Fernie Ski Trip

This past Monday I took off for Calgary, Alberta to go skiing in Fernie, British Columbia. I was supposed to leave on Sunday but ended up getting bumped twice and leaving the next day. I just couldn't turn down the vouchers. The flight was direct to Calgary and the shuttle left within an hour of touching down. That night I met up with the others who had already arrived from Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the whole group. I know the others took hundreds, if not thousands of pictures, so I guess I need to get one from them. On Tuesday, I got my skis and we all hit the slopes. There wasn't a whole lot of warmup as the second run was bumps in the trees.

The scenery was amazing. I was impressed with the ruggedness of the terrain compared to what I had seen in Colorado.

It seemed like everywhere you turned there was another avalanche warning sign.

On Wednesday we took a hike up Polar Peak. We started the hike around 3:30pm in the afternoon so my legs already felt like Jello. My guess was that it was about a 400meter hike at about a 45 degree angle. Here is a picture from a ridge that was about a mile away. Way down on the left you can see some people climbing. We climbed up and then had to head right out to the peak.

Some in the group had made the climb the day before. I was told two less than reassuring comments from them before we started. First, "I am sure you can get up there, but I can't really guarantee that you will get down safely." One of my cousins mentioned that it was the first time in a long time that he really sort of feared for his life. Anyway, we made it up to the top. At the saddle, we found what was likely a stone or some tree that had been blown solid with snow. It doubled as a horse.

At the top, there was a nice snow cave large enough to hold about five people. There was also a lone 'closed' sign. The view was spectacular. You could see so far in all directions.


Skiing down was fun. I didn't really get a good look over one of the edges, but I would estimate on the side we ended up skiing down, that if you fell, you would probably go for about a kilometer before coming to a stop. You had to avoid heading over the rocks and trees too. Here is Seth taking the plunge. If you look way down the hill, I think you can see a lone skier.

Here is Erin catching a break on the way down. It gives you an idea of the slope.

We must have been the last people down the hill as we didn't get back to the condo until well after 5pm, but the climb was well worth it.

Overall, it was a great trip. I enjoyed the chance to visit with the others. After a hard year of school and interviewing, it was nice to get on a plane and bring a ski suit instead of a dress suit. On Monday, I should be heading back up to Canada but to the other side.