Trudy and Dale Buxton
Publishers, Biggar Independent
We continue our journey into British Columbia and our stay in Revelstoke.
We have all know this nice city of 8,300 people as Revelstoke, but when the settlement first began the community was named Farwell after Arthur Farwell who was a surveyor. Initially the town be laid out in 1884, built around the Canadian Pacific Railway. However, during this time the railway and Mr. Farwell were in dispute over the price of land and doing business, so much so that the railway built another community near Farwell, naming it Revelstoke after Lord Revelstoke who was a British banker that was part of the banking system that saved the railway from bankruptcy.
Farwell still exists as a part of Revelstoke, an area that is closest to the highway.
Did you know that Revelstoke is located in the world’s only inland temperate rainforest? This inland temperate rainforest is a rich ecosystem of red cedar, some of these trees are over 1,000 years old, and hemlock trees hosting a wide variety of animals and plant life. British Columbia is the only place in the world to have this type of forest.
The average snowfall in Revelstoke is about just shy of 40-feet. That is a lot of snow, the community is surrounded by the Selkirk and Monashee mountain ranges which helps with the amount of snow that drops each year. Revelstoke holds the record in Canada for the most snowfall in a single winter at just over 80-feet.
Revelstoke is noted as the ‘Birthplace of Canadian Skiing.’ The Revelstoke Ski Club was established in 1891, which was mainly started by Scandinavian miners who introduced the Norwegian snowshoes to the area. The first winter carnival was in 1915 featuring ski racing and ski jumping.
For many years Revelstoke was internally famous for the ski jumping and people all over the world came to Revelstoke to try out the hills. A world record 183-foot ski jump was accomplished in 1916. Today Revelstoke still maintains an ultimate in different types of skiing and snowboarding.
If you are in for some hiking, the rainforest offers some spectacular waterfalls and awesome scenery along the way.
Along with all the snow of the winter, there is also the chances of an avalanche. Revelstoke is the home to the deadliest avalanche in Canada, when a slide claimed the lives of 58 men, and buried over 400 metres of railway. With all of the avalanches that have taken place, Revelstoke is an innovator in preventative measures, some of which are still used today.
Revelstoke has the most powerful dam on the Columbia River. It is also a great place to film a movie, featuring a number of movies that were shot in or near Revelstoke. It is a haven for many species of wildlife including the mountain caribou that thrive in the rainforest environment, and bears which at one time were such a nuisance that many were destroyed.
The railway still serves as a major divisional point for the Canadian Pacific, while tourism and the natural resources serve as the main economic factors.
One interesting fact (or fiction!) is that the Courthouse Square located in Revelstoke has been noted as one of the most haunted locations in Canada with eerie sounds and the sighting of various apparitions.
Stay tuned next week with more adventures of The Saskatchewan Traveller.
