Here it is folks the grand finale of my sabbatical.......drum roll please......whoop whoop!! Even after so many amazing adventures and experiences this is what we had been counting down to! We had arrrived in our final destination. The place where we would be spending the next 4 months perfecting the skill of being snowboard "bums". We were both so excited! We were going to spend the whole ski season in Fernie, British Columbia, a place famed for its great terrain and "champagne powder".
Svan had previously spent 6 weeks in Fernie during the 2008/09 season where she had completed a training program called “Master The Mountain” ("MTM") run by a British company called “Nonstop” (http://www.nonstopsnow.com/holidays-and-camps/mtm-6-week-off-piste-camp). Over a period of 6 weeks the course teaches you how to ride in all sorts of different terrain coupled with improving your skills and style - basically to add to your enjoyment wherever you may be on the mountain right through to the so-called "back country" (remote areas which are ungroomed, unpisted, unpatrolled and where there are definitely no ski lifts!).
Sadly I hadn’t been able to join her on that trip as a result of work commitments, but I planned to make up for it this time by spending the whole season with her “shredding pow” (more about that later). Svan had had a great time that year inspite of a comparatively poor season of snow. Our friend Freya on the other hand had been lucky enough to be in Fernie for the 2010/11 season which by all accounts had been one of those “epic” seasons! The snowfall that year had been even more than the average of 11 metres thanks largely to the weather phenomenon known as “La Niña” (where cooler temperatures in the Pacific Ocean result in well above average snowfall). We kept our fingers crossed (well everything actually) for another year of “La Niña” and not of “La Svan” as the 2008/09 had come to be remembered for some reason?? :)
Christmas eve with Kat and Liz
Christmas Day on the mountain!
New Year's Day in Fernie!
Having spent several New Year's in Val Thorens in the French Alps with Svan in the past this was the first year that we had spent both Christmas and New Year's in the mountains together, and oh boy was it great!
Snowboarding– the lingo for beginners…
Over the years snowboarding has developed a language or lingo all of its own. When spoken correctly by the right people it can make them seem “supercool”. However, it can take many years to master and if spoken or used incorrectly can result in ridicule!
Being in this environment for a whole season does mean that a few of the phrases do start slipping into your everyday language. Certainly I have found myself using “shredding”and “freshies” a lot....these words just feel so right! Some of my favourites that I have heard during the season:
shredding (cutting fresh lines in new snow)
run (taking a path or line down the mountain, normally via the piste)
smashing (see “shredding” above)
sending it (the act of jumping off a cliff or large rock…..or so I hear)
switch run of the day (a designated piste where as a snowboarder you ride opposite to your usual stance, ie for "regular" rider (left foot forward) you ride right foot forward)
pow or pow pow (fresh powder)
freshies (making fresh tracks)
powder fever (reckless behaviour brought on by over exposure to fresh pow)
dropping (starting an awesome line)
gnarly (tricky or difficult)
face shots (fresh powder spraying up into the face whilst riding, can result in breathlessness)
steazy (performing a trick with both “style”and “ease”……apparently)
sick (the opposite of feeling unwell)
jibbing (to perform manoeuvres on obstacles)
conshredulations (you have just ridden a nice line)
Warnings…
Overuse of the above can make you sound pretty dumb, verging on “neanderlothic” eg let’s smash some “pow pow” before “chow chow”…need I say more?
There are definitely “no friends on a powder day”!! :)
The Polar Peak...
There was much hype and publicity by RCR (the ski resort's owners) in the days and weeks building up to the opening of the new "Polar Peak" chair lift, which would provide access to the highest points in the resort and lots of new terrain.
