Terrific place to visit!
If you like the alpine, then you will love Smithers. I grew up in the North, and have visited Smithers off and on for 30 years or so. Over the years, Smithers seems to have done a better job than most northern communities in preserving and enhancing what is special about Northern BC. Wildlife? Check. Watching bears poking around for berries and stuff from the porch of a friend’s place just outside of town may not be for everybody (stay away, Paris Hilton) but it’s pretty great if you want to feel close to what’s real about the world. Fishing? Check. Drop a line in the Bulkley and you will find out why so many people rave about it. Hiking? Please, give me a break. The Babines are so close by and compared to what you find in the lower mainland, terrific as that can be, they are virtually untouched. Skiing? Check. The snow is great, lift tickets ridiculously reasonable, and there is no word for line-ups in the language spoken by Smithers ski fanatics. No, I don’t work for the Smithers tourism board or whatever it’s called. I just know the town and like it a lot because, for all its terrific physical attributes, what makes Smithers such a congenial place is the people. Sure, they are down to earth and friendly, as you would expect from a small town, but Smithers also kicks off a great feeling from being a real community. I have been to my share of resort towns and although they can be fun, they tend to all share the same kind of artificial tourism monoculture – you know, “Turn left at Ye Olde Fudge Shoppe and the spa is right there” sort of thing. Smithers is different, because when you visit you step into a living and breathing community that it is both welcoming and very much itself. Check it out, if you get a chance.
