Whistler has released a report stating the mountain is operational as normal with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola. They have also determined the cause of yesterday’s accident to be ‘ice jacking’ which was caused by water seeping into the tower, then freezing. The gradual accumulation of ice within the tower caused a joint to rupture and fail. The report also confirms that thankfully no one suffered any serious injuries. Below is the latest news release, and further news releases will be available here.

December 17, 2008 – The British Columbia Safety Authority (BCSA), BC’s independent auditor on passenger ropeway systems, has given approval for Whistler Blackcomb to continue regular operations on its mountain lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola.

“Preliminary inspection by BC safety officers has determined that this was an isolated incident of water contamination in a tower tube which caused a tower joint flange to fail due to ice jacking,” said Greg Paddon, safety manager from the BC Safety Authority. “There is no justification at this time that other installations operating at Whistler Blackcomb have been effected by a similar failure; the BC Safety Authority does not anticipate rescinding operating permits on any lifts currently operating at Whistler Blackcomb other than the upper and lower Excalibur Gondola. Investigation into the incident continues on both the lower and upper Excalibur Gondola; these installations will not return to service December 17, 2008.”

Tuesday afternoon at approximately 2:30pm, a structural failure on tower 4 of the Excalibur Gondola caused the gondola to cease operation. All gondola cabins remained on the line; however a number of the cabins dropped approximately 30 feet with the sagging span, and two cabins hit the ground, injuring several people. Twelve guests were treated at the Whistler Medical Clinic and all walked out on their own accord later that evening. A total of 53 people were evacuated off the affected lower line of the gondola. The evacuation was completed by 5:51pm.

Several factors converged to cause the tower failure. The structure of the tower is such that two parts are spliced together. Water had seeped into the tower which had turned to ice with the recent extreme cold temperatures. The ice build-up caused the tower splice to rupture, an extremely unusual situation referred to as “ice-jacking”. Further investigation by a team of lift manufacturer and independent engineering experts will take place early afternoon today.“

As always, our top priority is for the safety and well-being of our resort guests and employees,” says Doug Forseth, senior vice president of operations. “Whistler Blackcomb delayed opening some of our lifts this morning until the BCSA confirmed our findings from last night. After the work conducted throughout last night by our own lift maintenance team, and a secondary inspection that was completed by the BCSA, access to all our operational lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola, is expected to be available by midday.”

Following BCSA’s inspection, the following lifts are now clear to open: Emerald Express, Big Red Express and Franz’s Chair, in addition to the Whistler Village Gondola and the Creekside Gondola on Whistler Mountain. Wizard Express, Solar Coaster and Excelerator on Blackcomb. Crews have now moved to the Jersey Cream Express and Glacier Express on Blackcomb and both those are expected to be cleared shortly.

The Excalibur Gondola is a Doppelmayr lift, and was installed in 1994. A world-leader in lift design and manufacturing, Doppelmayr lifts are in operation throughout the world and their safety record is excellent.

Tags: Accident,Broken,Excalibur,Gondola,tram,Whistler
Categories: News
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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.

Tags: Accident,Broken,Gondola,tram,Whistler
Categories: News
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, most skiers and boarders know that Whistler has been building a new $52 million gondola (Peak 2 Peak) over the summer that will connect the Whistler and Blackcomb peaks. The gondola will not only connect people between peaks (4.4km) in an astonishing 11 minutes, but it will also break two world records; one for the highest point above ground for a tram, of 436m, and one for the longest unsupported space between two towers of 3.024km… yikes! To date, construction has been going well and the first public ‘Peak 2 Peak’ ride is scheduled for Dec 12, connecting riders to over 8,000 acres of terrain.

In promotion of the new gondola, Whistler has been doing a Peak 2 Peak Gondola Tour, featuring one of the 28 ‘Sky Cabins’, which started in Toronto earlier this month and is making its way to Vancouver this week. This Thursday, Oct 30, from noon – 3pm there will be a media event at the Vancouver Aquarium, and then on Halloween there will be a ‘PEAK 2 PEAK Party hosted by Kokanee Beer’ at Darby’s Pub, starting at 9pm.

The new Peak 2 Peak will only add to Whistler’s already great standing as a world class resort, and draw huge crowds. With the ability to haul 2050 people, each way, per hour, it should also be able to handle these crowds. You may also be interested to enter the Gondola Full of Gear contest, or Ride of their Life competition.

Below is a short video about the gondola to get you hyped for the upcoming season:

Tags: Gondola,Peak 2 Peak,Whistler
Categories: News, Snowboarding & Skiing
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