A date with Kim...or not.

Yesterday i tried to book an appointment to see the physiotherapist, but the earliest available was today at 6:30pm, which pretty much meant that today was destined to be a rest day until i could be sure my knee was safe to ski on. Unfortunately today was also the group trip to the nearby resort Kimberley, so i missed out on skiing some fresh terrain. Honestly i wasn't too bothered about missing Kimberley, there's still so much i haven't skied in Fernie and the terrain there is much more European - pisted and groomers. We havn't even started the ski touring yet either which will take us off the back of Lost Boys which i believe is Mongolia bowl, and will be brand new untracked terrain for all of us!

The result of the physio session was that i had injured the meniscus ligament that runs down the outside of the knee joint, and also bruised part of the outer meniscus itself. The prognosis is that it should improve in the next few days, and therefore tomorrow will be another day spent in the lodge. Thursday is a maybe, as long as i can do 3 sets of 10 partial squats on one leg i can go skiing!

FML

I've had some bad days on the slope before, and today was the first of this holiday. A new week signals the swap over to the other instructor - Dwight. Yesterdays rainy spell had not relented overnight and the temperature at the base was +3*C. This meant that the wheels on the chair lift pylons were pissing out grease and oil that had melted. I drew the short straw in the lift line and was sat directly underneath the cable, so ended up with brown speckles all over my jackets and pants. I was not happy by the time we reached the top. Then to make matters worse we hiked up to Mitchy Chutes for our warm up run, and on the traverse i felt an all too familiar twinge in my left knee. 

I was in a downward spiral from then on. I had a mental barrier stopping me from skiing properly due to worrying about injuring my knee again, which made me ski badly. We had some nice runs through the trees in Timber bowl but i was in the the back seat all the time, and in the end i got so angry with how i was skiing that i headed home after lunch to book a physio appointment.

The day did get better after coming off the mountain, we had a tech session in the evening which was entertaining and informative as to what to expect when we start out ski touring lessons, along with what equipment we will be using. The skis were pretty straight forward, but the splitboards looked an absolute nightmare! I knew there was a reason why i skied instead!

The Ghostrider

I had every intention of going skiing today. Me, Matt and Leon went for a breakfast at a great little bakery across the street from the lodge called The Loaf. As dawn turned into morning, the temperature rose and the precipitation in the air turned from wet snow to actual rain. This was not a good sign, and would make for pretty dire skiing conditions. We decided to head downtown instead and check out a few of the local (non ski) shops, including the Fernie Museum, Big Bang Bagels, Giv'er Shirt and the chocolate shop.


There was a new exhibit with the history of skiing in Fernie which made for an interesting read, mostly learning about how the ski bowls and the ridges were named and who some of the runs on the mountain are named after. Then onto Big Bang Bagels for a Mr. Fernie, whoever he is he knows what makes a good bagel, but could have eaten two of them. Another stop was in the souvenier shop, where i found a postcard explaining where the story of the Ghostrider came from (which is of course what the hockey team is named after). Pretty insane how clear the image is...

Ghostrider mountain with the shadow of the Indian Chief on a horse and his daughter by his side

Should i stay or should i go? Avaluate.

3am this morning was kick out time from the Royal, and having somehow managed to stumble back to the lodge, we dragged ourselves out of bed less than 5 hours later for the mandatory avalanche theory course. I did not feel good. That is an understatement. Fortunately, although my head was spinning, all the info went in and after a subway lunch (yes they have those in mountain resorts here! Score!) i was feeling a bit more human. The afternoon went by quickly, with a few videos explaining how to find and rescue someone who has been buried. Thats some scary stuff, gets the heart racing just thinking about being in that situation. A quick practice with the tranceivers and we were dismissed, heading straight out to a local restaurant named after one of the bowls in the ski area - Currie Bowl. Food was pretty good but i could think about was getting some sleep after a severe lack of it last night!

Should i stay or should i go? Avaluator card + handbooks

Geocache me some powder!

