Alpine Al, the Chainsaw-Carved Mascot of Main Street

See that seven-foot chainsaw-carved fellow on Main Street, the one holding the long alpine horn? That's Alpine Al. He's been the mascot of Smithers since 1973.

A year earlier, in 1972, the town had voted to give Main Street an alpine theme. The full resolution read: "Whereas Smithers is well-known in the Pacific Northwest for its fine winters for skiing, snowmobiling, skating, curling, jam pail curling, and other winter sports, and whereas Smithers is known far and wide as the friendly Town and for its good shops and good people... therefore it be resolved that we encourage this trait by adopting an alpine theme in our business district architecture to relate to our mountain and winter sport heritage."

Alpine Al was the visible symbol of that theme, a man with a long alpine horn to welcome people into the community. The first Al was carved with a chainsaw, seven feet tall. Other downtown buildings were styled to match the new alpine look.

Time, weather, and Smithers winters took their toll. In 1996 he was given a fibreglass coating to keep him going. Then in 2016 he was replaced outright: a new seven-foot Alpine Al, this one carved from a thousand-year-old red cedar, was installed on Main Street. He is still there. If anyone wanders into town and wonders why the storefronts all lean mountain-alpine, Al is the reason.