Quote:
Originally Posted by wayneking7
Advise on the best hill in canada to spend the season? Not really a party animal so im counting whistler out i think.
Want a place with a decent sized village/local town, good snow quality and quantity, good vertical, short/no lift lines (dont have to get out on the hill at the crack of dawn for freshies), terrain park.
Thoughts/reviews? places i should be considering that r not on the list?
I've just spent this season (my second here) in Fernie. Today was my 55th day on the hill this season.
Town - has everything I need (two supermarkets, several board shops, Canadian tire, at least six bars, a junior hockey team, movie theatre, some good restaurants, etc.
Snow - quality depends on temperature as Fernie is a bit low and South so it gets warm sometimes, but most of the time when it snows it's perfect fluffy powder. Quantity - we've had 893 cms so far this season and I've lost track of the 15cm+ days I've had. Even a little official snowfall can make for an epic day up top and or in some of the stashes.
Vertical - plenty, especially if you're willing to string together three lift rides to get a run all the way down from the very top to the village. That's about 3500 feet of whatever you fancy (there's open faces, chutes, trees of varying tightness, and groomers all available for at least some of the way).
Lift lines can get "busy" on weekends (sometimes I have to wait five whole minutes to get a chair from the singles line). Midweek unless it's early on a powder day I can almost ride straight on most of the time. There's enough terrain, and enough that's slightly hard to get to that you can find fresh lines the afternoon of a powder day or even in to the next morning.
Haven't lived any of the other places you're considering, but Fernie is awesome. I'm trying to work the paperwork to come back next season.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions - I check this thread fairly rarely.