Step Back In Time and Meet… The Giant Toboggan Slide at the Banff Winter Carnival

Welcome to Back In Time Editing’s history series: Step Back In Time and Meet… Each post will tell a brief story about a place, person, or object of historical significance.

History enthusiasts are often drawn to particular eras, people, or even objects during our reading and research journeys. The history of Banff, for instance, contains many subjects of fascination, including the toboggan slide which was a main feature of the Banff Winter Carnival during the last century. This massive run was a tobogganer’s dream, and it started, as good things often do, with a meeting of the minds between friends.     

In December 1916, Banff entrepreneur Norman Luxton and magistrate Barney Collision were enjoying a few post-poker game drinks and smokes, as they did in those days, and they hatched the idea for a winter carnival. The idea was to attract tourists to the town during the winter months, because Banff was open to tourists only during the summers. Luxton saw an opportunity to boost business during the offseason months, especially since winter sports were so popular with the locals.

The first Winter Carnival took place in February 1917, and it did indeed offer an array of outdoor activities, including skijoring, hockey, skating races, swimming meets in the hot springs, and ski jumping. But the toboggan slide was the pièce de resistance. The slide was created by the Winter Sports Club, and it ran a half mile long. The top started at Tunnel Mountain; from there, it connected to Caribou Street, and ended at Banff Avenue.

A complete ride took just 28 to 35 seconds. Modern society is much more concerned about safety than they were in the early twentieth century, but even so, riders’ speed was limited by making sure there was a thick layer of snow on the track at all times. The slide was also made using moldings, to ensure riders didn’t fly off the run as they hurtled down the mountain.

It’s fun to imagine the levels of joy the slide must have brought to thousands of children, and probably their parents as well. What a view it must have been from the top of Tunnel Mountain, looking down into the town and knowing you would be smack in the middle of it in mere seconds. How many youngsters chickened out, too, and told themselves they’d do it next year? And how many discovered a love of taking risks, or overcame the fear of taking a chance, thanks to a decision to just take a deep breath and push off at the top of the slide?

Tobogganing is often a big part of the experience of growing up in a sub-arctic climate, which is perhaps why the slide is such a compelling relic of the past. Of course, winter events remain a big attraction for tourists to Banff today. It’s unlikely, though, that the slide will make a return, partly because the area doesn’t get the same amount of snow it did in past decades. Likewise, the infrastructure of Banff has expanded to such a degree that there is no room for a track of such a length. And so the slide is lost to the snows of time. Still, thanks to surviving photographs, brochures, and oral accounts, we can connect to this unique aspect of Banff’s history.

Curious about skijoring? Stay tuned for the next edition of Step Back In Time and Meet…