Just three weeks ago we were biking. Yes, mostly on snow and ice with a few dry patches. Sometimes in mud and slush, which sure made things interesting. But biking all the same. It wasn’t until we realized that we couldn’t wash the multiple layers of mud off our bikes (as our outdoor water sources were turned off) that we decided to hang our two-wheel obsessions for the winter.

Fortunately around this time it began to snow, and snow a lot. Fernie looked like a winter wonderland, not a common site in December, let alone November. Sure, many of us have had the privilege of wearing Halloween costumes over one piece snow suits in late October, but those days are gone…right? Well, maybe not as long gone as previously assumed.

Fernie Alpine Resort (FAR) was originally set to open December 5 for the season. Many thought this a bit audacious but as it continued to snow our hopes continued to soar.

Tuesday morning, after an impressive dump the previous days, I was grabbing a morning coffee at Freshies and like so many other mornings was ‘pulled’ into a conversation. It happened to be with Robin Siggers of FAR, and it happened to be about the ski hill opening for the up coming weekend. Seriously? For real? Yes! If not for the hot coffee in hand I would have skipped out of there like a kid out of a candy store!

It took a press release from RCR headquarters to fully believe this early Christmas present, and by then word had spread like wild fire. Ski shops were packed with skis to be tuned and waxed. Ticket offices filled with those (including myself) waiting for the last possible minute to obtain ski passes. And conversations overheard about the first chairs and tracks of the season.

I’ve never been much of a “first chair” kind of girl. I’ve skied here enough to know that the powder is there, whether you ski in the morning or afternoon or take the first or 30th chair. True, it’s easier to find first thing after a big dump and I’ll usually head bright and early on those occasions, but to wait in line to catch the first chair? Hmmmm. Not so much. But you never know, stranger things have happened.

Today I was probably around the 30 mark. Had my coffee. Arranged to meet Abi, Melissa and Ryan at the Bears Den. And enjoyed the speediness of the singles line. It was there that I was pleasantly surprised with Robin Siggers zapping passes, and then Andy Cohen greeting folks as they hopped on the chair. Now that is great customer relationship management!

It felt good to be on skis again, and after the FAR welcome in the lift line I was charged with energy. The coverage looked fantastic from the chair, and when I met the crew we decided to head to Cedar straight away. Trackless powder awaited us and at first we were hesitant, not trusting the base. But it was amazing, and the grooming FAR completed over the summer was sure apparent.

From there it was on to Arrow. Yes, Arrow. It was still relatively untracked and the powder was great! We kept moving in that direction and dipped into Cascade. Abi was ahead of me, enjoying her powder turns when all of a sudden she disappeared. Strange, I thought. I skied around and there she was, completely implanted on a snow drift and ejected from both skis. Yes, early season skiing indeed. While a bit shaken, we both had a good laugh and kept on our way.

Next we headed to Easter. It hadn’t opened all morning, but we had a “gut feeling” (a few guys we knew were talking to patrol and heading in that direction) and it didn’t disappoint! We missed the high traverse, so dipped in just below and the powder was flying – effortless, light powder. It wasn’t a difficult decision to head back for lap number two, and this time we took the high traverse and worked for some longer, steeper lines. Beautiful. Our third lap left us satisfied, although a unanimous decision had us ripping down the Bear towards our last stop of the day – the Griz Bar.

No day of skiing would be complete without après ski, so even though it was just shortly after lunch we stopped in to see Cheryl, Erin and Darcy and enjoyed our first après of the season.

An impressive first session to say the least, one that left us all looking forward to a great season! Thanks to RCR for opening up this weekend. It felt like old times, I even missed the Bear T-bar.