December 04, 2001

The Original Fernie Recipe

Take two parts powder, stir gently

Add more powder - stir again

Add yet more powder - stir until legs well done!

From the whimsy you can probably tell that the Fernie of yore appears to be back and things are looking pretty good out there. In fact the conditions right now appear better to me than at any time last season, at least through March.

It continues to snow and the hill reported a 138 cm base at the snow plot this morning, with 153 cm having fallen in the last week. The forecast is for more snow. Life is good!

Up on the hill the snow is knee deep or better and despite warm temperatures the last couple of days, the new stuff is light and from my very small sample, skis very well indeed. The cats are busy packing down the lower runs and the occasional bang announces that avalanche work continues up top. I wouldn't be surprised to see if significant parts of the mountain were not open on Friday, not because of lack of snow, but rather for avalanche closures. Friday by the way is now officially opening day.

At 3:40 PM it is -4 C and the snow has just tapered of in the last few minutes.


Looking up from the base in the early afternoon as the snow falls and the eager rise.

A group of new employees apparently get some sort of orientation tour. In the background is the base of the Deer Chair with Snow Creek lodge behind it and Cornerstone at the right.

The Chilkoot lives. Lizard Trail was a major uphill thoroughfare today and it seemed like there were more folks on the hill today than on some quiet pre-expansion days when the lifts were running.

Freeway, on the left, still has its share of twigs, but China Wall, on the right, looked pretty good. I spoke with a fellow who rode it and reported it was great.

Sunnyside still has some early season alderitis, but it definitely looked like it also had some pretty nice lines already.

Bear was white - what more could you ask?

The bottom of the Bear Chair without the pretty rock garden featured most of last year. :-)