The Nelson area got plenty of positive press in 2012. Here are a few of our rave reviews:
1) The Guardian’s online edition included Nelson in its “Been There” feature which allows readers to submit “recommendations for trips that will change your life.”
Someone with the handle “Wingrave” said the city and its architecture “will make you reassess what you think civilization should be like” and added the “beautiful setting, on the shores of Lake Kootenay by the underrated Selkirk Mountains, combine the majestic Canadian wilderness with the best minds and values our species has created.”
Other destinations on the list included the Amazon rainforest, Angkor Wat, and Mexico’s Zapotec ruins.
2) Travel website vacay.ca named Nelson one of the “12 best places to travel in Canada in 2012,” along with Calgary, Montreal, Haida Gwaii and the Bay of Funday.
The writers said: “Nelson is a little town with a ton of power. Its annual electronic music festival, Shambhala, draws more than 10,000 people each summer. Throw in heritage buildings, cool cafes and beautiful scenery, and you have a little gem worth a visit.” (We presume no disrespect was intended to Salmo, which is much closer to the Shambhala grounds than Nelson.)
3) NBC’s Today Show filmed a segment for the Red Bull Signature Series at Baldfage Lodge in early February. Correspondent Jenna Wolfe and her crew spent several days filming at the catski operation and speaking with renowned snowboarder Travis Rice.
“Everybody has their idea of paradise. A perfect spot where every dream comes true,” Wolfe waxed while a helicopter shot of the mountainous terrain was featured.
But the four-minute segment never named Nelson. The closest descriptors were “deep in Canada’s wild mountains” and “just over the border in Canada’s British Columbia.”
4) Sunset Magazine named Nelson one of its 20 “ultimate fantasy towns.”
The article calls Nelson a “quirky-quaint” town “truly in the middle of nowhere. In a good way.
Up here, it’s all about community: Networking takes place on the sidelines of the kids’ soccer field, folks tend to boycott big chain stores, and if you choose work over family here, you stick out.” It also mentioned our powder skiing, hiking and mountain biking.
Sunset is an American lifestyles magazine focused on the west.
5) Popular fishing series The Dimestore Fisherman aired an episode shot on Kootenay Lake with Nelson Star columnist Kerry Reed of Reel Adventures.
“When you’re on that water and those mountain peaks are breaking through the clouds and you can see the ceiling, it’s pretty amazing,” host and producer Jim Hoey told the Star. “We certainly want to encourage anyone who lives in the Kootenays to experience Kootenay Lake themselves. It’s a resource that’s right there and it’s one of a kind.”
6) Vancouver travel writer Mark Sissons provided an account about Nelson to The Huffington Post, entitled “British Columbia’s wild playground boasts an eccentric past.”
“Like so many towns in the West Kootenay, Nelson has totally transformed over the course of a century and become a haven for outsiders with crazy dreams and escape artists seeking shelter from society’s storms while they reinvent themselves,” he wrote.
Sissons also went paddling and cycling in the Slocan Valley. He named Villa Dome Quixote in New Denver and Nelson’s Cloudside Inn as great places to stay.