Luke Glaser, an American skier from Ohio, booked all of his ski trips in the U.S. before the season started this year — a decision he now says was a “big mistake.”

“So we went to Colorado and they had no snow. Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a bad season,” he said.

Then he heard about Banff, Alta., so Glaser decided to book a last-minute trip to the Canadian Rockies. It would be his first time skiing there.

“It’s a great time. These mountains are beautiful. The skiing is great,” he said.

 Another first-time visitor is Steve Merchant, who came from California to ski.

“We were just looking for something a little more adventurous. And we were just lucky that you had snow up here, since California wasn’t great this year,” he said.

Glaser and Merchant were both at Sunshine Village Ski Resort this week. The resort says it has received 948 centimetres of snow this season. That’s the height of an average three-storey building.

The last time Sunshine saw more than 900 centimetres of snow was the 2021–22 season and before that, 1956–57.

In contrast, many western U.S. states have experienced a snow drought this year, leading to poor conditions and even early resort closures.

Rachel Wilson, director of marketing at SkiBig3, says her organization was already anticipating an increase due to its U.S. marketing campaigns, but the strong snowfall in Banff pushed those numbers even higher.

She said the three resorts in Banff — Mount Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village — saw a 50-per-cent increase in American visitors this year, compared to the same time last year.

“So word really spread quickly, and people wanted to save their ski season,” she said.

Wilson said the area saw the most U.S. visitors from California, New York, Colorado, Washington and Massachusetts.

“Most of those states are very similar to previous years, but we have seen a big bump from Washington, and that’s likely due to their lack of snow and driving up here,” she said.

SkiBig3 represents Banff’s three ski resorts, promoting the region through marketing and selling lift tickets through its online platform. Wilson said the organization adjusted its marketing strategy mid-season to highlight how much snow Banff had.

Tannis Gaffney, the chief marketing officer for Travel Alberta, said the agency actively promotes winter travel to the province and said the United States is a key target market.

According to Travel Alberta data, the province saw about 977,000 visitors from the U.S. in 2025, up roughly five per cent from 2024.

Gaffney adds that Alberta saw the highest number of American visitors compared to other provinces in 2025.

“We knew that there was going to be momentum going into this year, but we are absolutely thrilled to see a number like that,” she said. 

“So we’re really excited and hoping to see the momentum continue into this year, too.”

Glaser said he will be back for next year’s ski season, and he will be bringing his family with him.

“My dad wants to come up next time. He’s pretty jealous.”