During the last few days of skiing at FAR, up at Lost Boys Café, we started talking to a couple from Ottawa who were on their last day of a two week ski vacation in Fernie. Despite this season’s somewhat marginal snow conditions, Peter and Gerri Wilkes were very impressed with their ski experience in Fernie. They told me that they even sought out to find the head groomer Blair to let him know how appreciative they were for the meticulously groomed runs and for the care that was put into the White Ribbon of Hope — the snow pathway that was created to allow skiers to ski out of Lizard Bowl to the bottom of the hill.
They sent me this email and asked me to include it in my letter to The Free Press:
“We have been longtime fans of Fernie – the people, community and incredible ski resort – and we didn’t think we could love it anymore than we did already – until this year! Despite Mother Nature’s refusal to cooperate, the staff at Fernie Alpine Resort worked incredibly hard to be positive, upbeat and create the best possible ski experience they could for every single guest. We were especially impressed with the skill and dedication of the groomers – specifically during the last few weeks of the season when they would lovingly and painstakingly roll out the White Ribbon of Hope every morning so we could get up the mountain to seek out the snow. When the ski gods finally smiled upon us – three days before closing – everyone could have thrown their hands up and walked away. Instead, once the freshies had been tracked out, the groomers came out in full force to create immaculate corduroy for us to shred in the final bluebird hours of the 2015 ski season. Again thank you to everyone for making our annual trip to the mountains as epic as ever! See you next year!”
It was so refreshing talking to Peter and Gerri. It made me that much more appreciative and grateful for all the hard work and dedication that everyone at FAR puts in to keep us sliding down that mountain! I must say that I enjoyed some of my best days of the season during the last open week, when it would have been so easy for the staff to slack off and not really care anymore.
Next year, when you look up at the mountain during the night and see the roaming lights on the ski mountain, remember to appreciate that those groomers, ski patrol and other staff are all working through the night so that you can enjoy your ski runs the next day!
A happy resident,
Robert Champagne
