No skijoring in Banff next winter; event cancelled over crowding concerns

A Skijor skier is airborne as the packed crowd cheers at the SnowDays Skijoring event in Banff, Alta., Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dayne Patterson

After drawing massive crowds and record-breaking traffic to Banff earlier this year, skijoring won’t be returning to the mountain town in 2027.

The unique winter hobby has become one of the signature attractions of Banff Lake Louise Tourism’s annual SnowDays festival, which celebrates mountain culture and Canadian sports.

It’s a western-inspired feat of athleticism that sees skiers and snowboarders pulled along a snowy course by horses, going over jumps and doing flips and tricks.

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In mid-January, thousands of spectators lined Banff Avenue to watch competitors clad in cowboy hats and western wear race down the snow-covered course constructed along the town’s busiest street.

Skijoring has been featured in SnowDays five times, but its growing popularity caused unprecedented crowds and significant traffic congestion during its latest run.

Town officials said nearly 24,000 vehicles entered Banff on Jan. 17 — the opening day of the two-day skijoring competition.

The town even recorded the highest number of vehicles ever entering the community in the hour leading up to the event.

Parks Canada also reported widespread illegal parking and said staff were forced to direct traffic through the Banff National Park gate to ease bottlenecks.

‘Wildly successful’

Leslie Bruce, president and CEO of Banff Lake Louise Tourism, says it was a hard decision to make, but they decided it wasn’t a good idea for skijoring to return.

“The 2026 event in January was wildly successful,” she said. “The event was attended so wildly and in such a compressed amount of time that it created some real challenges for us as a community.”

She says for the event to proceed next year, they would have had to fundamentally redesign everything.

“Which we tried to do – that’s why it took us five months to do this.”

Bruce says they looked at roughly a dozen different spots they could potentially move the event, but the pieces weren’t falling in place.

“It was too popular. Being too popular at one specific time on two specific days meant that our infrastructure was overwhelmed,” she said.

On a more cheerful note, she said Skijor Canada “is still running an event in Calgary.”

Banff mayor says it’s ‘bitter-sweet’

Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno says she respects the decision.

“It definitely is a bitter-sweet decision. I know they did not make it lightly,” she said.

“We know that many residents and visitors really love this event, and it was an important economic boost for us at a traditionally slow time of year.

“That being said, the popularity of it grew, and it went beyond our expectations, and we saw some really significant challenges on our community.”

DiManno says the influx of traffic was so bad some residents were unable to get out of their driveways because people were parked there.

She also said there was excessive alcohol consumption and littering in the downtown core.

When asked how Banff residents are taking the news, she says reaction to the cancellation has been “mixed.”

In a statement posted to its website, Skijor Canada thanked Banff residents, businesses and organizations for their “hospitality and partnership.”

“We are grateful for the support, enthusiasm, and passion shown by our fans, partners and participants over the years,” Skijor Canada said.

“Our commitment to skijoring remains as strong as ever. Stay tuned for announcements on our 2027 season events.”