I know Fernie's not really in the Calgary area, but it's only 303km away, so it sort of counts, right? 

We arrived in Fernie mid-afternoon and decided to take a spin on some old favourites out by the landfill.  Riding  up the jeep trail to the top of Kid's Stuff was a real treat in the hot, humid air.  We would have taken the singletrack up, but I couldn't remember exactly where everything started and finished, plus we needed to meet up with the rest of the crew pretty quickly.  Kid's Stuff was surprisingly wet.  Traction on the ground was fine unless you had to grab a handful of rear brake. 

The roots were pretty slippery as well, as my wife found out the hard way.  With nothing injured but pride, we continued on to Splitting Bears.  The lower part has been re-vamped, with some nice bermed corners and better flow [IMHO] than the old trail.  Neither of the trails has any huge stunts, they're not overly steep or super technical.  They are just fun to ride, and can be connected together with the other trails in the immediate vicinity to form loop after loop after loop.

The next day, we rode some of the FAR [on-hill] stuff.  First up was the old classic, Megahurtz.  We had some noobs with us, and it was really hot [and everyone was kinda hung over] - so the pace of the ride was easier than normal.  Right near the exit points of Honeybee and Far Out there was a very official-looking sign saying something like "ALL TRAIL RIDERS MUST PURCHASE A LIFT TICKET".  What the?!  Pay $50 to ride up the hill?  No, I don't think so.  We chuckled at the sign and continued on up the road, enjoying the view.

After collecting everyone together, we tackled Megahurtz.  It's a fun trail with almost no climbing, and takes you back to Highline Drive and/or Boomerang Way.  The noobs were stoked, and it was interesting to see how the trail had been re-vamped near the end to deal with erosion.  Basically, the slope had been reduced and gradients added to dump water instead of relying on water bars.  As a result, only the last 20' had any significant erosion problems.  Well done!  Next, we headed for Far Out...

...unfortunately the short cut wasn't really all that short.  Seeing all the wildflowers and hearing the bees buzz as we pushed our bikes up the 30% grade made up for it.  With half the group already gone home, we finally made it to the top and ripped down Far Out as fast as we could.  Fun trail! 

We were very hot and very sweaty, so back to the chalet we went for refreshments.  Later that evening, we rode some singletrack out by the XC ski trails.  It was a hoot and a half!  Rolling trail with just enough blind corners to keep you on your toes.  I did manage to big-ring it for a while, but dialled it back after some near-misses with the trees.  After much coaxing, we convinced the newer riders to tackle Far Out with us.  Everyone had a big ol' grin on by the bottom.  Time for dinner and more beverages!

At dinner, we discussed Sunday's ride.  A couple of people had been out to do Slunt and Brokeback via Verboten and Sherwoody, and they told us a tale of sweet descents and a "bit of hike-a-bike".  The cost?  A mere 800m of vertical gain.  Hmmmm...  Sunday morning was a rough one, as the last bottle was drained after midnight.  We got lazy and decided to drive to the [now closed] DQ and ride up from there.  After taking a couple of wrong turns on the way to Burma Rd., we started up Phat Bastard.  Barely 5 minutes in, a guy comes zipping down, warning us about a moose cow and calf that refused to move off the trail.  "Half an hour I waited, and she wouldn't move!  Very dangerous!"  We kept riding up anyway, and lo and behold, the lead guy almost runs right into the moose[s].  We waited until our group was all together again, by which time the pair was off the trail about 20m.  That was as far as they seemed willing to go, so we walked by them, ready to ditch the bikes and run if necessary.  We were scrutinized as we passed, but made it by without incident.

I wish I had taken some pictures of the trail as we climbed up, 'cause it kicks ass.  Nice climbing turns instead of switchbacks, the Spooky Cabin, bridges and skinnies where needed.  We made it past Mushroom Top to Lactic Ridge, where we started the ride 'n' push portion of the day.  Damn, that was a big gain in altitude. 

Taking the left fork led to Slunt.  Um, wow.  No pictures, as I really didn't want to stop.  Ever.  We passed two groups of riders on the way down to Brokeback, which was more of the same, just at an easier grade.  The descent was worth the burn on the way up.  If you get a chance to ride it, do it!

After some popsicles at the Husky, it was time for a rest at the chalet.  I didn't make it back out again due to a severe case of laziness, but some of the others rode Black Forest again just before dinner.  Some late-night Wii and still more beverages capped off a great weekend.

I'll throw in a couple of other observations.  The lifts on the hill were only half-full for most of the weekend.  There isn't much going on in the village either, with most of the little shops and such closed for the season.  The lift-accessed trails have received some attention, but could use more.  The more mellow trails have been cleaned up a bit too, but there's not really anything new.  On the other hand, the trails accessible from town just get better and better.  All the shops and restaurants had people in them, and there was plenty of traffic on the main street.  Where I normally would have grabbed a drink and a snack on the hill, I ended up going into town.  Staying on the hill is losing its zing...