Dude, Where's My Snowboard?: Blimey! We're in Bavaria!

We took a little drive to nearby ski resort Kimberley yesterday, and ended up laughing for most of the day. Kimberley is soooooo different to Fernie, it's not true! Imagine an entire town that's been modelled on a small village in Germany, with yodelling music being piped into the streets, and you're pretty much there. We almost felt like slapping on the lederhosen and nibbling on some bratwurst, but we managed to refrain, going for some soup and a sarnie in the local cafe. We were a bit worried about the drive as it was snowing in Fernie when we left, but the journey across the flatter plains was snow-free until we got to the outskirts of Kimberley when it started snowing heavily again. We took a little wander around the town, which was DESERTED and drove a little way up to the main area where the ski lifts start. It's exactly the same layout as Fernie, but then again, it's owned by the same people so that's no surprise. We're looking forward to doing some skiing there as it looks great, and our season passes include Kimberley so we might make some regular trips in the future. Like Fernie, there's a lot of development going on around the mountain with log cabins springing up left, right and centre. We felt a wee bit sorry for the workmen having to carry on building in the heavy snow but I guess they're used to that over here. Hardy folk indeed.

Look, it's so quaint!

Hansel and Gretel (aka Alex and Hammo)

The Kimberley clock - it aint no Big Ben, but it sure is pretty!

It's still snowing intermittently around Fernie, so we decided to take a little drive up to the mountain to take a look at the snow level today. I had the genius idea of taking a sledge along for some fun, and boy was that a good idea! The snow is shin deep on the hill and it's a mixture of sticky pack snow and weird little bits of ice that look like the polystyrene beads you get in beanbags! But the sledge was moving pretty quickly over the top of it so the lads decided to use some of the mountain bike paths to get some air - craaaaazy boys! We had a great time, playing in the snow like a bunch of kids, but it helped to pass the time on a Friday... Jethro and I also picked up our season passes so we are now primed and ready to get skiing, as soon as they open the lifts. Woo hoo!

Tis hockey night tonight, so we're off down The Pub for some grub, followed by a good hour and a bit of men sliding about on ice and punching each other... just another Friday in Fernie I guess!

Freaky Fernie snow