Steven Wright knew he had a problem long before the first snowflake fell.
Wright, who runs the Jay Peak ski resort in northern Vermont, realized something was wrong last summer while talking to Canadian season pass holders who had decided they wouldn’t be coming to the US — or his property — for the 2025-2026 winter ski season.
The political enmity between the US and Canada had reached a fever pitch, especially once President Trump began referring to Canada as “the 51st state,” and Jay Peak, located just 9 miles south of the Canadian border, was going to pay the price.
“I called hundreds of season pass holders, and to a house, they mentioned the ’51st state’ thing,”…