Yuletide felicitations from Canada. My ever expanding carbon footprint has brought me back to Fernie, BC for Christmas and it's very good to be back. Unlike European resorts Fernie has had a cracking start to the season and yesterday Santa brought me exactly what I asked for: 10cms of soft new snow. It was a fantastic day's skiing made all the more unbelievable because I never needed to queue for a lift. The holiday crowds are due in tomorrow so yesterday the locals and I could help ourselves to a delicious powder buffet. Ah the pow! The cold smoke, the BC tea, call it what you like the skiing at Fernie is as good as I remembered it. In fact I think it's better because I've got better and I'm finally good enough to start to make the most of the terrain here. Mind you I've been wiping out left right and centre, but I'm wiping out in much steeper, deeper places than I used to. That's progress.