February 6, 2006
Snowfall
24 Hour: 0cm (0in)
48 Hour: 0cm (0in)
7 Day: 32cm (13in)
Snow Pack: 329cm (130in)
Text and Photos by Krista Turcasso
Phocals Report
I made the choice this weekend to take in the cross-country trails at Fernie Apline Resort Having skied them often, I got into a rhythm and became lost in thought. What is the definition of a “Fernie Local?”
 I have lived in Fernie for just over two months. Officially that does not make me a local by Fernie standards, but the fact that I lived here my whole life up until graduation in 1997 does. I argue with my boyfriend Matt about his Fernie “title” often. I always call him “phocal” (phony local) in jest, which he really dislikes. His argument is that he has lived here since 1997 and has worked up at Island Lake Lodge since then. He has also contributed to the community as a multi-business owner and a resident that “shops locally.” These are important factors to consider when being called a local…. according to the phocals.
Dating Matt, the Fernie phocal, enticed me back to Fernie nearly every weekend for 3 years until I finally made the move. Over these three years I have seen and experienced a side of Fernie I never knew existed through Matt, his friends, my new co-workers and my own curiosity. I now know groups of people I never knew existed. I have reached peaks I never knew had a summit. I have become a mountain biker. A road biker. A snow shoer. I have become the skier I always dreamed I would be. I have become just as obsessed with summer in Fernie as winter in Fernie. Most importantly, I have a job that allows me to live in the town that provides me with all of these activities and allows me to give back to a community that has given me so much.
I am halfway through Silk Trail, looking out over the valley at the turnaround point when it dawned on me: I finally have become what many “phocals” already are, die-hard Fernie residents! Of course there will always be camaraderie between the born and raised Fernie residents, but what it comes down to is that we are all here because we love it and we do what we can to keep it going.
That is how I arrived at my new definition of a local. Will I continue to use the term “phocal?” Probably just on days like yesterday, when Matt returned from 7 days of guiding at Island Lake Lodge in the 50 cm + of fresh champagne powder Fernie received this week. Jealous? Yes, because even though I thoroughly enjoyed my cross-country skiing adventure this weekend, it wasn’t powder skiing!
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