Fernie Alpine Resort Bike Crew Update #8

Fernie Alpine Resort Bike Crew Update #8 - The Perfect Storm

Arriving hot on the heels of a mid-summer drought, Fernie Alpine Resort has finally been showered in Mother Nature's glory with two weeks of rain. Fortunately, the precipitation arrived in frequent and small amounts that allowed hard packed trail surfaces to soak up moisture like a sponge. In epic timing, our mini hoe, shared with the Bike Crew at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, made a swift return and was quickly put to work repairing some of our troubling sections of trail.

Early bird gets the fresh berm on the new upper section of Mr. Berms


After weeks of "too dry to do hand tool dirt work" weather, the return of the mini coupled with the rain was like a lifeboat arriving to the rescue on stormy seas. The crew revisited, re-shaped, and re-buffed our way around the mountain. The berms and jumps on upper Top Gun got a quick top dressing and tamp to repair bomb (and gopher) holes. Bin Logdin got a right hander put in to help maintain the flow towards the Ogopogo and the double up to the wallride got a bit of a boost. Canada Cup Downhill had the high speed zone in Currie Bowl re-worked and the lower jump line is slowly starting to re-emerge back to its original glory. With the dirt on new upper section of Mr. Berms starting to settle and burn in, we were able to sneak back and touch up a few corners, remove the left over slash on sides of the trail, and do some backslope root removal and drainage repair. Some of this hand work continued on our new green trail Duff Dynasty which will likely see a revisit from the machine this fall to complete.


Highway to the danger zone...Top Gun goes from fast and loose to hero dirt overnight.

Trailforks.com



Last week also saw the return of "Little Foot" to the Elk Valley. This one year old grizzly bear cub was found on the ski hill in the spring and conservation officers were called in to help. It is assumed that he lost his mother in the fall and some how survived the winter on his own, only to emerge from hibernation in the spring severely malnourished. He was sent to a wildlife rehab center in Northern BC for the summer to be reconditioned and has now been returned to his native home range to continue life as part of the healthy bear population. If you happen to see a grizzly bear out there with a radio collar in your travels, keep your distance, be wildlife aware, and know that Little Foot is a very special bear thriving today thanks to an amazing team effort.

This is the exact reason we spend time building green trails...every little ripper started somewhere.

This week, as sunny weather returns to the Elk Valley, we are adjusting our sails to focus on the Legendary Summer BC Cup Finals on August 30 - 31st. The Timber Chair will be open for public on the Friday, though the weekend, AND on the holiday Monday. For more information, to volunteer, or to register for the BC Cup event please visit www.skifernie.com/summer. Our race course will be the same as last year with an epic start looking out over the Elk Valley; a series of single track switchbacks leading into the now famous Canadian Section steeps; a high speed straight shot down Currie Bowl; transitioning into a flowy tree section with two mandatory road gaps; a short jump section followed by some grassy turns; a quick zoom through some tech single track in the trees with roots and loose corners, more grassy turns; and finally, into the Rockstar tree island for an epic finish at the Timber Chair Load. I can hear Tippie and the plaza crowd now as we set up the all new hot set and finish corral! This is not a weekend to miss in Fernie - the Wam Bam Dirt Jump Jam and the Demolition Derby are also taking place. Keep checking back with our facebook and instagram pages for updates and race results.

Home of the Legendary Summer BC Cup Start waaaay up there on Diamond Back. If you look close from town you can see racers at the start line from any one of the amazing patios downtown. Or, better yet get up close and personal to all the action in our new BEER GARDENS at the finish line!

Legendary Summer BC Cup Hot Seat and finish zone starting to come together at the base of the Timber Chair.

Sometimes the small things like getting rid of a personal nemesis stump or finding small hidden treasures on trails makes our day. When in doubt, a pair of root antlers always works,

Luv the team kids (of all ages) from COP when they come for a visit! Like every trip to grandma's house...we served up plates of fresh baked loam and glasses of warm buffed up trails.

See ya in a few days Loam Rangers,

Your Fernie Alpine Resort Bike Crew

P.S. If you visit Fernie this weekend you need three things; a sweet ride, some steezy gear, and a pocket full of swagger.

Upper BC Cup Race Line Vid:


2014 Wam Bam Dirt Jump Jam:



Fernie Alpine Resort
Trailforks.com

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