was a cancellation of a full private cat, so everyone who signed up was the kind of person who is nearby, watching the weather, and on their mailing list. Wasn’t a cat full of rippers or anything, but everyone was competent and excited to move.

Liked their setup too. Guides were good, every cat gets some professional photos, lunches are sack lunches on one of the rides up, etc. Price converted to USD was pretty good too.

Had a less than stellar day with Great Northern… group sucked which limited everything. But even then they did stuff that rubbed me the wrong way. No tail guide. I think they said they would have one if it was a full cat…but we were plenty big to warrant it (and it sure would have helped when the geezers got lost or stuck and nobody knew where they were). Didn’t even put full avvy gear on everyone…if you didn’t bring your own pack, there was one shared pack they expected the guests to take turns carrying and skiing last. How much does a backpack/probe/shovel cost? If I was in a slide I’d sure rather everyone have the damn tools…not that there was any risk in the terrain the guide was willing to take us on given the ability limits of a couple of the group members. Also the cat had way too many diesel fumes and the lunch break was a huge waste of time where we went to a cabin and the guide cooked us hot food…I came to ski…not to watch someone grill burgers.

Wow. I have seen other operations do the 3 or 5 packs per group. But never been without a tail guide... that sounds horrible. Jerrys in the group happen, best thing todo is book out a whole cat with your buddies. I just booked Castle, not headed back to GNPG.