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‘We’ll see you on the mountain soon’: FAR eyes Saturday for new opening day

The opening day for the winter season was pushed last week due to rainy and mild conditions

The Fernie Alpine Resort (FAR) now has its eyes set on a Saturday (Dec. 11) opening day after pushing the original date due to rainy and mild conditions.

The season was meant to begin on Saturday, Dec. 4. Leading up to that date, the Sparwood region saw five days in a row of record-breaking heat, starting on Nov. 28 and moving up to Dec. 2.

Temperatures began to level off into more seasonal standards on Friday, and snow began to fall that night. As of Saturday morning, winter seemed to have struck Fernie, and a carpet of about five centimetres of snow covered the ground, with more falling throughout the day.

READ MORE: ‘Very little to work with’: FAR opening day pushed

READ MORE: Sparwood breaks high-temperature records several days in a row

READ MORE: The Griz has arrived: Fernie carpeted with snow over the weekend

The winter weather is predicted by The Weather Network to be sticking around, with more snow expected on Wednesday and over the weekend, and an especially large dumping predicted for Saturday, Dec. 11. The Weather Network expects 15 to 20 centimetres that day.

“Our teams are working hard across the mountain, preparing for your arrival, with our sights currently set on this Saturday if conditions allow,” reads the Dec. 7 Snow Report on the FAR website.

They are grooming where they can and setting up signs and safety equipment across the mountain.

“Temps for snowmaking are fantastic. We are currently pumping over 1,000,000 gallons per day and are trying to get the Lizard Run ready for the weekend. After the weather events of the past few weeks, we had to start from scratch – we’re getting there!”

They received 25 centimetres of snow in the alpine this week, which helps them get closer to “opening up high.” They expect more snow to accumulate on Wednesday and through the weekend.

“We will update our status regularly as the week progresses. Please continue to check our snow report for these updates. Once we decide on our opening day, we will announce it on social media, our website and our snow report.”

“Hang in there; winter is here! Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the mountain soon.”

READ MORE: Excitement in the air for upcoming ski season despite FAR staff shortage

READ MORE: ‘The ski hill here is just fantastic’: ski season around the corner


@fishynewswatch
josh.fischlin@thefreepress.ca

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