At the opening of the Polar Peak chair lift on 14 January
I now know why it is not always a good idea to be the first to do something, like for example to be on the maiden voyage of a new boat, a new aeroplane, or in our case a new chair lift! There was must publicity and excitement around the mountain at the opening of their new chair lift, which the ski hill owners believed would open up much new terrain and bring in many new visitors. We happened to be riding past at the advertised opening time and the queue did not look that long, so we thought......."why not?" There was certainly a buzz in the queue and the staff were handing out stickers and taking people's photos as the announcer proceeded with the countdown over the PA system. I did happen to hear one member of staff say that he would be waiting to ride the new lift until it was a "bluebird" day, but thought he just had sour grapes because he wouldn't be among the lucky enough to ride the new lift that day! The new lift had a vertical gain of 250m taking you up to the highest point in the resort at 2134m. It's amazing how conditions can change so much in the space of a mere 250m! It seemed that the lift was also taking us into some pretty exposed areas, and what had seemed like a breeze down below now felt like a gale! And then the lift stopped.......and did not start again. We hunched over protecting our faces from the wind. After the first 5 minutes this wasn't funny any more. I thought about the ski movie 'Frozen' where 3 skiiers get stuck on a lift..... there was a blizzard involved, jumping from a great height, wolves and needless to say not a happy ending! Seven or eight minutes must have passed which felt more like twenty, but eventually it did start and we did get down. Once we had negotiated the treacherous route down on ice with low visibility and high winds we found out later that the lift was only open for a total of 12 minutes and in that time someone had managed to either badly twist a knee or break their leg during their descent. It seems we were the lucky ones and ultimately that guy who mentioned "bluebird" days may just have had a point.....a few days later we were lucky enough to be around on such a day.....
The photos above are from Friday 3rd February. This day saw what is called an "inversion" ie warmer air above colder. This resulted in these spectacular views from Polar Peak where surrounding peaks appeared like islands through the clouds caught in the sunshine. We certainly forgot about riding that day and just enjoyed the views. Even the ski patrollers pulled out their arm chairs to enjoy the vistas on that day. Whilst one went to grab a coffee (or at least that's what she said) Svan jumped in his chair and used poor instructor Benji as a footstool! I can honestly say that the views that day were some of the most amazing I have ever seen! Thank heavens the lift was working that day! :)
Avalanche Training
An important part of the MTM course was our avalanche training. This gave us some understanding of the risks of travelling in the backcountry.
Back country touring
Our "splitboards" complete with ski poles
Our back country touring guide Steve Kuijt
Me with Matt performing the act of "de-skinning" our splitboards
Steve leading the way to the top of Mammoth Head
The “Boulder Hut” is an authentic back country skiing/splitboarding adventure set in the Purcell Mountains of South East BC. This had been arranged by Nonstop and was a part of our “Master The Mountain” program. To get there required a 90 minute coach trip to the neighbouring town of Kimberley to enable us to take the 10 minute helicopter ride to the hut (I had never actually been in a helicopter before!)
6am start to get to Kimberley to catch a helicopter ride
Before flying out..
This was my first helicopter flight so I guess I was a little excited...
When Svan first told me about this place 3 years ago I have to admit that the idea of spending up to 90 minutes “hiking” uphill for a 300 or 400 metre run down (taking less than a minute) did not exactly appeal! At the time I was still very partial to the concept of chair lifts! However, after two practise days with guide Steve Kuijt touring the “Lost Boys” area accessed from the main Fernie ski resort I was sold! On a beautiful day hiking up enjoying the views and the peace of the mountains is actually an amazing experience and the ride down is the icing on the cake. All in all there is nothing better! I have to say that the “splitboards” themselves that us snowboarders have to use are a weird contraption! As the name suggests they are basically a normal snowboard “sawn” in half which have special movable bindings into which to strap your boots, imagine if you will 2 hockey pucks and a sliding metal plate with holding pin on each side. Trust me putting these things together in the warmth of your front room is tricky enough let alone with cold hands and fingers on a mountain! Not forgetting of course that if you are not careful you can easily get the whole set up the wrong way round. Oh the skiiers had it so much easier! Onto your splitboards or skis you then have to stick what are referred to as “skins” (dating back to when animal skins were actually used) but what now look more like strips of carpet which are smooth when brushed one way and rough the other.
