Whistler gondola broke

Most recent update from the folks at whislterblackcomb.com

"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.

thats so sketchy . that can happen anywhere at anytime you just don't know like the avalanche that killed the girl Sunday in bounds at snowbird.

thanks for the heads up

you always need a little bit of shark factor in your life. without unwarranted risk, where's the fun?

dude man, that isn't THE ONLY WAY UP Blackcomb. There is another chair that can take you to the top. And then there is Whistler which is perfectly fine.

And to the idiots saying they brag so much about that chair, seriously, learn how to fucking read. Frodo say learn how to read, well I don't think you went back and read it. It was the Blackcomb gondola that broke, not the new retarded investment that they refer to as Peak 2 Peak. Not that I'm hyping up the P2P, as quite frankly, I think that was the biggest waste of money/tourist trap I have ever seen and it made pass prices incread by $75, but it wasn't the new one. It was the onld one.

But yeah, Whistler is mad sketch right now and everyone should steear clear until 2012

i agree but still its sketchy knowing the chair or gondi your on will break. i rather do a sw 10 on a 80 foot kicker or a 100 ft cliff rather then this lifts breaking on me . that all the unwarranted risk i need.

and you could go up whistler and take the peak to peak also if you want to get to blackcomb. Problem solved and it finally made the new gondola usefull for 1 person!