Page 11 - REN_Mar-Apr 2021

TRAVEL Terrace, British Columbia:

Home of the Spirit Bear

Jules Torti courtesy of Realtor.ca
errace is located in the Skeena River Valley, 885 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia. The
terraced landscape is the namesake as the city was built on a series of natural flat benches cut by the river’s
Tflow. Sheltered by the Coast Mountains, Terrace is privy to a unique “greenhouse” effect. It would be unfair to
associate the city’s northern location with the typical northern barometer that reads “brrrrr.” Instead, Terrace residents
enjoy moderate temperatures and experience less rainfall than most of the coast because of the area’s low altitude
(60 metres above sea level) and proximity to the ocean (60 km). You can even grow peaches here!
The traditional home of the Kitsumkalum and Kitselas First Nations people, Terrace is a culturally rich pocket of the
northwest. Sport fisherman, snowboarders and photographers will be thrilled with the opportunities at all angles.
Did you know?
• The Kermodei (pronounced Kerr-mo-dee) or “Spirit Bear” is Terrace’s official corporate seal. The bear was first
identified as a new species in 1905 by Francis Kermode, director of the B.C. Provincial Museum. In 1928, he
confidently concluded the Kermodei was not an albino. The rare subspecies of the common North American
black bear has delighted those lucky enough to see one in Terrace or on the small islands along the Douglas
Channel.
• The Skeena River comes alive with the return of the migrating oolichan. The arrival of the slim silvery-blue fish
signals spring in the watershed. The celebrated oolichan run attracts not only spectators but thousands of hungry
eagles, sea lions and seals that follow them more than 100 km to their spawning grounds.
• Big Bertha is a 50-ton spar pole designed to move logs on a logging site and is one of only four ever used in
North America. Brought to Terrace in 1952, the spar pole was found to be impractical due to its weight and
manoeuvrability in the bush.
Housing market
Terrace is part of the BC Northern Real Estate Board. The average price of homes sold in September 2020 was $346,958,
rising 13.4% from September 2019.

www.BCislandhomes.ca | REAL ESTATE NOW | 11