Kids Activities

The Fernie Great Pumpkin Hunt

pumpkin hunt
pumpkin hunt

This popular event is open to children and it is appropriate to kids up to 9 year old. Only a small entry fee for each pumpkin hunter. Participants are not required to be a club member. The Great Pumpkin Hunt is usually held each year on the third Saturday in October at the Warming Hut of the Elk Valley Nordic Centre. Come and have a look at the trails before the snow falls! Full details will be announced early in the Fall. Tickets are sold in advance of the event.

The hunt is followed by marshmallows by the fire pits as well as hot chocolate, coffee and hot dogs for the participants – by donation. There is also a photo booth – also by donation – which proves to be very popular with the pumpkin hunters. The event is one of the club fundraiser events.

Previous events

5th Annual Fernie Great Pumpkin Hunt

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UPDATE: Great fall weather on a cool Saturday morning. Plenty of mud also! Many families came to enjoy the wooded surroundings of the Nordic Centre while the young ones looked for pumpkins. About 500 hot dogs were served!

Join the Fernie Nordic Society for Fernie’s 5th Great Pumpkin Hunt, our annual autumn fundraiser event! Children 9 years and under (you don’t need to be a Fernie Nordic Member) are invited to scour the forests surrounding the Warming Hut at the Elk Valley Nordic Centre for their own pumpkin. When the search is finished, each pumpkin hunter can enjoy hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows by the bonfires. It promises to be a great morning of autumn fun!

New this year: Tickets to the event will be sold ahead of time. Come by Heaven Boutique on 2nd Avenue in Fernie to get tickets for your prefered time slot. For more details, check our Facebook page.

pumpkin hunters
Two pumpkin hunters

This is an outdoor event, so please dress your children appropriately and bring camping chairs or blankets if desired. We’re tough Fernie folks so a little rain (or snow!) won’t deter us – but if the weather turns really gnarly, we may postpone it – check our Facebook page the day of for an update.
In the past many families chose to bring wienies to roast on the bonfires and enjoyed a walk on the trails around the Warming Hut after the Hunt. Please plan to do this again!
The Fernie Nordic Society thanks Our Sponsors for supporting this great annual event!

Our 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Hunt is planned for Saturday October 19, 2019 starting at 11:00 am at the Elk Valley Nordic Centre near the Mt. Fernie Provincial Park. The event should end by 3:00 pm.

Race Team

Race Team

The Fernie Nordic Racers is our own ski racing team. Aged from 9 and up, the team members follow a regular training before and during the ski season. They aim to improve their skills in a fun way.

Racers logo

The main goal of the Fernie Nordic Racers program is to establish a healthy, nurturing competitive environment. We feel that competition provides one of the best opportunities for children to be exposed to rules and social values as well as defining the need to get along well with others and be accepted as part of a team. The team will put a strong emphasis on promoting values such as tolerance, fairness and responsibility.

One of our key initiatives is to have fun while learning to ski fast on nordic skis. We believe nordic skiing is a lifelong sport that promotes a well-rounded physical fitness base. Team members establish friendships with kids of different ages, from different schools and from various communities. These friendships play a positive role in their social development and add to the primary focus of having fun while skiing. Skiers learn both skate and classical nordic ski techniques. Positive attitude and sportsmanship are stressed. Some team members seek high-level competition while others take a recreational approach to the sport and may not compete in races. Regardless of their level of competition, kids will have a lot of fun and develop healthy, life-long skiing skills and an appreciation of the beautiful mountain outdoors. Team members are encouraged to learn to be responsible for themselves in term of keeping track of all their gear, having appropriate clothing, water and snacks, and learning to maintain their own skis.

Any questions? Get in touch with a volunteer.

Join our team!

The 2019-2020 season of the the Nordic Society will be the sixth year of the Fernie Racers. Our Racing Team is for kids 9 years or older who have been previously enrolled in nordic ski lessons for at least one season. If your child is interested in joining the team, please contact the coach Jeff before October 1 through the Contact Us page on this site.

For a more detailed explanation on this program, please follow this link to the excellent site of Nordiq Canada.

  • Becky Scott with 2015 winners
  • 2019 winners
    Our fourth time winners!

Skill Development Program

sdp session

Skill Development Program

Ski Gear Pickup this Saturday

Posted: Dec 3, 2019

Hi all Bunnyrabbits, Jackrabbits and TrackAttacks! Saturday morning December 7 is the day of the gear pick up for all those of you who have been fitted already. Please come with your $225 security deposit (one per family) for the

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The Skill Development Program offered to our young skiers by the Fernie Nordic Society was actually developed by the nation-wide organization Cross Country Canada. The program is standardized across the country. All our volunteer coaches are trained according to the established structure to provide a consistent level of training to our skiers.

The levels in the program are aimed at the various age groups:

  • Bunnyrabbit Program for children 5 years and younger
  • Jackrabbit Program for children from 6 to 10 years old
  • Track Attack Program for children 11 years and older

The Fernie Nordic Society provides training at these levels at our weekly Saturday morning and Tuesday after school sessions. Lessons run from January to March. We also have additional training at other times of the year such as dry-land training during summer and autumn. Events may combine the efforts of other clubs nearby. This is a great opportunity for young skiers to improve their skills in a fun atmosphere and to challenge themselves.


