By Rebecca Edwards
Spotted hanging out in Fernie recently: a Grammy-winning singer and actor and one of the world’s best snowboarders.
Actor and pop singer Justin Timberlake was spotted in downtown Fernie during a weekend ski trip at the end of January, and pro snowboarder Travis Rice stopped off at a local café for some snacks to see him through a backcountry film shoot.
Timberlake is thought to have spent a weekend at Island Lake Lodge to celebrate his 31st birthday, although nobody at the lodge was able to confirm this.
He was seen in downtown Fernie last week buying some new gear at Commit Snow & Skate.
“One of our employees had quite the interesting experience,” Commit Snow & Skate owner Adam Laurin told the Edmonton Journal. “It was one of those ‘no way, no way, that’s not him’ moments.
“He was smaller than (we) thought. And he was going around with a bit of a beard,” Laurin said. “Our hopes are to see him return annually to enjoy our little mountain town, and abundant powder.”
Lunch Box café in Fernie also benefited on Tuesday from a visit by Travis Rice and his film crew before they headed into the backcountry to film a TV commercial – thought to be for Degree Deodorant.
“Travis Rice was waiting outside in the truck but his film crew came in and got some wraps, and then some breakfast burritos to take with them into the backcountry,” said Diane Churchill who was working at Lunch Box with Devin Penfold at the time.
“They said they were going to some natural arches near Island Lake Lodge to do a helicopter shoot for a commercial for Degree deodorant.”
Rice, from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was in Fernie days after taking first place in the Red Bull Supernatural backcountry freestyle snowboard event, that he hosted at Baldface Lodge in Nelson as part of the Red Bull Signature Series.
He helped design a run across 2,200 vertical feet on a slope nicknamed "Scary Cherry" that includes over 80 man‐made features.