As a newbie fly fisherman, there are many wild trout waters I’ve floated or hiked by over the years that I intend to fish in the coming decades. Fernie is a top-of-the-list fly fishing travel destination I hope to check out for the first time this fall.

The Elk River, which flows right through town, offers anglers a shot at monster trout with plenty to do off-water, from mountain biking and hiking, to golf and exploring the pubs and restaurants in the historic downtown.

For me, this article is field research for what will hopefully come to pass as one awesome fall road trip.

The Elk River

The Elk River flows 140 miles from the dramatic peaks of the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies (specifically the Pétain Glacier next to Mt. Joffre) to Lake Koocanusa at the U.S. border. The stretches of river up and downstream from Fernie offer clear, clean, and cold water that trout thrive in.

The Elk River, so I’m told, has a reputation as one of the finest dry fly-fishing rivers in North America for Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout.

Local guide and shop owner Paul Samycia explains the allure of the Elk River this way: “The Elk River has what all fly anglers are looking for. A beautiful, free stone river with spectacular scenery, wild native fish eager to take a dry fly, miles and miles of wade-able and drift-able water with a great small town to base your adventure out of.”

The Catch

Locals laud the Elk River’s large population of Westslope Cutthroat Trout and their incredible color and spotting. These wild fish cruise the river’s surface in search of the flying insects that hatch in the warmer valley surrounding the town of Fernie.

While Bull Trout are hard to come by and protected in many waters in the U.S., it’s game on for this aggressive, hard-fighting fish around Fernie. Reportedly, resident Bull Trout on the Elk River above the Elko dam are regularly 20-30 inches or bigger.

Where to Fish Near Fernie, B.C.

Whether you are planning a DIY trip or looking for a guide, Tourism Fernie provides this excellent overview Elk River fishing beta that will help you get started for your trip to the north:

From the town of Sparwood down, the river gains momentum and girth. From Sparwood to Olsen, the river is known for big, greedy Westslope Cutthroat, long boulder sections, countless riffles and deep corner holes.

From Olsen to the hamlet of Hosmer is drift-boat heaven. Hosmer also has a boat launch and is a good place to start or finish a day. Hosmer down to Fernie offers braided sections and some big log jams with magical views of the Lizard Range. Buckets and holes are ripe for the casting on this stretch.

In the heart of Fernie is a boat launch at Dogwood Park with ample parking, a public washroom, and space for multiple boats.

The section from Fernie to Morrissey winds gently through perfect trout water and includes some long deep runs, riffles, and seams. The takeout at Morrissey Bridge has also had some work done recently and there is parking along the road with room for trailers.

Morrissey to Elko is the next haul and should be given a whole day. If you like fishing log jams, this stretch is for you. Some great stretches of wood provide perfect habitat that the cutties stack up under and along.

For more information about fishing the Elk River and Fernie, visit Tourismfernie.com.

Find more stories about fishing as well as adventure travel and recreation in Fernie, B.C. in the OTO archives.

The post Fly Fishing in Fernie, B.C. During Fall appeared first on Out There Venture.

The flakes are already flying up north in Canada. And your skis are calling, saying, “Hey you—this winter can we please do a B.C. adventure? I miss soft and fluffy snow on my bases.” Besides, you need to clear your head out, with everything that has built up over the past months (or years).

Let the powdery snow work its magic to refresh the mind, let your soul run wild, and harness all that’s good. Let it all come back. Point ‘em north and explore all the hidden gems we have to offer.

But first, let’s go through what crossing that border looks like these days, followed by a few key places to shred this winter along British Columbia’s Powder Highway.

Don’t Let Paperwork Get in the Way of Powder Dreams

It’s a sweet drive north to Canada from Spokane and North Idaho as farm fields give way to forested hills before you reach one of the many border crossings.

In this evolving COVID era, reaching one of the Kootenay’s quiver of powder pleasers along the Powder Highway (Whitewater, Red, Fernie, Kimberley, and Kicking Horse) requires you to show proof of vaccination and get a COVID PCR test showing negative results within 72 hours of your planned arrival into Canada.

Before you head out, visit ArriveCAN online to enter your proof of vaccination with approved vaccines (Moderna, Johnson, Pfizer and AstraZeneca).

Stop Staring at Webcams—Let’s Do This

There are many ways to experience a Kootenay escape this winter. Here are a few favorite options.

1. Family Escape

To make it easy, the key is slopeside stays. Kimberley’s Trickle Creek Lodge comes complete with a pool and condo-style accommodations, including a kitchen to whip up delights. Right out front is the learning area, separate from regular skier traffic—voila, the kids are taken care of at Kimberley Alpine Resort.

Throw in those epic kids’ trails through the woods for the little rascals, which they’ll dare you to follow them into, and the kids will be over the moon. Don’t worry, there are endless gladed trails for tree skiing and real killer fall-line runs for the ‘rents’ to get their fix here.

