Fernie 11 week Instructor Course - Week 2 Update from Jamie

Ahoy again! Wow, this week went fast! It’s been another great one here in Fernie. The snow has been falling nearly constantly and the skiing has been the best I’ve ever experienced. Our instructor this week, Lucia, decided we should make the most of it and so we spent our time making fresh lines through the trees and exploring the amazing off-piste that Fernie has to offer.

My group, ‘Team Honey Badger’, smashed it this week and I know that everyone feels like they’ve made some great progress. The prestigious ‘Most Improved’ trophy was awarded to Derek ,’The Arboreal Assassin’, whilst the no less coveted award of ‘Best Crash’ went to Evie. ‘The Enforcer’, for her novel approach to the landing of a rather large jump.

Our instructor, Lucia, showing us how its done!

The guys at Nonstop know that four days of lessons per week can take their toll on both the body and the skis so they offer lots of awesome activities to try and help. This week I got involved in not only the ski tuning and waxing lesson but also the weekly yoga session. These are both key for me as if I’m going to successfully reach my goal of a back-flip before the end of the course then I will need both speed, flexibility and inner tranquility. Please don’t hold me to this….

Curling is a lot harder than it looks, trust me!

Hardly a stone’s throw from the Red Tree Lodge is the Fernie hockey rink and also the Community Centre, both of which I visited this week. Firstly, it was to go curling, which was amazing fun, but so much harder than it looks! Secondly it was to see the Fernie Ghost Riders play. Whilst my understanding of the game was somewhat lacking, any event that provides beers, burgers and ice-based brawls gets a double thumbs-up in my books. The following day there was a buzz around the town as a local-band-turned-big-timers, Shred Kelly, was back to play a one-off gig at the Community Centre. They absolutely rocked the place and are definitely now my favourite Western Canadian folk-rock band of all time.

Felix putting his body on the line in the name of photography

Weekends in Fernie are not made for sleeping or chilling out. Oh no no. Weekends are when things get even better. On Saturday I was lucky enough to spend a day with professional photographer, Mark Gallup, and learn how to take better action shots on snow. He’s worked with all the best in the business and it was a truly fantastic experience to spend some time learning from him both in the classroom and on the mountain.

I can't believe that I finally got to try snowmobiling!

As if all this wasn’t enough, on Sunday I got to do something that I have ALWAYS wanted to try. Snowmobiling! Having driven up to the awesomely named Panorama, we were each given a snowmobile and proceeded to spend the whole day exploring tracks and bombing around the beautiful mountain. It truly is just as exciting as it looks and I would recommend that everyone try it at least once!

The 'Ice Fall' in Panorama that we visited whilst snowmobiling.

I can’t believe that I’ve been here for over two weeks already. If time flies when you’re having fun then this is the best trip ever! Bring on week 3!

See more of my second week on the Fernie 11 week Instructor course in my VLOG: