Cathal de Barragoes to ski school in Canada and, in Fernie, finds a town that is a paradise for skiers
IT HAD ALREADY been snowing for several hours, and rumours were that quite a dump was forecast. "Looks like the 20cm rule might kick in," we were told by Mayor Randal Macnair. Here, if more than 20cm of snow falls overnight, the town's workers get to spend the following morning out on the ski slopes, and are not expected to show up for work until noon.
This is a place where the locals know how good they have it, and where the tourists don't get to have all the fun. Welcome to Fernie, in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
My wife and I were about to embark on a ski-improvement - or, as the brochure announced in somewhat more ambitious terms, Master the Mountain - course. We were among a group of 25, varied in age and ability, who wanted to break through the glass ceilings of our respective skiing abilities. For the next six weeks we were going to live here, ski and get to know the town and its residents - kicking off with the mayor. Not a bad start.
Fernie lies in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, about three hours' drive southwest from Calgary and a similar distance from the better-known ski resorts of Banff and Lake Louise. It remains a relatively well-kept secret - a skiers' town rather than a pure tourist destination. Those in the know have kept it that way, but as the town's mainstays of mining and forestry decline its tourism potential is increasingly being tapped into.
For now, though, there is still the chance to enjoy a skiing experience in an authentic Canadian town, where the friendly local folk will stop their cars in the middle of the street to let you cross the road.
Fernie Alpine Resort, as the skiing area is called, is only a few kilometres from the "historical downtown" and is well served by a regular shuttle bus. While the resort itself is smaller than most of its European and, indeed, Canadian counterparts such as Whistler, near Vancouver, that is its very appeal. Outside of the Canadian school holidays, it will seem as if you have the mountain to yourself. Just choose your line and go.
Forget about having to bump and shove your way to the top of the lift queue, either: Canadians line up in a refreshingly polite and efficient fashion. Here, a wait of anything more than a few minutes is unusual. In short, you will get to do what you came to do: ski . . . a lot.
Its real attraction, though, is that you can venture well beyond the pistes, as the entire resort area is closely monitored by ski patrollers, and anything within is up for grabs: tree runs, bowls and long, open powder fields.
Of course, this wouldn't mean much without the principal ingredient, and snow is, perhaps, Fernie's greatest strength. The resort's slogan, Legendary Powder, is no exaggeration. The area is a virtual snow magnet, as a series of geographical factors conspire to drop an average of nine metres of powdery snow every winter. Your falls need never hurt again.
CONTRARY TO THE European experience, families and those on tighter budgets can take advantage of the resort's "day lodge", where it is perfectly acceptable to bring your own lunch, cutting out the high costs of eating slopeside.
This is not some out-of-the-way makeshift shelter, either, but the main cafeteria building. It may be hard not to succumb to the warmth of a fresh hot chocolate, but even these are reasonably priced.
Six weeks might sound like a very long (and tiring) time to spend skiing, but that never proved to be the case. Following a well-structured and varied programme, the weeks rolled by all too quickly. The principal focus was on improving our technical ability and move beyond our ingrained bad habits, a process that involved bringing things back to basics - breaking down to build back up. That then provided us with a solid platform from which to launch into new territory, competently and comfortably.
We were split into groups based on ability, and our three instructors revolved between us on a weekly basis. This allowed us to benefit from their differing teaching styles, against the background of a co-ordinated overall approach. It worked both ways. Instructors, who would usually only have a week to work with students, got to know us and our varying styles, shortcomings, fears and ambitions, and could guide and encourage accordingly.
We came on in steps, in leaps, in bounds. Any misplaced delusions of prowess were quickly reined in, however, as video analysis proved to be our constant reality check - a wipeout being the ultimate RBO, or round-buying offence.
OFF THE SLOPES we partook in the town's everyday life. One day we joined supporters at a local ice hockey game. The proud parents of Fernie Ghostriders' team captain, Scott Traverse, roared on their son's explosive play and occasional dust-up (all part of the game, of course), and there was a certain "Yep, that's my boy!" ring to his dad's support when an opponent came away on the losing side of an encounter.