2. Snow Dreams

Living in a snow globe is so sweet. To experience it first-hand, head to Fernie, B.C., with its cool authentic mountain town that has it all, from craft shops, to epic eats and some of the best artisan coffee in existence. Let’s focus on Fernie Alpine Resort though, as it boasts the most alpine bowls, biggest vertical, and deepest snow in the Canadian Rockies—of course, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?

3. Steeps, Chutes, & Champagne

It’s still a secret, so keep it to yourself. Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is the real deal. We’re serious. Honestly, until you try this place, you won’t know what you’re missing. So don’t go another year without experiencing the most chute skiing in North America (over 80 chutes!).

Just think how many people talk about Jackson Hole’s similar terrain when it only has a handful of chutes, and nothing to match the caliber and variety that this Horse has.

But it’s not all gnarly terrain. There are tons of groomers and intermediate trails too. Kicking Horse is also home to the 5^th biggest vertical in North America and Canada’s highest restaurant to boot, perfect for that cheers, eh!

Some Don’t Miss & Additional Details

Be sure to check each ski resort for their COVID safety update section before you go, so you are aware of any required protocols. Currently at ski resorts across British Columbia, all will require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, and some have that mandate for all indoor facilities.

Be prepared with a mask for lift lines and gondola rides too. But double check the latest before your departure, because as of this writing, many are still working out final details and protocols.

A Few Sweet Kootenay-Local Secrets

Enjoy ski-in and ski-out. Only 50 feet from the lift at Fernie Alpine Resort, stay at Lizard Creek Lodge with its newly-renovated main lodge. You won’t mind the sweet slopeside pool and hot tub either.

Get in your Pod. A new pod hotel experience is now open at Raging Elk Adventure Lodging. Save money, ski more, and enjoy this fun environment in downtown, Fernie, B.C.

Purcell Heli Skiing. Same incredible terrain, awesome guides, and now new ownership are part of the CMH family. They are one of the few daily adventure heli skiing options, so book a date for heli skiing after you have skied a couple days at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. That’s what we call a perfect powder combo.

Powder Matt is a professional ski bum and writer from Kimberley, BC, who lived in his car for 63 days one winter so he could ski every day. He wrote about skiing the Kootenays during the COVID border closure in the March-April 2021 issue of Out There.

This story was originally published in the Out There Snow special section in the November-December 2021 print issue.

Find more stories about skiing in British Columbia its Powder Highway in the OTO archives.

The post Return to the Kootenays: Ski & Ride Again in Canada appeared first on Out There Venture.

Program coordinator Brian Bell, who has worked for MAST for over 22 years, says, “We don’t get many American students for some reason—only one American student every 3-4 years. You’d think it would be way more popular [especially because it’s] a good deal with the exchange rates.” International students must apply for a “Study Permit” and provide proof of medical insurance that’s valid in Canada in order to join the program. 

Though the average age is 23, Bell says students range from 19 to 50 years old, and the typical incoming student is less interested in a traditional academic college education. “Some want a career in adventure tourism, some don’t know, some come here to learn skills to go out into the mountains on their own,” he says. What MAST students all have in common, though, is they’re adventurous, athletic, and definitely like winter.

 “The MAST program motivated me to become an avalanche dog handler and avalanche tech, specializing in search and rescue,” says MAST 2010 alumna Jamie McCaffrey, 31. She has also worked as a professional ski patroller. Other MAST alumni have started their own guide service companies, like 2001 alumnus Mike Trehearne, founder of Cloud Nine Guides. “It’s very cool to see where our alumni have gone, and many are now raising families of adventure lovers,” says Bell. 

In the U.S., the Pacific Northwest is home to a handful of institutions offering degrees or certificates in recreation, outdoor leadership, eco-tourism, and similar fields. From Bellingham to Missoula, schools are based in cities surrounded by expedition opportunities. In Coeur d’Alene, North Idaho College (NIC) has an Outdoor Recreation Leadership program, where experiential learning outdoors helps “students grow both intellectually and physically,” says Professor Paul Chivvis. Boasting a 100 percent job placement rate, Chivvis says his students have become professional ski patrollers at local mountains and have found careers paths with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.  They are also recreation guides in sea kayaking, therapeutic recreation, fishing, and hunting. 

Andrew Pierce, 31, earned his NIC Outdoor Leadership Certificate in 2012 and has worked as a professional ski patroller and a guide for heli-skiing, whitewater rafting, ice climbing, and mountaineering. Now he’s an avalanche forecaster for the Washington Department of Transportation. NIC’s program, he says, offers progressive learning of “basic skills necessary to survive and thrive in all sorts of outdoor environments and sports, and then develops you to be a thoughtful and impactful decision-maker who is ready to help others explore the same way you do.” 

He considers his eight months at NIC as some of the best in his young adult life. A grueling snow cave camping expedition during his Introduction to Mountaineering class especially impacted him. “What once terrified me now brings an amazing sense of joy,” says Pierce. “Ski patrolling, heli-ski guiding, and avalanche forecasting can lead you into some pretty intense weather and demands full attention and focus. I often think back to that trip with Paul [Chivvis] whenever the wind is pounding snowflakes against my face with 50 mph winds.”