Saturday Lessons

10:30 – 11:30 am
 


Tuesday After School
Lessons
4 pm – 5 pm
 

Cost of lessons

Bunnyrabbit     $60 for either the Saturday or Tuesday sessions
Jackrabbit         $70 for either the Saturday or Tuesday sessions
TrackAttack      $75 for both the Saturday and Tuesday sessions

Important Documents

Please note that enrollment into the program will be done ONLINE for the 2019-2020 season. We invite you go to the Zone4.ca webpage to register your child. Ski rentals can also be reserved online at the same time. For more information about our program, or to register your child, you may also use our Contact Us page.

Any questions? Get in touch with a volunteer.

The documents attached below are our basic guidelines for running a fair training program for our young skiers. They are aimed at our parents and our volunteer coaches. We ask all parents and coaches of the 2019-2020 season to read them, to sign the relevant release forms and return to our head coach Jeff Williams.
 
Documents  (click to open and/or save):
Coaching Code of Conduct
Parents Responsibilities
Parents Fair Play & Photo Release

Kal-Tire sponsor

KALTIRE has sponsored the province-wide SDP program for the last few years

Season 2018 – 2019 starts

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The season got to a good start even considering how little snow is on the ground. Volunteers began grooming the trails of the Elk Valley Nordic Centre in late November and many skiers have taken to the trails since.

– – – Ski Lessons
The ski lessons program for children is now fully booked. Several coaches, all volunteers, will lead the lessons on Saturdays and Tuesdays starting in January. This year, fourteen young skiers are part of the Fernie Racers. Their training started back in September and their goal is to enter all eight Teck Kootenay Cup races this season with the first ones in Rossland on December 15-16.

Ski lessons for adults will be available again this year starting in January. Amy Wyatt and Tarah Leggott will be coaching to groups on weekday mornings as well as at other times for private lessons. There is more information on the this website.

– – – Trail Ambassadors and Volunteers
Many of the club members are volunteering their time to be at the Nordic Centre for a few hours during the weekends. The program started this past weekend and will run to the end of the season on Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays between 10 am and 4 pm. The warming hut will be open during most of the Holidays period as well. There are additional volunteering opportunities for the upcoming Kootenay Cup event that the Fernie Nordic Society hosts on January 5 & 6. Let us know at volunteers[at]fernienordic.com

– – – Upcoming Activities
The Fernie Nordic Society has planned several events during the season. There is an early start this week with the first Toonie race on Tuesday Dec 11 at 7 pm at the Nordic Centre. No booking is necessary. Participants gather at the hut, drop their toonie and go for a fun ski. It all ends inside the warming hut by the woodstove. This event is aimed at older teens and adults.

On December 17, is the first activity planned for kids. Participants in the fun Little Critter race do as many short laps in a given time. Sign up starts at 5:30 – free to enter – and the event starts at 6 pm at the Nordic Centre.

And just before the Holidays an event for adults, the first Full Moon Ski and Social at the Nordic Centre on Saturday, December 22 starting at 7 pm. A headlamp is useful to have for this outing under the moonlight. Then end the evening inside the warm hut.

Non club members only need a day pass to participate in these events

– – – Fundraiser
The fundraiser for our newly acquired – and good looking – snowcat is still running. The official page is at https://chuffed.org/project/welcome-home

– – – Buy and Sell
There is Facebook page HERE to use for looking to buy or sell gear locally.

Ad from Heaven Boutique on 2nd Ave
Fernie Nordic Society members get a 10% discount on these brands: **Skhoop (skirts)  **NOSO (adhesive patches)  **Turtle Fur (hats/headbands)  **Auclair (gloves/mitts)  **Goodr (sunglasses)  Club members MUST show their actual membership card with the 2018/19 sticker on it for the discount to be valid.

Trail
passes are now available from any of our kiosks at the trails and at
the warming hut – single $10 or family $20. They are good stocking
stuffers for anyone!
Enjoy the many trails that Fernie has to offer!

Our membership drive is on!

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This year it is so easy to purchase your membership that you can do it at work or at home … just kidding – about registering at work that is! We’ve been working with Zone4 Registration to get our membership online this year and now you can join the Fernie Nordic Society from the comfort of your couch. Visit us HERE (click link) to register now. Your annual membership assists in meeting grooming expenses so be sure to get yours and your family’s online now! Our early bird prices end this Wednesday November 15.

There are only a few days left to get savings off at LAST YEAR”S membership prices! So make sure you and your friends are ready … because the trail prep has begun!!

We still have several spots left in our lessons program for kids aged 3 to 16. This Saturday Nov 18 is the time to get the kids sized up for rental gear. The Skill Development Program (SDP) offered to our young skiers by the Fernie Nordic Society was actually developed by the nation-wide organization Cross Country Canada. The program is standardized across the country. All our volunteer coaches are trained according to the established structure to provide a consistent level of training to our skiers. Would you like to see your little ones learning to ski? You can register for the SDP Program online HERE (click link) together with your membership and rental gear if desired.