The end of the world, Fernie-style.

When the Mayans built their calendar in 5th century BC, they neglected to add any dates past December 21st, 2012. This has recently sparked some concern and excitement about the potential for an upcoming apocalypse. It's the evening of December 20th and I can't help but wonder, if the world ends tomorrow, what will we find? If the weather lately has been any indicator, I’d guess that I’ll be seeing snowbanks up against the windows of my fourth-floor apartment. Forget biblical floods, if Fernie gets hit by apocalyptic weather patterns, we’ll all be drowning in snow. Instead of an arc, we’ll shuttle ourselves around in a giant snowmobile or something. But that wouldn’t be so bad. In all seriousness, whether the world ends or not, we’ll be seeing a different kind of day tomorrow. Those of us who have traveled from elsewhere to spend a season ski-bumming in Fernie have been thus far lulled into a false sense of security. Hours at work are slow, lineups at the lift don’t exist, and there’s plenty of untracked pow on the hill for everyone to enjoy. That means long days spent skiing and long nights spent playing. Life is good, right? Not for long. Friday, December 21st, 2012 not only signals the end of the Mayan calendar, it kicks off the two-week holiday that our nine-to-five friends in Calgary so eagerly look forward to. Starting tomorrow, restaurants will be full, there’ll be lineups at the lifts, hotels will book out, and parking spaces will be scarce. Your 15 – 20 hour workweek will suddenly become 60 plus. Eating and sleeping will be rare and precious luxuries. Is the end of the world coming? Maybe. Is Calgary is coming? Most definitely. I’m packing myself an emergency supplies kit either way. Godspeed, seasonal workers!