Stoneflies were coming off in big numbers earlier in the day, with massive Mayfly hatches in the afternoon followed by Caddis hatches in the early evening. That's not unusual, but the Mayfly hatches were exceptional.

“I borrowed his sister’s bike, and it was love at first ride,” she says. Her falling for the sport reignited Troy’s passion and soon they decided to make the move to the Crowsnest Pass fulfilling their dream of living in the mountains. “That’s when we started riding in Fernie, and I can honestly say that out of anywhere I have ever rode my bike, Fernie is easily my favourite.”

As everyone knows not all golfers are the same size or have the same build. Therefore, the “set up”, otherwise known as the “starting position”, is going to be different for everyone. What everyone doesn’t know is that the main goal to the golf swing is to create a repetitive motion.

“When I moved here, I thought my days of athletic competition were over. But you move here, and you see people like Jimmy Vallance going for his bike rides. Linda Socher cruising down the highway on her ten speed. You go for a ride with Mark Kanane, and he kicks your butt and you think… ‘I’m not old!’ And I was 31 at that time. Now I’m 42, and realize Fernie is amazing for keeping you young.”

Flying down Oh Dear, just about to take a corner I hear Emily scream ahead of me and see something small and black at her feet. “Is it a bear cub?” I ask until I realize it’s a dog. Then I see a sweat ridden John Merritt running towards us asking between breaths which trail he’s on. My bike partner thought it was the strangest site, but to those of us that frequent trails in Fernie it’s a farily normal occurrence.

“What community are you from?” When asked this common question how do you answer? I typically say, “I was born in Saskatchewan, raised in Springbank, studied in Edmonton/Victoria, but since 1983 I have lived in the Elk Valley/Crowsnest Pass.”

Mike Rumpel came across his athletic abilities “late” in life. “My first solo race was in Utah. Jesse Mong approached me on a whim and I had no idea what I was getting into. I discovered that 1. I enjoyed it and 2. I was pretty good at it,” he says. Mike was always active growing up but mostly just “participated”.

There are two things that people from Fernie know for sure - powder and partying. Essentially, we love powder snow and will go to great lengths to ensure that we get the most of it. However when the snow is MIA, there are only two options - go hunting for snow or party it up; we chose to do both.

Welcome to Fernie! This town is one of a kind, nestled at the base of the Elk Valley, surrounded by beautiful terrain and mountains that provide the perfect backdrop to the day to day lives of those that live, work, play and visit here.

Most people harbour imbalances in their bodies from the activities they do in daily life without even realizing it. For example you might ski every day causing the front of your legs to be stronger than the back of your legs, you may hold your baby on your right hip all the time causing your lower back to be stronger on one side, or maybe you have an old injury that you have compensated for and never retrained. Whatever your habits, chances are you have imbalances in your body that can be a ticking time bomb to injury if not addressed. Even if you have pretty good balance, training your balance can not only prevent injury but improve your overall strength as well, just ask any professional athlete.

Each morning of the ski season, the Ski Patrol is engaged in ongoing avalanche risk assessments. Of the multiple daily chores, one stands out for its precision, tradition, and importance: The Standard Weather Observation. Weather is a key factor in predicting avalanches as it is a constant modifier of the snow pack. Events such as wind, sun, snow, rain, freezing temperatures, and thaws influence and create layers of snow with different characteristics. How those layers strengthen or weaken over time is dependent on past, present and future weather events. Observations are made at standard times and at the same plot each day. Weather recordings have strict standards that are set by The National Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Avalanche Association. Great care is taken to be sure that all observation guidelines are followed with precision.

Within the five legendary bowls at Fernie Alpine Resort also come legendary powder stashes. From Wally’s Follies, to Mars Run, all of these favorite lines have one thing in common- a traverse is required to get there. Much time is spent trying to set and maintain standard traverse lines to make these areas accessible, avoid skier collisions, and most of all preserve fall line skiing. With the introduction of roped sign lines in recent years, the use of gates has been more and more popular. Gates are breaks in the permanent rope that are opened and closed. Gates are installed at the most convenient and popular access points. The patrol would like to remind all riders that for the above mentioned reasons these gates and set traverses are to be used. Thanks for the help, and long live the fall line!