Almost a full week of lessons complete, and we're all feeling pretty fatigued, so as a warm down day, the morning is reserved for a geocaching activity. This however, did not go entirely to plan. At the top of Cedar there was some untracked snow and it didnt take much for the group decision to revise the schedule and hit some fresh lines first. It wasn't quite what we were expecting as the snow was much heavier and rain/wind impacted than we have previously skied on, making it very hard work. We skied as a group for the first time this week and decided it was time for the other group to lose their Polar Peak virginity. In an attempt to start off my GoPro coverage of the trip, i hooked up the chest harness and went off, later realising that the card was in write protect mode and therefore didn't record anything of the day. FACEPALM. Luckily the main man Ruben had his life sorted out and produced a sweet lil edit from the last few days on the hill:

GoPro epic fail. Polar Peak epic win. Cheers James for the shot

After a morning skiing some decent fresh lines, we hit Corner Pocket restaurant for some lunch and for a demonstration of how to use the GPS for the afternoons geocaching.

We split up and set out, looking for point 5 as our first target. 80m...50m...20m...12m... Both units were pointing between 12 and 15m up a completely fresh powder field. DOH! After a quick scavenge around to check there was nothing buried we admitted defeat and went off to the next point. 2 hours later and we had only found 2 of the targets, so we trapsed back to the day lodge with our heads hung low. On the plus side, in the hunt for #8, we realised we had a discrepancy of nearly 100m between each GPS, so gave up and dropped into Morning Glory for our powder fix instead!

Pin from the geocaching box - I know which side of the Atlantic i'd rather be on!

All in all a great week on and off the mountain, but the night was still young. A fair few beers later we went to our 2nd Ghostriders hockey match. Spirits were high and it wasn't long before we were all joining in with the locals mockery of the goalie, who was in this case nicknamed 'Turtle' due to an unnatural neck moving habit he had. Riders won 7-1 and the celebrations carried on over to Kodiak bar, before eventually heading to the Royal nightclub, well and truly inebriated!

Trying to retain compusure. Not succeeding

The best turns of my life.

The last few days have been some of the best and most tiring of my skiing career! Done several hikes to reach the harder chutes and skied most of the hardest terrain on the mountain, hopefully soon i should be doing it with style. Wendy has a great 'Snownar' and always manages to find fresh tracks for us, and the fact its only just stopped snowing for the first time since we arrived should tell a tale of how deep the powder gets! Upper Cedar bowl was closed today for avalanche danger, so we cut in halfway down and hiked 20mins across to Snake Ridge. There was about 2' of fresh through the trees which made for the best few turns ever, absolutely incredible skiing, so good we knuckled down and hiked it again for round 2!

To quote Martin - 'That top section was probably one of the best moments of my life'

The evenings entertainment was in the form of curling with the MTM crew, which was a good laugh even though we lost every game. Next Riders game tomorrow too so should be going to watch them play. All in all a pretty amazing week. Found out we have an avalanche theory day on Saturday so that counts as a rest day before the next week of skiing, they definately picked the right name for the company!

The goon squad

Powder baby!

The 20cm rule was out in force today. That basically means that if there's 20cm of fresh powder on the mountain, the unwritten law states that the locals can skip work for the morning and go shred the mountain in the morning, making up the time later on... oh yes! Now thats my kind of working lifestyle!


Me, Martin and Leon all headed up on the first bus and took a couple of runs down the Timber Express lift line, scribing some S's onto the blank canvas between the trees. The snow was heavier today as the temperature had risen close to 0 at the base, which made it extra hard work. We met up with Wendy at 10am for our lesson and found out Jenny, our host would be joining us for the morning. We headed up the old side and hit some nice lines through Lizard and Cedar Bowl. Finally the hard work seems to be paying off and i'm making some good alterations to my skiing which is definately helping my powder skiing technique. After a great morning trying to replicate Wendys and Jennys smooth flowing style, Jenny parted ways after a testing run down Kangaroo and we headed for dinner.


