Interesting reviews here.
Clearly some of the negative reviews are people who just booked a vacation in bad weather. And some of the overhyped reviews clearly got good weather. I am going to try to be as honest as possible with my take.
For several years I basically had to ski here and developed some FOMO wondering if other hills in the area were better and if anything had a negative take on Fernie, so the last few years I have spent some dedicated time skiing other hills.
In the end, I realize Fernie is, all in all, amazing: if you know where to go, and you get great conditions (which is true at every hill). While Fernie can have terrible conditions (rain, heavy mucky snow, avy closures, etc) one thing worth noting is that Fernie has, season to season, one of the most consistent number of 20 cm+ days. So while any ski vacation is a crapshoot, if your goal is "powder skiing" Fernie is as reasonable a bet for a 20 cm+ powder day as any hill.
In terms of terrain, Fernie really has everything. Kicking Horse may have "more" alpine double black terrain, but Fernie has quite a bit, along the spine between Currie and Lizard bowls. There is far more tree skiing in Fernie than most hills, roughly the same as Revy, with beautiful cedars (but I find more variety in the runs - personally I find the terrain off Revy's "The Ripper" to be almost "too much trees" - at times you are really buried in the forest). Also, compared to same Revy or Red you are far less likely to run into "trouble" skiing Fernie. From Siberia Bowl to Snake ridge there are only a very few very well marked permanent terrain closures, and while there are cliffs to drop here and there they are all very well marked and/or pretty clear where to drop. You basically can ski anywhere without worrying about accidentally ending up at the top of a 40 foot cliff (unlike Revy - "cliffed out" is a common recurring issue there as I learned, repeatedly. lol.). Terrain park could be upgraded but it is there if you like to play on pipes and dance floors.
Looking at the vertical on consistent 40 degree pitches, if that's your thing (it is mine) - Fernie is pretty much as good as anywhere. Skiing from Polar Peek through Skydive is a pretty awesome run. Snake Ridge when it opens after a storm is some of the best skiing in western Canada. And I find the comment here about "Fernie has no sidecountry" to be absolutely bizarre - has to be someone who never figured out where to go. In addition to the sidecountry, there is a fair bit of touring in the area. Tunnel Creek is one of the world's best "tree skiing" touring areas.
If you book a vacation here and everything is skied out, there still are options. Both Island Lake Lodge and FWA offer worldclass cat skiing and are just minutes away. And Kimberley and Castle are alternatives that are easy drives. (there are also smaller but still large for back east hills at Pass Powderkeg in the Crowsnest pass and Wapiti ski hill, in Elkford). Day trips to Panorama near Invermere or Big Mountain are a doable 2ish hours from Fernie if you had to.
Fernie has groomers. But if your goal is low consistent pitch groomers and not off-piste skiing, Fernie is probably not the best hill for you, it is not its strength. Ironically, Kimberley is just 90 minutes down the road and also run by RCR. It is a fantastic long consistent groomer hill (but lacks the off-piste skiing of Fernie). Fernie also does suffer from a lack of easy top to bottom greens. A beginner-intermediate skier may be able to handle Tower 6 and Falling star, but Fernie is a hill really geared for advanced to expert skiers who love skiing powder off-piste.
Yeah, RCR could do a far better job investing some money and developing the hill. Some of their decisions out of the Calgary office the last few years have been a bit bizarre. They could do a far better job developing the hill for tourists and some lift and facility upgrades could turn this into a world class hill and draw far bigger crowds. But I've come to realize the fact they haven't developed the hill with better lifts, lodges etc is actually a strength! If anything, I'm wondering if it would be to my advantage to post a negative review here - lol. The hill is remarkably uncrowded for the quality of terrain and skiing, beyond the early morning pow day lines at Timber and White Pass. If you learn how to get from Deer to Bear on a pow day it is pretty damn easy to avoid lines and still hit great unskied steep and varied terrain. And the crowds die down pretty quick, its not too hard to figure out how to ski directly on/off lifts. One of the more interesting things I find about how RCR runs things is that they refuse to let the ski hosts take guests on the most interesting terrain, and part of skiing Fernie is knowing where to go. The secret to the best experiences is figuring out how to get to the "reverse traverse" in Currie Bowl and following that spine between Currie and Lizard which hits everything from Concussion to the saddles, window chutes, cougar glades and "the big 3" (stag's leap, decline and my favourite, skydive). I've met a few tourists who didn't figure this out until they skied with me on the last day of their trip.
Another strength of Fernie is just how close town is to the ski hill. By all means stay at the hill, but you don't have to! And Fernie, as a ski town, is pretty epic - if you're into low key authentic ski town vibes. There are a remarkable number of locals who moved here from Banff and Whistler after those 2 towns became "overdone." If your thing is to go for one beginner ski run wearing Prada, eat at a 5 diamond restaurant, stay at a Fairmont hotel, and be seen among celebrities, Fernie is probably not the vacation for you. But if you are fine at a Best Western level/mom and pop hotel (or B n B), want to hang out at ski bum pubs, eat at some awesome mom and pop independent restaurants, and focus on skiing some epic terrain, then Fernie is an awesome destination.
For probably the best rundown of skiing in Fernie Bill Handley used to post a daily blog of where he skied until he sadly died a few years ago. It is at times brutally honest (Bill was a bit controversial with RCR.). It's a must read if you are booking a vacation in Fernie (or spending the winter): www dot billhandley dot com (convert dots to periods and remove spaces for links to work, clearly this is not spam).
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