Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Breaking News: Excalibur Gondola Accident at Whistler Blackcomb

News is just coming in that one of the towers of the Excalibur Gondola has snapped in half. Let's hope no one was hurt or killed. Photos here.



Update: News stories are now flooding in. More here and here and here. Video from Global TV is now available here.

Thankfully there are no fatalities and injuries appear to be minor.


Here is a video of a similar gondola at Whistler, filmed last year:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A gondola tower on the lower half of the line has bent over and the cable has come off the shivs (track rollers). One cabin was resting on top of a bus shelter near the base. Another is hanging a mere 3 metres above Fitzsimmons Creek. The cables also damaged at least one houses' roof, when the slack of the line slapped down on it. The Whistler Fire Department and Whistler Blackcomb staff have been working for a while to evacuate the stranded skiers and snowboarders from the lift.

Anonymous said...

I heard a car went off the road and hit a tower

Anonymous said...

Photo of collapsed tower here:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Whistler+gondola+tower+falls+over+trapping+passengers+Reports/1083214/story.html

Looks to me like a bad welding job.

Anonymous said...

No one has been reported with serious injuries. The Whistler Blackcomb staff and emergency crews reported very quickly to assist any stranded passengers. Not a major accident.