Banff Overwhelmed: Skijoring Event Draws Thousands, Exceeding Town Capacity

Article content The Town of Banff was forced to turn away vehicle traffic for part of the day Saturday, after a skijoring event attracted thousands of people, exceeding the community’s capacity. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account Email Address or Article content Skijoring, a winter sport in which skiers and snowboarders are pulled down a track by a horse, has become increasingly popular in recent years, with Skijor Canada calling it “the fastest growing winter sport in North America.” Article content Article content Article content “We’re a four-square-kilometre community. Our downtown is about four square blocks,” she said. “We just don’t have the infrastructure or personnel, and we can’t just staff up and mobilize on a dime. We were caught off guard by the sheer volume of vehicles and people on Saturday.” Article content Though it’s not uncommon for traffic to be turned away from Lake Louise or Lake Minnewanka on peak summer weekends, DiManno said she couldn’t remember the last time the town was closed to vehicle traffic — especially during the winter months. Article content “There’s a formula in place for Parks Canada when they believe that emergency services would have trouble accessing the road network, and so they make the decision to begin turning away vehicles,” she said. Article content “But I cannot, in my recent memory — and I’ve been on council for 12 years — think of a time that we had to turn away vehicles from the town site. It truly was something like we have never seen before.” Article content Article content Article content DiManno said town council will do a comprehensive review of the situation with Banff and Lake Louise Tourism, with input from partner agencies such as the RCMP, Parks Canada and Roam Public Transit. Article content “It’ll be really important to look at how we could mitigate these factors that we saw as it relates to transportation, (and) as it relates to some of the unruly behaviour that we witnessed,” she said, noting instances of public drinking, as well as empty beer cans and liquor bottles littering the ground after the event. Article content “The real key here will be to try to find some of those solutions that will ensure that it’s as safe and enjoyable for residents and visitors in the future,” she said. “At the end of the day, what happened on Saturday cannot happen again.” Article content Skijoring takes on ‘a life of its own’ Article content This was the fourth year that skijoring had been part of Banff and Lake Louise’s annual SnowDays festival, and DiManno said it’s increased in popularity each year.