Banff’s First Ski Hill Turns 100, and Hits the Big Screen

BANFF — At first glance, The Mighty Quay, premiering this year at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival, is a celebration of a ski hill: Mount Norquay’s 100-year legacy in the Canadian Rockies. But dig a little deeper, and it becomes clear that this short film is also about a community, the spirit that built it, and how stories of place shape our sense of belonging.

Directed by Patrick Hoffman and produced by Sherpas Cinema in collaboration with Norquay’s team, The Mighty Quay traces the transformation of the modest ski hill above Banff into a multi-season destination that helped define winter tourism in the Bow Valley. The film’s world premiere at Jenny Belzberg Theatre on Nov 2 marks not just a milestone for Norquay but something of a homecoming: filming that’s rooted in the place it chronicles.

A hill born of pioneers

Norquay’s story begins long before gondolas and snow-making. Its slopes were first cut for skiing in 1926. In fact, the resort publicly lays claim to being the first ski area established in the Canadian Rockies. What began humbly, with local children taught to ski by Alpine guides and a rope-tow powered by an automobile engine in the early 1940s, grew into something much larger.

In the decades that followed, Norquay became a proving ground for ski racers, hosting major events such as the Dominion Championships in 1937, 1940, and 1948, and even contributing to Olympic bids. For generations of Bow Valley locals, the mountain’s character is as much defined by its community as by its runs.

Filming close to home

Hoffman explains his draw to this story. After moving into the Bow Valley, he says what grabbed him weren’t just the slopes of Norquay but the community, the legacy, and the spirit of a mountain that punched above its weight. In the interview with Bow Valley Insider, he notes that the film is “rooted right here in Banff… it was deeply personal.”

When filming locally, as opposed to on some remote expedition, the challenge becomes what you include rather than what you go get. The film’s research phase leaned heavily on local archives such as the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and Banff town records, along with interviews with long-time community members, including 99-year-old ski legend Eddie Hunter. Hoffman recalls the moment he skied with Hunter and his grandson: “seeing him ski, at the same age as Norquay itself, was something I’ll never forget.”

What it tries to feel like

While the film tracks innovation such as rope tows, the “Big Chair” installed in 1948, downhill racing, and the shift to summer adventure, the emotional thrust is community. As Hoffman says, Norquay isn’t just a ski hill. It’s where people made their first turns, lifelong friendships, and foundational memories. For many in this valley the chairlift isn’t just infrastructure, it’s a generator of belonging.

The aim, then, is to make the viewer feel nostalgia for those who’ve skied the Bowl, pride that this mountain helped shape a regional ski culture, and continuity that Norquay’s legacy is still alive and shaping future generations.

The shape of the story

Given the brevity of the film, only 32 minutes, choices had to be made. The producers worked with Norquay’s staff to identify key eras: early 1920s and 30s ski-jump camps, the post-war boom, the mid-century “Big Chair,” the ski-racing era, and then the pivot toward all-season mountain adventure. Along the way, countless local characters emerged, from ski instructors and mountain guides to members of the Banff Alpine Racers ski club, whose stories bookend the mountain’s evolution. But as Hoffman acknowledges, there were many worthy stories that didn’t make the cut. The goal was to deliver something “both entertaining and true to the mountain’s spirit.”

Why this matters now

As Norquay approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, the mountain is also looking ahead. Its “Norquay 100 Vision” is a bold plan to transform the hill into a fully year-round destination, enhance accessibility including a gondola upgrade replacing the aging North American chair, and reinterpret the visitor experience to reflect sustainability and community roots. The film arrives at a moment of transition, reflecting 100 years of legacy while inviting a new chapter.

For locals, that makes it more than a ski film. It’s a moment to pause and reflect. What did Norquay mean to past generations? What will it mean for future ones? And how does a mountain become more than terrain, how does it become culture, memory, identity?

For the next generation

Younger skiers or visitors who might know Norquay only as a fun day on the hill may benefit most. The film underscores that when you clip in at the base lodge, you’re stepping into a lineage of pioneers, coaches, families, racers, and guides. Norquay’s slopes have hosted not just skis but lives. The memories live in the lodge photographs, the named runs, the community ski clubs, and the retired lift towers.

Why the premiere in Banff matters

That the film debuts in the very community it honours is fitting. Norquay, the Bow Valley, and the Banff film festival are deeply connected. As Hoffman puts it, “this film was made by and for the very community it celebrates.” The timing couldn’t be more apt. The Banff film festival is marking a milestone year, Norquay is approaching its centenary, and a local filmmaking team is telling a local story for a local audience, all coming together at once.

Final thoughts

The Mighty Quay offers more than ski footage or mountain vistas, even though there are plenty of them. It’s a reminder that mountains aren’t just landscapes, they’re living archives of the people who’ve shaped them. For longtime locals, the film feels like paging through a collective memory. For newcomers, it’s a window into how deeply Norquay runs through the Bow Valley’s story.

By the time the credits roll, The Mighty Quay leaves you looking at the familiar slopes a little differently, aware that every turn still adds to a century-old legacy.