Fernie fat bike enthusiasts proved that they’d hit the trails rain or shine on Saturday afternoon for Global Fat Bike Day.
Mountain High Adventures hosted two group rides, despite the less than dry weather conditions. The first ride went out at 2 p.m. and was geared towards beginner fat bikers, while the 6 p.m. ride catered to those more experienced with the sport. After each of the rides, the groups gathered together for a BBQ celebration at the Mountain High yurt at the Fernie RV Resort.
“It was a great collaboration between Mountain High Adventures, the Fernie RV Resort and GearHub Sports,” said Mountain High Adventures co-owner Jon Knauf. “Just to try and get people out and people will ride rain or shine, any condition, 12 months a year on the fat bikes so we knew we would get a turnout regardless.”
Knauf said that there was some first time fat bikers on the first group ride and that an extension to the Great Northern Trail was the perfect place for them to take the bikes for a spin.
“The extension that we’ve done makes it so that it is totally accessible and beginner friendly,” he said. “I’ve been riding it with my family and my kids. It’s got a fire pit right on the river stocked with wood and so it’s a destination at the end of the loop. It’s basically a 4-5km loop right from the adventure centre here.”
Knauf adds that the trail will be groomed daily once the snow falls and will also include set tracks for cross-country skiers. The multi-use trail is open for people walking, snowshoeing or bringing their dogs.
“There’s a lot of multi-use trails in the area but they’re all quite challenging so this is going to be groomed daily, if not multiple times a day,” said Knauf.
Mountain High will be running their winter operations out of their yurt at the Fernie RV Resort.
“This is our first winter operations in the yurt,” Knauf explained. “So we are doing fat bike rentals, cross-country rentals coming in, snowshoe rentals as well. And we’re going to be serving food all day so you can come in off the trail which is now coming right up to the door here.”
Mountain High built the yurt six months ago and used it to run their summer operations. Knauf joked that they served a whole lot of ice cream that first summer.
Now, the focus is on hot chocolate and fondue. The yurt will be serving up a full apres menu including hot chocolate, hot coffee, fondue, charcuterie boards and various other delicious warm snacks.
For more information on rentals or group bookings, visit Raftfernie.com, or call 250-423-5008.