Wendy's 'snownar' was going off the hook today and there was no way she was letting us off easy. The first hike was up Siberia ridge to access Mitchy Chutes, a great gladed black diamond run for the powder hounds. Then we traversed across to Easter bowl and found more fresh snow, along with nice jump off a cat track. Unfortunately the snow was too heavy and i stuck to it, throwing me out the front door and into a big heap face down in the snow, much to the amusement of Martin, who caught it all on camera.

Winning...

...Failing.

A ride up the White Pass chair put us at the base of the hike up to Knot Chutes. Not very far but breaking trail on every step makes it pretty hard work!

The start of the Knot Chutes hike (Extreme Terrain - LOVE IT!!)

Coincedently, the other group was riding the White Pass and Katie got a shot of us hiking up the ridge

Our first bootpacking hike over, it was only right to claim it!

Good photo overlooking Fernie, with the St Bernard of Ghostrider mountain watching my every move (i'll explain that one later)

Earning your turns is a sure fire way to find untracked powder, and Knot Chutes was no exception. Although not very long, they were a good reminder of what you get if you're willing to work for it! Time for another run off the top of Polar Peak, and boy is that a good run! Cutting across onto the ridge into Lizard bowl for a 'warm down' run at the end of the day, Wendy chose a run called Decline, which is the right hand finger visible from the town. Warm down?!?! It broke us: 

We even managed to tire our instructor, no-one stayed on their feet!

A well deserved hot tub and meal were in order, with just enough energy to manage a beer at the Kodiak bar to celebrate Australia Day! An merry end to a pretty epic day in the mountains of Fernie Alpine Resort.

This is what you're doing wrong.

Today started with lessons on how to change your skiing style to different situations such as gradient, snow depth/weight etc. Spent most of the day skiing powder to put into practice what Wendy had explained to us earlier. We went up Polar Peak again and skied basically the same line down; Barely Legal into Papa Bear. We then dropped into Easter bowl and skied the fresh lines that were sat waiting in the trees. To finish a great day on the hill a few of us decided to go have a look at the Fernie mountain bike dirt jumps just on the outskirts of town to see if anything was skiable. 

Fernie Bike Park - you can just about make out the snow covered dirt jumps

The drop in is a lot slower on skis but you could just about clear the first small one if you tried hard. The main attraction though was the rail that had been put up. I was too concious about my knee to give it a go and risk doing more damage, but Will had a few successes: 

This boat was lit sent down here in tribute to a local who died, and his ashes spread  on the mountain. This is what remained of the boat and is now a recognised run in the resort

That's so Raven!

Going Polar!

Nonstop run two morning buses, 8:30 and 9:30. Today was my first time on the latter, due to the fact i needed to find a knee brace in town before i could begin. Had such a good day today, mainly tuition in the morning (turns out i was really bad at pole planting!) but got some good first tracks on 'blueberry' early on too. Went up Polar Peak this afternoon which is the new lift to the highest peak. The 'Barely Legal' photo was the one we did, the runs off the top are mainly double black diamond due to the gradient and exposure, but the snow was soooo good and you could just glide down top to bottom on soft powder. We came down off Polar Peak and traversed and hiked across to 'Lone Fir' which is a chute off one of the ridges. It was pretty steep and lots of powder so you end up skiing through the sluff you knocked down the turn before which was really good fun. Those two runs are our instructors favourite on the whole mountain so turned out to be a pretty good combo!

Staring off the edge of the world... Love the name of the run though!

Ripping a fresh line down Blueberry in the morning

Fiona, Me, Will, Wendy, Ruben and Martin at the top of the Lone Fir hike

Catching our breath before skiing a fresh gladed pow field

View from near the top of Lone Fir, first bit of sun we've seen all week!

Just had a really good evening meal followed by a technical lesson in ski servicing. Pretty beat after a long day (in bed for 9pm) but loving every minute!