When we first arrived at the hut we got to see first-hand where we would be spending the next four days, to meet our warm hosts Mark, Sarah and their children Grace and Aldon, together with their big white fluffy dog called Rosie. When we arrived it was snowing super heavily, so much so that our tracks from the helicopter to the hut were soon filled in. It was only during the next four days spent with these back country professionals that I became familiar with the technical terms for levels of snowfall. I now know that they can be graded on the following 5 point scale thus:
1. Flurries
2. Snowing
3. Dumpin’
4. Pukin’
5. Nukin’ (This is where it snows so hard that by the time you come back from the outhouse your footsteps have been filled in. Where snowboarding is concerned, I am now a huge fan of "nukin' snow")
After a re-cap of our avalanche training we set off for a couple of hours of touring and getting to find out what the 65cm of fresh snow would be like to play in, accompanied by Mark and our other guide Ben. Ben gave us our first introduction to his favourite saying on the way up that afternoon whereby he would shout "I say SMASH, you say...." to which we were required to yell back “POW!”. This probably sounds really dumb and stupid and like we were pretending to be boyscouts or something. That first afternoon saw us only manage one long run, but what a run it was, with face shots on every turn in beautiful fluffy champagne pow. I had never ridden in anything like it! From then on “I say smash…..you say...POW" became our mantra! It was as surreal as it was infectious, and trust me it doesn't seem nearly as silly when you are in a playground of amazing snow!
Nukin' 65cm on Day 1 as we arrived!
Getting ready for action, joining together my splitboard
Many thanks to James for these amazing photos of us riding. He couldn't believe that in every photo Svan had a huge smile on her face (notice also the "face shots") Posed? No, of course not! It's because snowboarding makes her happy!
Sledding on our last day when we were snowed in! The luge track was designed using German engineering but built with British labour!
What an amazing four days, including some of the best runs of my life, and by hiking up we earned every one. On the way back to Fernie Svan and I agreed that we didn't know when but one day we would be back.....and next time we would remember to take our snorkels!
Kicking Horse (KH)
Our three day trip to see Katherine in KH with Liz at the beginning of March saw us luck out and be there for their best conditions of the season up to that point! With a cool 30cm of fresh how lucky were we?!? :)
One of the many hazards faced on the hill....potentially "death by skiier"!!
Svan shredding the Feuz Bowl! (Our favourite spot on the whole mountain)
Sending it!
Other highlights...
Some other highlights from the trip include:
Fernie Ghostriders beating local rivals Kimberley Dynamite 5-4 after trailing 0-3. Great game!
Margaritas with Freya and Christy at El Guapo (clearly no signs of goggle tans!)
Svan "synchronised" snowboarding with Leigh
A couple of mini-movies from the trip....
The first, "The Story So Far", shows some great views from the Polar Peak on the day of the "inversion" plus some highlights from the Boulder Hut trip amongst others. The second, "Finale" basically shows us goofing around and just having fun during the final few weeks of our stay. It also includes footage from some of the closing events such as the "Dummy Downhill", "Hot Dog Day", the "Slush Cup" and even Svan and I riding in our 80's onesies!
The Story So Far: http://youtu.be/v7MU80PUHRU
Finale: http://youtu.be/QMa2G38m4sg
That's It That's All
If it wasn’t for the fact that it stopped snowing and the ski hill actually closed we would still love to be in Fernie! We just didn’t want the season to end! Just thinking back on these amazing times, brings a huge smile to my face. I use “amazing” because I have run out of superlatives to describe how awesome it was. Sure there were one or two slow and even sad days at the end of season, but overall I lost count of the number of days where words like “epic” and “awesome” were used. The locals at the resort even gave the two largest “dumps” of the season their own names, “Champagne Tuesday” (fresh snow: 80cm+) and “Super Sunday” (fresh snow: 40cm+). For me these weren’t even the best days! My favourite days of the whole season occurred whilst we were away at our four day trip to the Boulder Hut. Here the snow was so light that a breath of wind would blow it from the palm of your hand, and the riding was simply unbeatable! How lucky were we?! We truly "lucked out", how will we ever be satisfied with simple "European" piste riding again??
I know that these times as a snowboard “bum” were some of the happiest of my life, and Fernie with its warm welcoming locals (some now good friends), great mountain and champagne powder will always hold a special place in my heart! I don't know when, but Fernie we will be back......
For those of you that have followed my adventures over the past months I will make one final blog posting over the next couple of weeks on what it has meant to me having the courage to take the plunge and take a sabbatical, but with careful planning how this has turned out to be the ride of my life......
