While there are plenty of eating options – from the basic pub food of the T-bar and Grill to the more up-market Cliffhanger Restaurant – it’s not exactly party central, so dedicated après lovers might find the night life a little tame. It also has a lovely village feel, with plenty of accommodation on the mountain, some with access to the heated outdoor pools and hot tubs that work wonders on tired limbs at the end of a hard day’s skiing. State-of-the-art snow-making begins in October to lay down a base as soon as it’s cold enough, which draws ski-racing teams from as far away as Switzerland. Panorama doesn’t, as a rule, get as much snow as some of the other resorts in the region, but is extremely good at managing what it has. One way to negotiate the terrain is to go with a guide, like the one who turned my potentially daunting experience into an unforgettably exhilarating one. Once the comfy and warm vehicle has taken you to the drop-off point, there’s a staggering number of ways to get down – some simply challenging and others utterly terrifying. Adventurous types will be drawn to the steep terrain of the Taynton Bowl, easily accessed via the Monster X snowcat. ![]() Skiers can work their way across the mountain, from the beginner terrain to the intermediate, then more advanced. The resort – half an hour from Invermere – is a well-organised and diverse mountain, with terrain to suit all abilities. While there’s always a (relatively) easy option to get down the mountain – and a dedicated beginners’ area – its incredible snow, challenging chutes and enticing trees make it a resort better suited to more advanced skiers (and those with a well-developed sense of adventure). The resort is divided into five distinct bowls, and each one has a nearly endless number of combinations for getting from top to the bottom. Unlike many resorts, Fernie itself is a working town that services not just the ski fields but also several mines just up the road, making for an interesting mix of locals, as well as Aussie and Kiwi itinerant workers and the weekenders who come up from Calgary (referred to slightly dismissively as Califernians).īut to know the mountain is to love it, especially for those who like a steep and deep skiing challenge. Skiing at Fernie Alpine Resort on Canada's Powder Highway.įernie Alpine Resort is about a three-hour drive from Calgary, via remote ranching country, past frozen lakes and rivers, cutting right through the Rockies. After picking up a spacious SUV (snow tyres are a must) at Calgary International Airport – and only mildly freaking out about driving on the other side of the road – it proves to be an easy cruise along the Canadian roads, which are well maintained, even in wild weather. The distances between the resorts make a self-driving holiday a good option for the Powder Highway. As one Aussie expat-turned-friendly-local told me while riding a chairlift in Panorama, “Make sure you tell your friends about us – just don’t tell all of them”. Compared with their more famous and more hectic cousins, such as Whistler and Banff, the Powder Highway resorts tend to be more manageable, less crowded, and less prone to partying. While the resorts are not exactly hidden gems, they are a little off the beaten track – and that’s the way they like it. The Powder Highway is a trail through the Kootenay Rockies region in the southeast corner of British Columbia that takes in eight resorts, including Fernie, Panorama, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke and Kimberley. So, after three years without skiing or overseas travel, I could barely contain my excitement glimpsing the mighty, white-capped Rocky Mountains as the plane started its descent into Calgary. Even the name itself carries with it the promise of adventure, discovery and an abundance of that most sought-after snow commodity. For an avid traveller and a skiing nut, few things are more enticing than the prospect of visiting Canada’s Powder Highway.
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