Before I get down to some serious business there are a few action video clips
that will show you just some of the fun we had. They are NOT small files so be prepared to
wait for them to download.
Click here to get to the video clips.
WARNING:
OK, now I’m about to do some complaining. Not for my own personal
gratification but as a warning to any of you contemplating a ski/board trip to British
Columbia.
In all my previous visits I’d never been exposed to the ludicrous situation that exists if you want a one-way trip from Fernie to Calgary airport. Your options are to:
- use your own car (nearest car rental is in Cranbrook),
- take a 1 hour bus to Cranbrook and then try to get on the small aircraft that flies to Calgary,
- take the Greyhound (2 buses per day, neither of which coincide with any major flights out of Calgary) and which takes hours longer than a regular bus and then drops you in the middle of the city from where you still have to catch another bus or taxi ($25) to the airport,
- take a taxi from Fernie to Calgary airport for only $455.
What is really crazy about this is that there are other bus companies which have vacant seats and are more than willing to take you from your hotel to Calgary airport for a reasonable fee but are prevented from doing so because of governmental red-tape.
According to the staff of several bus companies that I spoke to, the British Columbian provincial government has in their wisdom disallowed bus companies registered in Alberta from taking one-way bookings from potential clients who wish to get to Calgary airport. And yet it is these Alberta registered bus companies that provide the bulk of the mass transportation between Fernie and Calgary.
Note this problem does not only apply to Fernie. We also noted that it was the same for Panorama and Kicking Horse. One of my travelling companions had to purchase a return ticket just to travel one-way from Calgary airport to Panorama. This is idiotic when tourism is such a big thing in Canada and particularly the snow resorts of British Columbia.
My experience was so bad this year that I will be seriously reassessing my options for next year. Even with the very bad exchange rate against the US dollar I believe that taking all things into consideration, that it is probably cheaper to ski/board in the US. Apart from Whistler, I’m yet to find a Canadian resort that comes close to comparing with the average US resort in terms of ease of transport and service.