It surprised me to learn that young guys like Traverse have to choose between hockey and skiing at an early age, as time and commitment won't allow both. "Much as he'd love to, Scott rarely gets out on the slopes," his dad explained.
For a small town, the local recreational centre punches well above its weight, with a quality swimming pool and hot tub.
You can't keep up the traditional apres-ski activities over such an extended period (or, at least, I couldn't), but there's plenty of scope when you want to. Kick off on the slope at the Griz Bar, bring it downtown to the Central, then just try and eat your takeaway fries on the way home before they freeze. It has to be said, however, that the nightlife won't compare in intensity to the European scene.
Around these parts, they say: "You have no friends on a powder day." Anyone who has cut fresh tracks through a silky blanket of snow will understand why. It's different, addictive and hard to share.
But shared it was, as we learned how to handle ourselves off-piste. Over time we graduated from short cuts through trees to full backcountry touring. In preparation, our course included a weekend of avalanche training and regular practice sessions with our safety equipment: transceiver, probe and shovel. A day of cat-skiing, or "poor man's heli-skiing", as they jokingly call it, then prepared us for our grand finale.
On a blue-sky morning during our last week, we were choppered into Boulder Hut, deep in the backcountry and accessible only by air.
Over the following four days we climbed mountains on skis with the aid of gripping "skins" before gliding back to our hut through virgin snow fields, gullies and forests. No other skiers, no ski lifts, no noise - just us and the "snow ghost" firs, heavily laden with snow. All this wrapped up by cosy evenings in the catered hut, a basic but comfortable log cabin - a taste of living off the grid.
You don't need (and most of us are unlikely to have) anything like the time we had to enjoy Fernie. A week will do, although with the distances involved, the longer the better. Nor do you need any ambition to enjoy a powder experience: there is plenty of entertainment on the runs for all levels of skier, and given the snowfall, they are invariably less icy than you would find in Europe.
We came for the skiing and fell for the town. Fernie holds other secrets, but sometimes what goes on the chairlift stays on the chairlift, so I will let you discover those for yourself.
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go if you're in Fernie
Where to stay
Choose between slopeside and downtown. Lizard Creek Lodge (00-1-250-4232057, www.lizardcreek.com) and Snow Creek Lodge (00-1- 403-2093321, www.skifernie. com) are ski-in-ski-out options. Downtown, try Park Place Lodge (00-1-250-4236871, (www.parkplacelodge.com).
Check with the tourism office (00-1-250-4232037, www.tourismfernie.com) for other options.
Where to eat
Try the Old Elevator (00-1-250-4237115, www.oldelevator.com) for a finer dining experience,
the Red Tree Lodge (00-1-250-4234622, www.redtreelodge.com) or Corner Pocket Restaurant (00-1-250-4233343, www. enjoyfernie.com) for a nice meal at a reasonable price, or the Pub Bar at Park Place Lodge for great pub grub.
Where to learn
We did our six-week Master the Mountain course with UK company Non Stop
Ski (00-44-845-3651525, www.nonstopski.com), which runs instructional courses ranging from two weeks to 11 weeks in Fernie and several other ski resorts in western Canada. The course was extremely well-run, professional and organised, and we would highly recommend Non Stop Ski as an operator. Based in Red Tree Lodge - where morning and evening meals are provided - students are shuttled to the mountainside in a retired yellow school bus, a Canadiana experience in itself. Brace yourself, though: it isn't cheap.
Try Fernie Wilderness Adventures (00-1-877-4236704, www.fernieadventures.com) for a day's cat-skiing (anything-goes off-piste roaming).
For something entirely different, look at spending some time backcountry in Boulder Hut (www.ptarmigantours.com).
When to go
The season runs from mid-December to mid-April. While we all love the blue-sky days, be prepared for the cold (minus 24) early in the season.
Go there
There are no direct flights to Calgary, so a stopover is required. American Airways (www.americanairways.ie), Air Canada (www.aircanada. ie) and British Airways (www.britishairways.com) all fly from Ireland via their hubs. To get to Fernie from Calgary Airport, hire a car (www.calgaryairport.com) or take a coach (www.airport shuttleexpress.com).