An outdoor recreation degree can also be a stepping-stone to an evolving career trajectory, like it was for Nick Parkert, 38, a Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) enforcement officer. After earning his bachelor’s degree in Recreation Leadership & Management from Western Washington University in 2004, with a focus on wilderness therapy, Parkert worked as a youth wilderness guide in Maine. Realizing it wouldn’t be a long-term career for him, he moved back to Washington and became a park ranger at Riverside State Park, near Spokane, which required police academy training. Six years later, when decreased funding for state parks caused widespread layoffs, he wanted to continue working outdoors—and also really enjoyed law enforcement. This led him to WDFW. First assigned to the northeast Washington office in Colville—overseeing Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties—he transferred this past summer after seven years to a WDFW region for Pierce and Kitsap counties. 

“Even though my job is more regulatory, I am still outside and can feel some of the joy that those people are experiencing,” Parkert says, referring to people fishing along shorelines. Combining his love for the outdoors, recreation interests, and wildlife conservation values, he finds it personally rewarding to help protect “animal populations for future generations,” including for his own two daughters.

Some jobs will never be outsourced. Snowboard instructors, ski patrollers, and park rangers are needed by those of us who toil away inside, escaping to mountains on our days off. Whether it’s guiding, forecasting avalanches, or training a dog for search and rescue, work inspired by love for outdoor recreation feels less like work and more like daily adventures.

Check out these Regional Outdoor Recreation Degree Programs:

• College of the Rockies (Fernie, B.C.): Adventure Tourism certificate or degree, Mountain Adventure Skills Training (MAST).
• Eastern Washington University: B.A. Outdoor Recreation Leadership.
• North Idaho College: A.A.S. degree or certificate, Outdoor Recreation Leadership.                                      
• Oregon State University: Tourism, Recreation, & Adventure Leadership degree.
• Spokane Community College: A.A.S. degrees or certificate options; Natural Resource Management (forestry), Parks and Recreation, Wildlife/Fisheries, and Arboriculture/Urban Forestry.
• University of Idaho: Bachelor’s in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism. 
• University of Montana: Bachelor and master degrees in Parks, Tourism, & Recreation.
• Western Washington University: B.A. in Recreation Management & Leadership.

The post Get Schooled Outdoors: Programs Offer Hands-On Learning for Careers Outside appeared first on Out There Venture.

We hear a loud crash and branches snapping. We stop. Silence. Then a loud sandpapery scratching and a loud exhalation of (no doubt human flesh-tinged) breath. It’s certainly something big, and we’ve got grizzlies on the mind after having been warned away from several trails at Fernie Alpine Resort owing to bear activity earlier in the day.

“You wanna get out of here?” I ask Nat.

“Yep!”

We spin the bikes around and speed off. Turns out Brokeback Ridge truly is on every local’s top five list. Fortunately, this community of around 5,000 boasts over 100 named trails, so things never get crowded, whether with two wheels or four legs, but come fall the trails seem especially empty.

Located in the east Kootenays, 40 minutes from both the Montana and Alberta borders, Fernie is still very much a blue-collar mountain town; despite the weekly influx of Albertans, mining and logging are still the top two industries. Cut blocks occasionally close cherished riding zones, but riders have plenty of alternate choices, and trails typically get a facelift once the timber company moves on. 

Fernie’s riding is less shuttle-centered than some communities, a fact that will become apparent the first time a local smokes you on a climb up a classic like Swine Flu. Fernie trail builders never met a steep climbing turn they didn’t like, and many of the area’s most well-regarded routes are black-diamond climbs where “cleaning” every switchback is a local badge of honor. Even if you don’t encounter a bear, your heart rate will skyrocket.

In fact, it’s easy to go car-free on a Fernie bike trip. From a campsite at Fernie Provincial Park (complete with shaded sites, free hot showers and potable water) or from one of the many in-town lodging options, riders can pedal directly onto dozens of classic trails in Fernie Provincial Park, some of which connect to Fernie Alpine Resort.

Despite the community’s trail-building bona fides, one need not be an expert rider to make the most of a visit. The city has built a sprawling skills park for the groms, conveniently located next to the aquatic centre. Nearby, the trails of the Castle Mountain area crisscross the Nordic trail system on a network of smooth climbs and descents. 

Then there’s Lazy Lizard. The five-mile machine-built trail connects the campground at Fernie Provincial Park (via a short connector) to Island Lake Lodge. A favorite local ride is to pedal up to the lodge and enjoy dinner and drinks on the outdoor deck, which surveys the lodge’s famed ski terrain on the steep slopes of the Lizard Range.It’s an experience that typifies the riding here: both casual and hardcore, just enough work to make you feel like you’ve earned the rewards at the end. And the post-drinks descent, on high-speed berms under a sprawling awning of cedar and aspen, should rewrite your top five. Just don’t forget your bear calls. 

Related: Planning a Fall Fernie Road Trip

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