by Ollie Hottenroth-Roffey
Fernie – legendary powder, legendary place. Been out here for over a week now and its an absolutely awesome location for spending a season. Everyone on the course is really friendly and chilled out so you feel at home almost immediately. Such an action packed week has added to this with incredible amounts of snow (16 inches in the past 48 hours- bring it on!)
Earlier in the week we went to watch the local ice hockey team, the Ghostriders, which everyone enjoyed as there were so many incidents and the under 10 playing between periods add serious comedy value. Then on Friday, a group of us went snowmobiling in the backcountry which was awesome as we stopped to make hot dogs on an open fire and watch the guides throw their machines about- not quite the same when we tried it! That night, every house tried their hand at a bit of cooking and whipped up some dishes for everyone else- delicious! Needless to say the evening didn’t finish there. Finished the week off nicely last night with an all you can eat Chinese for $13- right on! A perfect end to a wicked week. To do what I love and have a real gap year experience. Its definitely living up to its reputation. Bring on 3 more months of legendary Fernie!
READ WEEK 3
The beginning of the second week brought the cold! -23 degrees at Sunshine. However, towards the end of the week we were experiencing temperatures the other side of zero! Difficult to regulate what layers to wear!
Injuries have fortunately been few and far between apart from a freak loose ski that managed to slash pants, thermals and skin! Nasty!
Melissa’s bar quickly became the local, something to do with the cheap drinks perhaps! Tommy’s bar and the Hoodoo Lounge are also regularly filled with the Nonstop crew!
All in all a great start; weather that couldn’t be better, Instructors and Nonstop teams are great, some fantastic weekend activities to choose from plus an awesome bunch of guys and girls to spend the next 3 months with.
READ WEEK 3
By Ross Monaghan
Where to start? The first week of the official NONSTOP course has just ended, we’re all pretty tired, a bit bruised, ridiculously excited at the prospect of spending another three months here. This is my second week in Fernie and in the spirit of NONSTOP we have been trying our hardest to have the unofficial NONSTOP party, which I am glad to inform has been going very well.
So far we have had several house parties, drum and bass night at the Royal (fantastic night out), Australia day which I found hard to keep up with, drinks around the town on a few very long occasions, the official non stop dinner followed by our impromptu gathering, and plenty of other random get togethers. I have met loads of people, a real mix of locals, seasonaires, tourists, and of course other nonstoppers all of whom have been infected with the Fernie sprit of relaxation, friendliness and party fever, and most of whom I cant actually remember the name of which always makes for interesting nights out around town. We have all been having a great time, including the odd prank or two on each other, convincing some of the new arrivals they should go out and get their bear bells before they head up the mountain, promptly followed up by bear noises in the middle of the night, and a few stories probably not appropriate for the official web site.
I guess you are probably wondering what the mountain is like, well it’s amazing. Such varied terrain from nice easy flowing green runs to as they say in Fernie steep and deep and they mean steep, natural kickers and hips every where to throw yourself, beautiful tree runs, amazing gullies and bowls, all really great for bringing your riding on. And the snow? Wow I have never seen so much snow and the season is only just starting, the locals tell me to expect much more, already riding knee deep powder almost daily. I haven’t been able to get this stupid grin off my face since I got here. The lessons this week were pretty hard on everybody but really great fun, apart from breaking down our riding and pointing out our hundreds of bad habits our instructors have made it very easy to learn and have an incredible knowledge and experience they are eager to share with us, as well as a great knowledge of the mountain that they are passing on. Well if this is week one bring on the rest, I can’t wait.
READ WEEK 2
By Stuart Isdale
Once upon a time there was an elf, an ogre and a knight…wait a sec, wrong story…! This is about Week 3 this is the NONSTOP story!
Monday: Basic instruction went well, but unfortunately Gene broke his wrist which was quite suspicious on Al’s part considering “Rider of the Week” was up for grabs.
Tuesday: was another beautiful day on the mountain – in other words: it left all worries blown away!
Wednesday: Went to Trail to prepare for the Winter Carnival and of course let our weary muscles relax in the hot tub of the local Aquatic Center.
Thursday – More useful instruction and “Name that Tune” in the bar.
Friday: Instruction but some of us only managed a couple of hours due to the night before. It was also the start of the Rossland Winter Carnival and we all joined in the Parade.
Saturday: Enjoyed the Bobsledding, drinks and atmosphere of Rossland’s 109th Annual Winter Carnival
Sunday: The mountain came calling and so we answered with a few turns down Beer Belly!
READ WEEK 4
By Chris Wooldridge
January 20th
Woke up at 6am today, all packed, excited and ready to go. Met Melissa from NONSTOP at the airport, said goodbye to my loved ones and set off on Air Canada – destination Canada. Nine and a half hours later we touched down in Calgary (a little wobbly after a few ‘mile high’ drinks) and begun our 4 hour transfer to Fernie! We arrived at 8 pm to find a half meter of fresh snow- the results of a typical Fernie dumping!
January 21st
After 5 hours of sleep (meeting all my house mates last night, a few drinks, everyone’s awesome, couldn’t be happier), we went on a tour of the town. Bigger than expected and everything looks awesome! Had a nice meal up on the mountain tonight, met all the team and also the mayor of the town. Everyone is so friendly here!
January 22nd
First day on the slopes today, already missed our bus up, so went to the famous ‘hitching spot’ where we hitch-hiked up. SKIING IS UNREAL, like nothing in Europe. The powders so addictive, and already I can see why people say, “Once you’ve skied in Fernie, you’ll never want to go anywhere else!” Fingers crossed this will be the sign of things to come and we’ll all have the time of our lives! PS. Sarah if you read this, love you loads, miss you and see you soon!
READ WEEK 2
Tom | January 30th, 2006
