What I have learned in Fernie...

10. The Book Exchange - I discovered the book exchange when I walked into one of my favorite places to grab a coffee in Fernie, Tea and Coffee House, and noticed a small shelf of books. There are a few shelves like this around town and the deal is, you can take a book for free as long as it's in good condition and you also contribute to the book exchange. This was a great way for me to 1. take some unnecessary weight off my own book shelf and 2. read free books. I love it!

On top of that, there is another program where you can register your book and see where it goes around the world. Once I find out what this is called, I'll post it.

11. Ski and Snowboarding videos follow you everywhere. You could be sitting down in a restaurant for dinner, browsing a store or grabbing a coffee at a local cafe and guarenteed you will see a ski and/or snowboard video on the walls of each location...just staring you down. It's unbelievable. My roommate, Mike Tonge, is a ski patrol guy at Fernie Alpine Resort and after a long 10 hour work day at the hill, he can come home and put on a ski video while he eats his McDonalds take-out dinner; never tiring of the same DVD. How do they do it?

Rod keeps saying to me "That's a ski town for you."

And then I remember: ohhh yeah. I moved to a ski town.

12. Free camping galore. Growing up in Ontario, I'm used to planning months and months ahead of time for a weekend camping trip and paying good money for it too.


In and around Fernie, there is ample amounts of camping locations and most of them are completely free and empty. Can you tell I'm excited for summer? I'm looking forward to spending my weekend, any weekend we choose, in a cool remote spot on a lake with hardly anyone around. Now that's my idea of camping!

What I have learned in Fernie...

7. How to be "bear aware":
• when out for a nice deep in the forest walk, make noise so you don't startle a bear, bring bear mace and bring a big and strong friend.
• when you approach a bear, talk calmly to it, do not turn and run (you will be chased,) do not climb a tree (they love climbing trees too,) try very hard not to hug and cuddle one of those adorable little cubs, puff up and make it look like you're bigger than you are, and in the unlikely chance that they attack, fight back with all your might.
• don't leave your food lying around to attract unwanted attention, try not to put on lotions that smell like berries or snacks
• it's good to remember bears are not to be feared, especially since they sense fear, but are to be respected as a survivor and an important part of our environment. Respect the bear.


8. Working ALL day at a desk isn't cool.
Now this may seem like common sense to most, but I really do enjoy my job and working at a computer is what I've been doing for many years...but since moving to Fernie, I have been surrounded by people doing jobs that involve no computer at all. WEIRD.Such as: carpenters, tilers, rafting guides, snowmobile guides, ski patrol, ski instructors, servers, landscapers, mr plows and so on and so on.

I still think I'm pretty cool.

9. The Fernie Mogul Smoker
A tradition held annually at the beginning of each winter to appease the snow gods and Griz (Griz is the legendary mountain man responsible for Fernie's incredible powder), the Mogul Smoker kicks off the ski season, Fernie-style.

A fire is lit and fueled by sacrificed skis and snowboards. People dress up, dance and proceed to party all night long.

http://www.mogulsmoker.ca/

Here are the listed Rules on their website:

• Bring 2 pieces of ID, You're in North America Eh!
• Shuttle service only to grounds.
• No BYO Alcohol
• No Glass
• No Fighting
• Bring good vibes. With each negative complaint stated out loud, you will receive one less powder day this season (the Griz hears all.)
• Dress Warm, it can be cold
• The fire can get pretty hot, watch your clothes
  

What I have learned in Fernie...

4. While driving along Highway 3 I noticed these strange electrical poles set up RIGHT beside an electrical pole with a big flat board at the top. This made no sense to my brain and then 2 miles down the road I saw another one with a huge nest on top. Rod then explained to me that the Hydro company sets up these poles because Eagles and Ospreys tend to build nests at the top of the electrical poles (they're so tall with 5 star views,) which makes it either hard to do repairs or is just a risk to the Eagles, so they give them a pole of their own. I thought that was really cool. Picture taken from this website.



5. Online Shopping. Although I haven't actually done this yet, when you're in Fernie, this is how most people do their shopping. The stores in Fernie are smaller and limited in stock so getting over a fear of online shopping is almost essential. The closest city is Cranbrook, an hour West, and Lethbridge, 2 hours East, which have way more options...if you can get there. This also means that every time you do go to Cranbrook, Lethbridge or Calgary, you tend to have a list of places you need to go to, so be prepared before you get on the road. Time is precious!!


6. Fernie, a town of 2,000 to 4,000 (depending on the time of year) has birthed a few names you may have heard of. Here are two Fernie celebrities...

Emily Brydon, much loved by everyone in Fernie, is on the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and a World Cup Bronze medalist. (photo from ourfernie.com)


Alex Lifeson, born in Fernie, was a guitartist for a little rock band called Rush.

What I have learned in Fernie...

1. There is this thing called the 20cm rule. If it snows 20cm over night, everybody gets the day off...to play at the hill. YEAH. This is real. In Fernie there are some companies don't enforce this snow law but there are some towns that literally do shut down following a good dump.

2. 0° is not cold. In Vancouver 0° is as cold as it gets and at this temperature everyone is bundled up like they're in Alaska IF they leave their home. At the same time, Fernie doesn't get as cold as Alaska either but I have to look forward to lots of snow and -20°. Hooray!

3. Just 40 minutes from Fernie there is a very interesting little town called Frank. On April 29th, 1903, 90 million tons of rocks fell from Turtle mountain burying the little town of Frank and the people in it. The aftermath is still on the ground today. It's a little morbid but they've managed to make a friendly little theme park out of it. Tragedy preserved.

* photo by Gary Hebert in 2006