ABOUT FERNIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Founded in 1898 and incorporated as a municipality in 1904, Fernie was named after William Fernie, a miner, prospector, gold commissioner and entrepreneur. The land surrounding Fernie has been a source of sustenance, business and trade for thousands of years and continues to this day.
Fernie is part of the Elk Valley within the Kootenay Rockies region of British Columbia which is the Ktunaxa’ s Qukin ʔamakʔis( Land of the Raven). For thousands of years the area was known to be a winter hunting area where the Ktunaxa would hunt big horn sheep, mountain goat, moose, elk, deer and other animals. They would also trap, fish and harvest natural vegetation.
Settlers came upon the area in the late 1800’ s. Peter and William Fernie, brothers, along side Michael Phillips, discovered coal while laying a trail through the Crowsnest Pass. William ended up becoming the original director of the Crow’ s Nest Pass Coal Co. The community of Fernie was soon recognized for its significant mining and forestry production capacities and saw much growth, yet many tragedies as well over time. The international value and trade of these commodities brought Fernie high economic and political status for such a small community and resulted in the development of significant architecture such as the award-winning Court House, Catholic Church and City Hall, all grand heritage buildings that attract visitors today.
With the development of a railway line through the town and later the advent of the automobile, the area became more accessible to those interested in the desired activities of the time such as hunting, fishing, camping, mountain climbing and touring. In the 1920’ s, Fernie Ski Club was established to support the local passion of powder skiing. As skiing grew in popularity so did the infrastructure needed to meet demand, including the installation of a handle tow on Mt Proctor and in Liverwurst Bowl one season where Island Lake Lodge Catskiing operates today. In the early sixties skiing moved to its current location and the skiing pioneers of the day submitted a bid to host the 1968 Winter Olympics in Fernie. Though it proved unsuccessful it did help lay the foundation for tourism as a key economic generator and the opening of Snow Valley Ski Development in January 1962, a locally owned company. Further growth in skiing and tourism happened through the vision and hard work of Heiko and Linda Socher. Through the 1970’ s to the 1990’ s they built Snow Valley into a destination ski resort along with other pioneers such as Mike Delich. In 1997, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies purchased the resort and renamed it Fernie Alpine Resort while continuing its growth development.
Tourism has grown into a four-season economy with the addition of catskiing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and fat-biking in winter and fly fishing, mountain biking, rafting, hiking and golfing in spring, summer and fall. Fernie’ s unique heritage, culture, hospitality, festivals and Rocky Mountain scenery combined with the abundant year-round recreation have created an industry that continues to thrive alongside mining and forestry.
Add Fernie’ s proximity to Alberta and Montana and spectacular natural icons such as Banff National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, Glacier International Peace Park, Mount Broadwood Nature Conservancy, the Flathead Valley and Provincial Parks such as Elk Lakes and Akamina-Kishinena, Fernie continues to see significant interest and investment from within Canada and USA, as well as Australia, Europe and Great Britain. Whether through increased tourist visitation, increased investment in businesses and amenities or the growth of local population and second homeowners, Fernie and tourism in Fernie will continue to grow.
The land in the valley continues to provide for the people in many ways.