Fernie may have just missed out on being named the top ski town in North America, but our Kootenay neighbours won the title.
The West Kootenay communities of Nelson and Rossland were joined together in the online contest and were too much of a match for rival town in the final, Bozeman, Montana.
The Powder Magazine contest has been asking Facebook users to vote online over the past two months, throwing 32 ski towns across North America into the ring. The final round vote was 11,426 to 10,572.
Powder Magazine congratulated the winners of their Facebook contest.
“There’s something going on in the Kootenays. It could be the yam fries in the poutine at Whitewater. Or the oversized nachos at Rafters, Red’s legendary bar. The cute hippy chicks and Oso Negro coffee probably help. Then again, maybe it’s just the rowdy terrain, pillow lines, and smoky B.C. pow,” wrote John Clary Davies at www.powdermag.com
The competition began in October and along the way Rossland/Nelson beat Sugarloaf, Maine; Whitefish, Montana; Crested Butte, Colorado; and Sandpoint, Idaho. According to Whitewater general manager of indoor operations and marketing Anne Pigeon, as soon as Nelson won its first matchup, the town really rallied. Mayor John Dooley even took the campaign door-to-door reminding people to vote.
Fernie beat Jackson/Teton Valley, Wyoming, to move on to the semi finals, but was narrowly beaten by Bozeman.