Fernie celebrates Ski Heritage Week

by Keith Powell — March 09, 2012

Fernie heritage ski — Photo courtesy Fernie Tourism website

Beginning March 1st and culminating with Ski Heritage Week (March 17th - March 24th), there is a slew of don’t-miss activities and events. Some, such as "History and Chronology of Cat Skiing in the Fernie area" and "History of Snow Safety in the Southern Canadian Rockies," have never been done before.

If you are a keen skier, passionate about skiing and or just want to hear perspectives from some of Canada’s top ski media, you will want to take part in a session called "What will the next 50 years bring for the sport of skiing and current ski trends?" led by Iain Macmillan—editor of Ski Canada Magazine; mountain sport writing legend, Whistler local and editor emiterius of Skiing Magazine, Mike Berard; and the very talented Krista Turcasso, who can not only rip on skis but is a top mountain biker and founder of local success story, the Fernie Fix.

This is sure to be a lively session as each one of them will have a dynamic and different perspective. Next up is Al Raine, mayor of Sun Peaks resort municipality, who will share his wealth of knowledge and expertise on the "History of Ski Development in BC and the Future of Mountain Living Towns." Ending Ski Heritage Week will be a spirited session by Sheldon Decosse, Decosse Custom Skis, and Mitchell Scott, publisher, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, called "Building Brands for the Future."

If all of this is not enough, during Ski Heritage Week, the celebration of 50 years of skiing is taken from the mountain to main street, as everyone in the community of Fernie celebrates the "Powderful tradition of Skiing, People and Passion" in this mountain town cradled by the Rocky Mountains.

The endless fun continues with a community street party with a live band on Mainstreet, BC Telemark Association Race Weekend, Ski Instructors Reunion (a la the movie Hot Tub Time Machine), torchlight ski run, fireworks and ends with the Griz Bar Heritage Ski Party (famous for keeping Rippers Ripped). And if this still is not enough . . . snow and more snow keeps on falling in Fernie, close to 40 centimetres of fresh powder fell in 24 hours and more than 100 centimetres new this week. Fernie, home of the legendary powder, continues to have some of the deepest snow in North America and the most snow in the Canadian Rockies; now that is powderful history!