Whistler Chairlift Collapses While Resort Is Closed
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- February 23 2009
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Whistler’s Excalibur Gondola collapsed in mid-December, injuring 12 people and temporarily trapping 53.
Whistler experienced its second major lift malfunction of the season on the night of February 18 when a chair came crashing to the ground on the Harmony Express. The dislodged chair was found the following morning by a snow cat driver. Apparently lift attendants were aware of some sort of problem when they shut the lift down on the evening of the 18th, but did not inspect the issue as the resort was closed.
According to a story in the Vancouver Sun:
Wayne Wiltse, Whistler Blackcomb lift maintenance manager, said the chairlift’s control panel indicated a cable monitoring switch fault on the Harmony chairlift at 10:30 p.m., forcing the lift to stop automatically.But as the mountain was closed at the time, crews decided not to do an inspection but to just reset the chairlift, he said.
Just after 7 a.m. Thursday, a groomer discovered that a chair had fallen off the cable at the base of tower 11. A bolt reportedly caused the problem.
“During operating hours we would go to the location and verify everything was in working order,” Wiltse said. “Because there was no public on the lift, they didn’t follow protocol.”
The crews were given a talking-to the next day to ensure they were aware of the protocols, he said.
The Harmony Express reopened Sunday after all similar bolts were replaced, the cable inspected, and all other lift components examined, he said.
The B.C. Safety Authority and the lift manufacturer Leitner-Poma of America was notified immediately after the collapse and an investigation was done, Wiltse added.
Yet Whistler Blackcomb didn’t notify the public about the problem until three days later, after “rumours started to fly around,” he said.
“We were concentrating on resolving the issue,” he said.
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