Pubdate: Tue, 27 Mar 2001
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Section: Front Page
Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/
Author: Doug Ward

FERNIE'S SO COOL IT'S HOT WITH ROLLING STONE

Maybe you thought Whistler is the coolest town in B.C. Or Nelson, Rossland 
or Tofino.

You'd be wrong. It's Fernie.

This is the hype from Rolling Stone magazine, which reports that the little 
East Kootenay ski town is the new ground zero of cool in 2001.

The former coal town is now cool Town, according to a special catalogue of 
cool in the magazine's current issue.

Fernie, according to Rolling Stone, has what many college-age kids want in 
a ski town: fresh powder, cheap lift tickets and a ready supply of marijuana.

The magazine tells its young audience that you can ski in Fernie for two 
days for the price of a single day at Vail.

"What you'll find," it gushes, "is an only-now-whispered-about ski town 
where powder hounds in tattered vests aren't yet outnumbered by Bogner-clad 
tourists."

Rolling Stone raves about Fernie's powder -- "Thanks to a rare confluence 
of atmospheric circumstances, Fernie measures its daily snowfall in feet." 
(Ironically, this rave comes at the tail end of a ski season that was 
sub-par for snow).

And the magazine cites the region's allegedly plentiful pot. "Mother Nature 
also has something to do with the area's other great natural resource: a 
fragrant green plant known to aid relaxation and enhance appreciation of, 
you know, pretty trees and stuff."

The article tripped slightly over the facts by overplaying the marijuana 
angle. Writer Josh Dean erroneously noted: "It's no coincidence that 
Olympic gold-medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati grew up here, just as it's 
no coincidence that he nearly had his medal stripped after testing positive 
for weed."

Fernie Mayor Evelyn Cutts said Rebagliati did not grow up in Fernie. And, 
as is widely known, the pot residue found in his lungs at the Nagano Games 
came from smoke-filled parties in Whistler.

Cutts described the article as a "mixed blessing." "It's not factual in 
some of its statements. But it's certainly generated a lot of publicity for 
us."

Cutts said Fernie's mountain valley is not conducive to pot growing because 
"we are in a narrow valley and we don't have a long growing season.

"But we do have the bountiful snow they talk about."

Cutts said the coal industry remains the area's major employer although the 
tourism sector grows every year.

Chamber of Commerce president Heiko Socher called the article's marijuana 
reference "outlandish," saying "there may be pot-growing going on, but it 
doesn't happen here more than anywhere else."

Terry Miller, owner of the Jamochas Coffee House, said many of his 
customers found the Rolling Stone piece "humourous."

"It certainly is a cool town," said Miller, "but the dope smoking is as 
discreet here as it is  anywhere. We don't notice any in the coffee shop."

Miller added: "If you want to find it [pot], you're going to find it. But 
it's not like there are dealers on the streets."

The mention in Rolling Stone isn't the first time Fernie has been mentioned 
as one of the world's great, little-known ski towns.

In 1997, Men's Journal listed Fernie in a special report called Dream 
Towns, saying "this picturesque town in the Canadian Rockies is an 
irresistible discovery." In 1999, the London Daily Mail pegged Fernie 
seventh in its top 10 list of the hot ski resorts for the 21st century.
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