Hudson Bay Mountain Resort, formerly Ski Smithers, is a nice ski area near the town of Smithers in northern BC. It’s mostly frequented by the locals, and considering Smithers BC has a population of only 5,500 friendly folks, Hudson Bay Mountain Resort is not highly trafficked and lift queues and a lack of freshies are not a problem.
Hudson Bay Mountain Resort is worth visiting if you’re on a mega road trip of the
Northern Powder Highway, or it’s ideal as a warm up or cool down if you’re in the area for
Skeena Cat Skiing or
Skeena Heli Skiing. Keep in mind when planning your itinerary that for most of the season, the ski area isn’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Pros and Cons of Ski Smithers
Pros
- Usually the ski resort experiences very low skier traffic.
- Hudson Bay Resort has a friendly local community vibe.
- Lift tickets at the Smithers ski resort are reasonably inexpensive, and accommodation and food in Smithers BC are very affordable.
- Hudson Bay Mountain Resort provides access to some nice backcountry and the dedicated Hankin Evelyn backcountry area is just down the road.
- The views from the top of the ski area are lovely.
Cons
- Hudson Bay (Ski Smithers) has rather small terrain so there’s limited variety and not much on offer for experienced riders.
- The lift infrastructure is rather primitive.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- Commercial lodging on-mountain is limited, necessitating a drive up the mountain each day if you stay in Smithers.
Hudson Bay Ski and Snowboard Terrain
The Hudson Bay Mountain Resort is rather small with only 36 runs and 315 acres (127 hectares) of skiable area, although the statistic may only reference the on-piste terrain. The lift serviced vertical is 508 metres (1,142-1650m), and a trail drops down a further 600m into town. Hudson Bay only has 4 lifts, consisting of 2 T-bars that service the South Face, a slow old triple chair lift for the North Face, and a mini handle tow.
Official trail stats break up the piste terrain into 25% beginners, 55% intermediates, & 20% advanced, which represents the reality pretty well. Beginners have a semi-dedicated area to learn in peace, whilst intermediates have some good length groomers that are mostly fall line. Advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders only have a handful of piste trails to choose from as well as a few specific gladed areas. Otherwise most of the trees make for incredibly tight tree skiing.
Outside the resort boundaries is 110 hectares of lift accessed sidecountry, some of which is gladed.
Hudson Bay Snow
The motto of the Hudson Bay Mountain Resort, “it’s always been about the powder”, might be a little off the mark. The quality of the powder is generally very good because it’s adequately inland, but it doesn’t score that well in the quantity stakes. Resort management don't know what the statistic is for the average snowfall per season but it’s thought to be only about 5 metres.
Where is Hudson Bay Mountain Resort?
Hudson Bay Resort is 22km west of Smithers, a drive that takes about 30 minutes. The town of Smithers is in northern BC, 370km northwest of Prince George and 200km northeast of Terrace. Vancouver is 1,200km by road to the southeast of Smithers or a 1:45hour flight away.
Situated on the
Northern Powder Highway, the surrounding region receives abundant snowfalls and is home to a few snowcat and heli ski companies.
Smithers Hotels
Smithers accommodation is very affordable and it mostly consists of motor hotels (motels) located on the main highway.
Prestige Hudson Bay Lodge is a lovely Smithers hotel with spacious rooms and a restaurant and sports bar with very reasonably priced food.
Aspen Inn is a reasonably simple motel and some rooms have a little kitchenette. The restaurant onsite is nice, and the adjacent Riverhouse lounge bar has some pretty cool décor.
Smithers Hotels Listings
On-mountain at Hudson Bay are private cabins and chalets, but there’s very little commercially available lodging. The ski-in ski-out Sidewinder Inn is one option.
Smithers BC
Smithers BC is a nice little ski town. Well it’s really a logging town, a service town for the valley, and a hub for steelhead fishing, but the Swiss alpine style buildings on the main street seem most suggestive of a ski town. Winter tourism is pretty slow and the town centre is mostly frequented by the locals enjoying the very inexpensive cost of living.
Smithers BC isn’t a party town so don’t expect abundant nightclubs pumping until the wee hours. Many of the Smithers restaurants are contained within the hotels, but a very popular restaurant in the main street is Blue Water Sushi. This Japanese fusion restaurant has some amazing rolls and is a delightful surprise package.
And for daytime fare, check out Two Sisters Café, which serves up spectacular food and coffee.
Ski Resort Facilities
Services and facilities at the Hudson Bay Mountain Resort are more than adequate for what is primarily a day trippers ski area. The main hub is centred around the Panorama Lodge which is very aptly named, offering lovely views, especially from the deck and Whisky Jacks Lounge. The lounge offers a range of table service meals including a ridiculous number of poutine options, and plenty of beverages. For even cheaper meals, the self-service cafeteria offers casual fare that’s rather typical of a Canadian ski resort. Or on weekends, you can pop into the Backdoor (near the chair lift) for a simple snack or drink.
The snowsports school offers incredibly inexpensive lesson packages for first timers and beginners, and standard group lessons are also very cheap. The snowsports school also has an adaptive program.
Basic ski and snowboard equipment rentals are available for next to nix, and there is also a small amount of retail available on-mountain, or there are a couple of Smithers ski shops in town.
Activities
Other than downhill skiing and snowboarding, there aren’t a lot of activities on offer at Hudson Bay. There is a small tubing park, and there are also lots of cross country skiing trails part way up the Hudson Mountain Rd.