December 11 2023 FSA Trails Update

Dec. 11

Just over a week ago, Fernie experienced a significant atmospheric river event, resulting in well over 200mm of rain within a short period. Fortunately, Thursday December 7th brought a return to seasonable weather, delivering over 40cm of snow in just 12 hours, with additional accumulations since then. Mid to upper elevation riding areas currently have between 90-115cm of snow. You can watch a great updated from the Forecasting team at Fernie Alpine Resort HERE. This week's forecast anticipates mainly cloudy skies, foggy patches, and temperatures ranging between -6 to -2°C. Additional details regarding weather and avalanche hazard can be found at avalanche.ca.

photos: Nov 26 - Dec 2, 2023 by Shannon Potts, Ryan Glauser, DirtySledder

What's We're Up To This Week:

Our grooming staff are ramping up for the season, focusing on road building this week and the next. Learn more about road building and the season's startup HERE. Please be alert to snowcats and equipment on trails. DO NOT drive beyond the staging area - you are likely to get snowplowed in or will be blocking equipment. This season, we're proud to announce we will be grooming 7-nights a week on the Coal Creek and Morrissey networks. Stay tuned for more details! Early season conditions prevail on all trails, so exercise caution and be mindful of hazards.

FSA Grooming Reports will commence Saturday, December 16th via the link on homepage or click ‘Schedule’ in the toolbar.

Riding Area Updates:

Corbin: Full operations at Corbin are underway, with grooming on Thursdays, Mondays, and holidays, conditions permitting. Please stop by the kiosk to show your membership or purchase a trail pass. Day tickets are also available for advance purchase online via link below.
Morrissey: Currently plowed for timber harvesting. Expect heavy equipment and hauling 24/7. Winter snow road building is scheduled for December 19-22nd, with the first full groom anticipated on December 23rd.
Coal Creek: Road building activities are in progress at Coal Creek, and the first full groom is expected on December 23rd. Note an ephemeral stream running on the new section of the lower trail with open water related to last weeks precipitation event.
Hartley: The first groom at Hartley is scheduled just after Christmas as conditions allow.
Ram: The cabin at Ram is unlocked for the season. Lodgepole is plowed to the McClatchie for timber harvesting activities.

Building trail up Coal Creek, Dec 11 2023

PURCHASE YOUR 23/24 sEASON mEMBERSHIP OR DAY TICKETS HERE

In Other News:

The Fernie Snowmobile Association hosted our annual Pancake Breakfast event in partnership with Ghostrider Motorsports on December 9th. Attendees were treated to delicious breakfast on us, fun prizing and great sales on gear for FSA members. We collected unused toiletries, diapers, and baby formula at the event and were proud to provide the Fernie Women’s Resource Centre with several boxes of supplies as well as $1000 in overall cash donations. Fernie Snowmobile Community YOU ROCK! A special thank you to Starbucks and Eldho’s Independent Groccer for your support.