Energy conservation, body preservation

Normally our weekend would have been free, but due to the days delay being stuck in Calgary, we had an extra lesson yesterday. This meant that today is our first day off. Some headed up to the hill, starting a 'brunch club' based on Shawns breakfast ski club, however i had the day off to rest my knee. I knew the week ahead was going to be tough, and i needed my body in the best physical state possible. There's a reason the company is called Nonstop right!

Fernie Downtown against the backdrop of Lizard Bowl. Epic

Ski hard and Commit

It hadn't stopped snowing since we arrived, so every day was a powder day. We were roused with the echoes of avalanche grenades, the sure sign that there is powder to be had. We met up with Dwight and were told that Wendy had been called away on an emergency, but that we were meeting up with Shawn, a 'Steep and Deep' instructor at 11am. It gave me a chance to try out the new gear i had bought the night before anyway.

Stoked to be in the mountains! New gear at the ready!

The second bus to the hill was delayed by the arrival of the all the Calgarians who had caught wind of the huge dump of Fernies renowned 'Legendary Powder'. We collected the other half of the group and then went off skiing with Shawn, who talked a lot about mountain conditions and avalanche dangers etc. which was very informative and gave a great understanding of the mountains around us. After skiing Morning Glory and the Lizard Glades, Shawn gave a few general tips to improve quick skiing in powder. One of them really highlighted a mistake i had been making for years, and immediately improved my skiing two-fold, until i got a bit cocky and caught my ski in some heavy snow, sending me down the hill in true 'yard sale' fashion. First bail of the holiday out the way, but a twisted knee to show for it too, fingers crossed it doesnt worsen...

James' photo of me cruising, unaware of the camera, good shot though!

Tonight is the night of the Commit Skate and Snow shop party. As soon as we walked in we were handed a cup of beer, and were never without for the whole time we were in there. The owners were really great guys and came round all the groups of people for a chat and to just have a good time. We dug into the free pizza and watched the new promo video they put on. Another freebie they arranged was free entry in Central nightclub, where we stayed for a few beers before heading home.

The boys in Fernie. Me, Leon, Ruben, James, Matt

Lesson 1: Remember how to ski!

It had warmed up a bit in Fernie since Tuesday, but not by much. Still sitting at -16*C today, its still a day to keep flesh under wraps. 2012 is the year of the 'Boot Glove', which may look like they belong in the era of fluorescent one pieces, but they do a fine job of keeping your toes warm when your boots are buried under 2ft of snow. Function over fashion people!

We met up with Wendy and Dwight this morning, who will be our main instructors for the duration of the course. They are both incredible skiers and i can already tell it's going to be a huge learning experience to be taught by both of them. It certainly opened my eyes as to how hard it is to make it look that easy! Our standard seemed fairly equal throughout the day, possibly with the exception of Will who has been here 3 weeks longer and had the pleasure of skiing 'The 17th' too...

In the afternoon we split into our groups, with a 6:4 split. The group of 6 consisted of Will, Martin, Ruben, Fiona, James and myself, and were to be taught initially by Wendy. The other group consisted of Katie, Leon, Phil and Tom, under Dwights instruction. 

Left to Right: Wendy, Martin, Will, Dwight, Tom, Ruben, Phil, Leon, Me, Katie, Fiona, James

Wendys 'snownar' was in full force today and she went in search of first tracks in the Currie and Lizard bowls, much to our approval. It was an excellent first day on the hill and ski legs were feeling pretty good. Most of the fresh powder from the previous few days had already been tracked, but the snow was still falling pretty hard, so we knew we were in for a great day tomorrow.

Riders in action

Last thing for today was our first hockey game of the trip. The Fernie Ghostriders are the local B side junior hockey team, but dont let the words 'junior' or 'B side' fool you. Its quick, skillful and brutal, with die hard supporters! Unfortunately the Riders were beaten 4-3, much to the delight of the Creston goaltender who came over to celebrate in front of us after being slandered with shouts of 'You suck Moffat!' and 'You're better off on your knees Moffat!' Not as sophisticated as English football chants, but amusing non the less!

