Whistler Gondola Accident

I’m sure everyone has heard by now about the accident that happened yesterday in Whistler. The Excalibur Gondola that runs up from the base of Blackcomb had one of its towers half-collapse during operation. Each Gondola cabin holds up to eight people, but thankfully due to early season conditions and the fact it was mid-week, none of the Gondola’s were filled. Still, reports say about 12 people were injured and a handful sent to hospital with unknown conditions. (Early reports said there were no indications of broken bones or otherwise, but the person I saw interviewed on the evening news said he had a concussion and a broken finger). Some people were left stranded for hours waiting for rescue. Hopefully no one has any serious injuries.

This is not the first such accident at the resort. In 1995, a chair broke loose from the cable and fell 3 stories, killing one man and injuring 9 others. 4 chairs fell off the Quicksilver lift, killing 2 and injuring 8. Sorry, the original article I read appears to have wrong info.

Chair lift status for Dec 16

Ten people have been injured after skiers and snowboarders were evacuated Tuesday from gondolas that tumbled when a support tower at 2010 Olympic site Whistler/Blackcomb snapped in half.

None of the injuries are believed to be life threatening, said Whistler RCMP Sgt. Steve Wright.

More than 50 stranded skiers and snowboarders at the popular ski resort were rescued. The evacuation took several hours on one of the coldest days so far this winter.

The accident happened on the Excalibur Gondola, which carries skiers to the top of Blackcomb Mountain from Whistler Village, which is co-hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics along with Vancouver.

Obviously, this will raise many questions. Lawsuit? Safety around the Olympics? Peak 2 Peak safety (holding the world record for highest tram)? In terms of PR for Whistler this could not have come at a worse time with the world’s eyes on the 2010 Olympics, but regardless of timing it always dumbfounding when something like this happens at all. I’m sure there will be much more to talk about over the upcoming days/ weeks as there is more insight on to what caused the failure. Thoughts go out to all on board the Gondola during the accident.

Whistler’s press release can be read here.

The Excalibur Gondola evacuation was completed at 5:51 pm this evening. Fifty-three guests were safely evacuated from the lower line of the Excalibur Gondola after a structural failure on tower 4 caused the gondola to cease operation.

We are very thankful that no-one was seriously injured in this incident. A full investigation by Whistler Blackcomb and the BC Safety Authority is currently underway to determine the cause of the failure.