Banff cancels super popular “skijoring” heritage event
Officials said the Norwegian-heritage sport had simply become too successful to manage.
Banff’s popular skijoring event has been cancelled after crowds overwhelmed the mountain town, leaving streets gridlocked, parking lots overflowing and residents complaining. Officials said the Norwegian-heritage sport had simply become too successful to manage.
Banff and Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) called it a “difficult decision,” saying a multi-agency review found the event could not continue safely or sustainably, citing risks to visitor experience and an insufficient business case.
“The perfect storm of weather and growing popularity and sort of almost viral uptake of the skijor lifestyle led to a really, really busy couple of days,” said Leslie Bruce, BLLT’s president and CEO.
“Probably the single biggest challenge of this event was it became so popular that you had this surge in visitation and that had very obvious impacts on our ability to manage, including in case of emergency.”
