Student Blog

I already had lots of great experiences during my stay, but the thing I enjoyed the most so far was all the great mountain biking I got to do here when I first arrived.

I have biked before, in the Italian part of the Alps, and also back in Germany, but it is a whole new experience here. All the trails are beautifully maintained and in great shape, and I love that hikers and bikers accept each other, instead of giving everyone a hard time, e.g. by not stepping out of the way, or screaming for not having a bell. In my home state, there is a law that within forests, bikers must not use trails narrower than 2m. The majority of mountain bikers just ignores the rule, and I don’t know anybody who ever had to face consequences after breaking it, but when biking in the woods and encountering hikers, they will mostly let you know that you are at fault. That is for sure very different and much better here.

What I also like is that there are trails for every level of biking. You can start with something very easy and slowly work your way up to higher levels. I have definitely already made a lot of progress that way. I also find it very funny how on some of the trails, there are objects related to the trail name. On the trail “Stove” for example, there is an old stove, and on the one that is called “Dem Bones” there is a skull. My favourite trail so far is “Swine Flu”, with a pink piggy bank at the trailhead. Many trails have great view points that offer spectacular views over the town of Fernie and Elk Valley.

I love spending time outside, and biking is a great way to combine this with spending time with my host family, because their favourite thing ever is biking. I really enjoy learning from them as they all are much better bikers than I am. At home I was more into road biking, but that has definitely changed now.

Photo and blog post submitted by Kathrin from Germany, a grade 11 student at Fernie Secondary School.