Just spent an entire season in Fernie, 70+ days on snow.
Would go back in a heart beat.
No crowds. like ever. Powder days we were waiting maybe 10 minutes on first upload.
Excellent steeps, in good snow some wicked steep deep terrain.
Some excellent tree skiing in the gladed areas.
The 5 bowls really do make the resort feel pretty massive, and we were still finding runs we had missed at the end of the season.
Don't go to Fernie for the groomers - yes they groom some runs, but off-piste is where its at.
The vibe of the mountain is old school, non commercialized. The lifts are a little slow, but hey, That's part of the ambience.
Not much night life on mountain, but fernie the town has some great pubs and plenty to do, like hockey and curling etc, lots of nice restaurants. and the town doesn't feel touristy.
This was apparently a poorer year for snow, but I feel like there was always plenty of snow, and the whole mountain was ridable all season (I left 1st April)
Everyone on the mountain is happy, and friendly all the time.

The only cons:
After a pow day, it can take a few days to open the resort back up completely (because of the headwall there is a lot of avalanche precautions).
Polar peak was open maybe 5-6 days ALL season. which excludes a lot of double black terrain. Although there is plenty of other places to get your fix.
RCR NEED TO BUILD JUMPS. the whole RCR having rail parks but no kickers is absurd. plenty of cliffs to jump off though.
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It’s too easy a riff, ‘80s , site of the Hot Tub Time Machine movie, slow lifts and faux Alpine accommodation. Fernie is very much what you choose to make of it so to catch a phrase, I’ll take it from here. The Boomerang lift on its own offers bowl access (Cedar), steeps and gullies, all within a single chair ride. White Pass similarly. This is a mountain to make the most of, and you won’t wait long. This morning’s powder day lift line was a four minute wait.
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Family ski week in early January. Day 1, Fernie was pounded by dry fluffy snow from the Selkirks. Fresh lines were easy to find throughout the week. But the resort was so empty.

Fernie is great place for intermediate off-trail skiing, especially the massive bowls. The green novice area surrounding the base is superb and large.

I loved the loose glade runs because they were never long enough to burn my legs out and I don’t like tight glades. The Polar Peak was closed the whole time. I passed on some double blacks which is my test for “enough expert terrain”. Some chutes were quite scratchy even after so much snow.

Most restaurants around the base were closed due to Covid lockdown protocols. What was open was typical interior British Columbia: friendly locals, excellent food, laid-back. Pretty town too. Spectacular views of the Rockies. Photos do not do it justice. Overall, a wonderful Powder Highway resort, lacking only long cruisers.
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Family ski holiday early to mid January, 11 days of freshies, could not believe our luck! Stayed at Grizz Inn which was more than adequate and super close to lifts - hot tub was a lifesaver to recover in after some epic days. Resort Village small but enough facilities for us (family of 4, kids 13 and 14). Terrain great for advanced skiers, we spent a lot of time exploring Cedar Ridge, Cedar Bowl and trees around Boomerang lift. Super friendly, laid back vibe, no crowds (compared to NZ) and Fernie town a great place to spend some down-time. Seems to get a lot of snow compared to other resorts in the area although I would suspect also sees less sun than some also. Only issue could be it can be susceptible to rain lower slopes which they had had a bit of prior to our arrival and the $4 per person one way cost of bus ticket into town (maybe a bit picky here).
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Arrived in Fernie to extreme cold (-20 with windchill to -35) but the reward was waist deep powder. Great memories of skiing waist deep powder in Siberia Bowl with not a single person in sight. Very friendly & laid back ski hill. No fixed scanning lift entry as yet - though no doubt if that comes so will the crowds. Manual scanning at the bottom of the mountain then no scanning above the base entry lifts. Stayed in Fernie town - quiet, small regional Canadian town .
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I first heard of Fernie back in 2004 when my step brother moved there. Keen to check it out I packed up my bags for 3 months when I was at uni in 2008/2009 and spent the whole winter there. I had a blast. The mountain itself is great, especially once you know where you're going, and even though that winter wasn't a huge snowfall one, there were still some magic pow days. Overall though its just the general laid back vibe of the town and mountain that I fell in love with over those three months. Fernie Alpine resort does get very busy of the Christmas period, but outside that time you're barely ever waiting in a chair line.

A local guide is a must to show you where the best stashes of snow are after any dumps. There are some fun alpine bowls, gladed trees and some very fun lines. There is often a traverse or small hike asscoiated with some of the best lines, but once you know where you're going its very easy to get to where you want to be!

I loved it so much I've been back twice since then, and never disapppointed.
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LOVE Fernie, I've skied in many places in Canada, US, & Japan and I have to say Fernie is my favorite so far. Spent lots of time in Fernie over the past two seasons with my wife and three kids and we can't complain. My kids all learned to some sick skills over the past two years thanks to Fernie. My wife is a beginner and absolutely loves the lower green lifts. Primarily because it's mostly covered in a nice blanket of soft pow. My kids are keeping up with me in the deep stuff up top and shredding blacks and double blacks with ease. This place might not be the best for those who like to ride corduroy all day, but if you like white fluffy powder in endless amounts this is the place for you. I just spent Easter weekend there and had a blast. They just recorded over 1100 cm (11 M) of snow.
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Epic pow, you just have to traverse endlessly to get to it. 7 chairs, 3 of which are some of the slowest you'll ever sit on(deer, elk, boom), and 1 that practically never opens (polar) or when it does the terrain is mostly windblown rock. Was put it to improve bragging rights on elevation but could have been far more useful elsewhere. And you better enjoy riding cat tracks if you want to ride Fernie. Boasts the longest run in Falling Star, but only about 40% of it is enjoyable, the rest is a painfully long cat track. How bout a new haul back t-bar to get back out of there instead.
Epic pow, but because of it I dont think they care about investing in anything else. Hopefully one day they won't be able to ignore a total lack of decent infrastructure just because the pow is good, and will actually have to invest in new lifts, and clear out some of the endless thick trees and allow some more tree riding. So much more available terrain that no one hits, not even the epic shredders, because it's just too thick. Heard of a chainsaw in the summer?

Also, Canada's most expensive season pass if bought after all the early birds are over. Seriously. How they can justify $1650 before tax is beyond me when the facilities are so old and behind the times.

Again, insane pow, just lets them sit on their hands and not care. That's RCR for you.
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not suited to novice skier. greens are steep. No long windy gradual greens. icy icy icy on bottom. higher up better snow, but only suited to more experienced skiers. Lifts take forever. Very disappointed. I'm great for experienced skiers, but not for those of us less skilled.
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Pro: Great variety of slopes. Nice long runs. Not crowded. Good for after ski drinks. Great atmosphere. A lot of off-piste terrain,

Contra: very slow lifts and to get to the top you need to take 2 lifts and it takes time. Limited snowpark

Closing time very early compares to Europe or Japan (sunset was at 5,45 pm).
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