Wild bar from the 1890s that looks likes it’s straight off the set of a Western and isn’t much more refined inside. The honky-tonk atmosphere, pool tables and regular live music keeps the locals coming. Also does basic bar food, with daily specials offered.

Hip and airy basement bar with several laid-back sofas and a pool table, below the Fiddle River restaurant. The Downstream’s particularly great for imaginative sandwiches; with ingredients like marinated tofu, smoked meat and sauerkraut (priced $12–19 including salad, fries or soup); burgers; and snacks like pierogi and yam fries, as well as mean steaks.

Every year around 9 meters (29 feet) of deep powdery snow settle in Fernie’s many wide mountain bowls, delighting skiers and making snowboarders rave. The terrain ranges from wide and easy green runs to daredevil chutes into lightly-wooded intermediate-level bowls where, on weekdays, you can often still find untracked powder snow at the end of the day. Fernie claims the...

Sports bar with plentiful screens and a down-home feel. The bar food is well above average, with the fish and chips particularly good ($12). Like most Fernie bars, live music is a regular part of the programme. Also offers accommodation by the month.

Considering it’s such a winning formula, it’s amazing, that this is the one of only two brewpubs in the Canadian Rockies (the other is in Jasper). And sure enough, the place is heaving every night; locals and visitors alike love the pub-grub (great & imaginative burgers – $14) and smart sportsbar atmosphere. The beers are exceptional too: the Grumpy Bear...

Step out of the Golden Eagle Gondola – the resort’s main lift – and it’s hard not to stop and gape at the remarkable pristine slopes that stretch ahead in a lofty wonderland of clouds and peaks. But what’s below just as seductive to skiiers and boarders looking for backcountry-style adventure, since the ski area encompasses many untamed open bowls,...

Like Panorama, Kimberley lies in the Purcell Mountains, though the squat foothills that surround the relatively small latter resort are a far cry from their hulking cousins further north. Despite this difference, the resorts compare in many ways, with Kimberley also best-known for intermediate skiing. It’s also particularly great for learning, with ideal wide green runs. And with its collection...

Cradled in a deep valley in the Purcell Mountains, Panorama’s ski area climbs a massive 4000 feet to offer some of the best seats in the house for views of the magnificent main spine of the Rockies – hence the resort’s name. But Panorama’s certainly not all about gazing into the distance, as below its windswept summit lies a virtual...

Comfortable, though pretty nondescript hotel with large, clean rooms all gathered around an indoor atrium, the location of the pool and hot tub. Also here is a restaurant, liquor store, and the Pub Bar and Grill, which is one of Fernie’s busiest nightlife spots – despite its isolated location away from both the resort and downtown. Good pub food: try...

Field might be an odd spot to find a hip gourmet Bistro, but that’s just what Truffle Pigs is, with its emphasis on fresh local ingredients to create treats for your tastebuds. It’s a great spot, with funky decor (flying pigs!), great valley views and a good range of snacks, home-baked breads and cakes. But the bistro’s probably most renowned...

Subdued lighting, wood accents and orange hues form the backdrop for meat feasts at Villa Caruso. The menu’s largely about flame-grilling Alberta’s best cuts of beef, though seafood, pasta and pizzas do make an appearance. Lunch mains average $17; dinner mains $32. The adjoining laid-back fireside martini and cocktail bar is tempting for a drink before or after your meal...