Mountain Layout—Skiing

Fernie consists of five seemingly limitless bowls of pure delight that dump you into gut-wrenching steeps and chutes, gnarly trees, gentle glades and thrilling trails. All have terrain for all abilities, it's really a matter of taking the time to totally explore each and deciding on your favorite. It's easy to spend all day exploring one bowl. If you can see it, you can ski it—and sometimes you can't see it till you work your way to it! Obviously, the more adventurous you are, the more you'll want to take a traverse to its end.

It's a good idea to take a complimentary mountain tour on your first day so you can become familiar with how to travel the mountain; meet at the carousel in front of Guest Services at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Here is a larger, more detailed trail map.

Expert, Advanced: What can we say? It doesn't get better than this! Explore to your heart's content. Some traverses cross very steep terrain and if you're prone to vertigo, be prepared, but it's worth getting over it. We're sure we don't have to tell you that the best goods don't have names, but we'll start you off with some suggestions. Find the "idiot's traverse" in Timber Bowl and head to some sweet trees off Diamond Back and in Anaconda Glades and Gotta Go, or head to Cedar Bowl and jump into King Fir and Cedar Ridge. Bootleg Glades have a sphincter-tightening drop-in, but you'll enjoy the goods once you overcome it. Surprize got its name after an avalanche etched it into the mountain. After a storm, take the Lizard Traverse at least halfway across before dropping into wide-open floatable powder. Siberia Bowl has some great powder stashes too. On clear days after a big snowfall, follow the "leaping lemmings" line out of Currie Bowl and up to Polar Peak. And for days after, when much of the mountain is skied off, don't despair, you'll still find powder in the trees off Decline, leading into Easter Bowl and Lizard Bowl. Skip the chutes off the ridge between Currie and Lizard bowls if there hasn't been a fresh snowfall—otherwise they are guaranteed death slides. Check with the ski patrol before going into the out-of-bounds Fish Bowl; rescues are often necessary there. If you’re a powderhound, it’s worth paying extra to join the First Tracks program—you’ll ski freshies while others have to wait in line for the lifts to open. [TOP]

Intermediates: If you're an intermediate who loves long cruisers, you'll get bored rather quickly. But if you're ready to test your skills and move to the ungroomed and trees, this is the mountain for you. All of the bowls have very nice intermediate terrain, just search for what you want: small bumps, ungroomed, semi-steep or trees. It's easy to dip in and out off the groomed trails as you gain confidence. You'll have great fun on Currie Powder and Currie Glades, wandering farther afield as you get more adventurous. The trees in Timber Bowl and Currie Bowl are fabulous ego-boosters. Dancer, Cascade and Bow in Lizard Bowl are wide-open slopes perfect for learning powder. [TOP]

Beginner, First-timer: While Fernie has excellent beginner terrain that's nicely separated from other ability levels, it's still adventurous by most standards. Your best bet is to join a ski week group, where instructors can help you overcome any trepidation you may have. For first-timers, the word on the street is that if you learn to ski here, you’ll advance more rapidly than at most other resorts. This is a very challenging mountain. First-timers should join a ski week program to avoid being overly intimidated. . [TOP]