First day. First tracks.

Today will be our first day on the snow. First though, a talk about ski clothing and equipment from Jens, one of the instructors, and a guided tour of downtown Fernie. The morning slipped away fairly quickly, then we were transported up to the ski hill to get ski passes. The first season pass i have ever owned, but hopefully not the last! Mugshot:

Then followed a tour of the shops on the ski hill. The powder was so near, yet so far! Since i knew my way around from the last visit, a joint decision was then taken by me and Katie to drop out the back of the group and head up the hill for the last couple of hours of the day. We changed into our gear, picked up Matt and Leon and headed up to sample to 120cm of fresh the two days before had left. Our warm up run left us knee deep in powder whilst still trying to remember how to ski. Not ideal but huge smiles all around. We were in for a special week of skiing.

The postponed welcome drinks were held this evening with a quick talk from each of the hosts. The six weekers were then ushered off to a dinner just down the highway called the Cincott Organic Restaurant. With good food and good company, our first day in the mountains was over... and we were excited.

There's pow in Fernie, but we can't reach it!

The view outside our motel on another -30*C morning. Ohhh Canadaaaa!!!

For now though, stuck in Calgary. In hindsight, this wasn't all bad. It has been said that the 'Master The Mountain' crew are one of the closest of all the courses running there, and many will attribute this to the bonding day we had in Calgary, eagerly waiting on news that Jenny would be coming to get us. In the meantime though, after a quick trip to the mall, i stumbled upon a video by a local Fernie shredder by the name of Dylan Siggers, which brought goosebumps over my entire body. 120cms had fallen in less than 2 days, and boy does that make for epic skiing:

Dylan Siggers - Kootenay Influence. Jan 17th Fernie

At last the news we'd been waiting for. Jenny had arrived. After the usual greetings, we hopped straight into the van and headed for Fernie. Once at the Red Tree Lodge, we had a brief from the owner, Rupert, then headed out to 'The Pub' for some food and a couple of beers. Having mentioned i had been to Fernie before, i was given the task of selecting the beer for the table. There was no doubt in my mind that the Fernie First Trax brown ale was the one, and all 3 pitchers went down very well indeed!

Here we go!

Today is the day. I've been waiting for this moment for almost a year now, and finally as i sit in traffic trying to get onto the M1 to London Heathrow, everything is real. I'm about to embark upon a 6 week off piste ski course in Fernie Alpine Resort, in an attempt to be able to ski the backcountry with the steeze that i can only currently dream about.

Once in the air the flight became a blur of slightly above average films, on board meals/snacks, declaration forms and plently of drinks. After numerous questions about why on earth we're coming to Canada to go skiing for 6 weeks, the holiday can finally begin. Or so i thought... As everyone's bags came piling out of the conveyor, 10 minutes later, i was the only one left still gazing hopefully at the chute. Panic set in, but alas, just as i was about to give up hope, out it popped, riding solo. After collecting my skis, we headed out to the arrivals lounge where we were greeted by 'Nonstop Emily', one of the Banff hosts, who was there to tell us some good news and some bad news.

Bad news first: We can't get to Fernie tonight. What?!?! Apparently Crowsnest Pass was closed due to visibility and snow issues. Our hearts sank, until she explained the reason why. Which brings me to the good news. In 24hrs Fernie Alpine Resort had recieved over 75cms of lovely fresh snow, with no sign of letting up... wow. The thought of all the first tracks waiting for us brought the excitement back and made us even mode desperate to get onto the hill.

Dinner was catered for by Earls across the street from our motel, which would have been a simple task, had the temperature outside not been -30 degrees C!!! I have never experienced such an extreme cold before, and even with thermals, ski jackets, hat and gloves i still felt incredibly underdressed! Midnight hour and time for some long awaited shut eye, praying for some good news in the morning...