Just visited the Whistler site and they talked about a "structural failure of Tower 4"

Here's the text...
December 16, 2008
Excalubur Gondola Incident

LATEST UPDATE - 6:25pm PST
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.

Earlier Statement Issued at 5:30pm PST
At approximately 2:30pm PST on Tuesday, December 16, a structural failure on tower 4 on Blackcomb Mountain's Excalibur Gondola caused the gondola to cease operation. No gondola cabins came off the line. There were several injuries that appear to be minor. Injured guests were treated at the Whistler Medical Clinic. The cause of the incident is unknown at this time and will be investigated, however the immediate priority has been to secure the tower and evacuate guests.

There is an upper and lower section to the Excalibur Gondola. The failed tower 4 on the lower section was secured by a crane and Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol and the Whistler Fire Department immediately implemented an emergency lift evacuation procedure. The upper section of the gondola, independent of the lower section, was unaffected by the incident and was cleared immediately of guests by normal procedure.

Fifty-three guests are being evacuated from the lower section. Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol, Whistler Fire Department, RCMP, BC Ambulance and Emergency Social Services are currently aiding in the evacuation and are extending care to guests being evacuated. The evacuation is well underway and is expected to be complete by 6:30pm. Communication to the guests still on-board is currently underway.

The Excalibur Gondola was built in 1994 and undergoes an extensive safety check every year by the BC Safety Authority. The last check took place within the past six months. Each gondola cabin holds eight people. The gondola section where the incident took place is approximate 30 feet above the ground.

A full investigation is underway by Whistler Blackcomb and the BC Safety Authority. Whistler Blackcomb will release further information as it becomes available.

That's the report from the Whistler website. Thoughts and prayers are with those on the Mountain.

DaveL
X-Boler Mtn
Has-been ski instructor (35 years.)

Glad nobody was seriously injured.

Whistler now has the world's highest lift, over 1000 feet off the ground. I hope it's working properly!

Just saw this: http://www.financialpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=1083212

Whistler doesn't have a great safety history. People died in 1995 when chairs fell 4 stories off a lift.

I walk past tower 4 of the Excalibur Gondola every day on the way to the office. Was definitely an unfortunate incident - nothing more, nothing less.
Leave it to the media to sensationalize anything of this nature. Granted, it was a serious incident, but 12 people walked away with minor injuries - the guy with the "head all bashed up" actually had a minor cut above his eye after falling inside the gondola. Many news reports on the radio and TV had fun putting stress upon the word "suffered" when it was reported that 12 people 'suffered' minor injuries.
I liken this media frenzy to the kind that you see when two planes come within a half mile of each other. Makes international headlines - when f-all happened.
Sure I'm angry about the way the media chose to report this, and the bad choice that Whistler Mountain made back in 1994 to buy a chairlift with a widespread design failure from a flegling lift company (YAN -aka- You're Airborne Now) which resulted in an accident and subsequent reports of which many people seem unwilling to put to rest. And yes, it was replaced the year immediately following the accident.
The media loves to use a variety of buzzwords (i.e. snap, collapse, disaster, suffer, rushed to hospital, etc.) whenever there are opportunities to sell more negative media offerings.
To put things into perspective, a single gondola tower did not "snap" in half. Two parts of the tower separated by the force of the ice buildup due to the expansion of water seepage. The weld below the flange failed. See the photo below which helps illustrate this.
The wise people will understand that since this happened on Tuesday, every single lift has undergone serious inspection and testing, making Whistler one of the safest resorts in the world to ski at this time.
The silver lining in all of this is that it will make the lift operators feel more important when standing in the cold!

Those skiers on the lift, and the resort, were lucky this happened where it did, I guess. Had it happened to a tower farther up the mountain, might the risk of death and injury been much greater?

How do they test welds on the other towers?

Safety was a real concern. So was insurability. In 5 years the cost of insurance doubled, even though we had a great safety record. During that time a problem surfaced. We did not have director's insurance and had real trouble finding good prospects for the Board. Needless to say we found a way to acquire director's insurance.

If anyone had been hurt or killed they would surely have sued everyone that breathed, specially the directors. And lawsuits would easily have put the ski club out of business.

No accident where skiers are put at risk is trivial in my view. YMMV.
Just my opinion. And the quality in a business shows in the way they solve problems that occur.

I predict that this accident will not happen at Whistler in future. The Company is too good to let that happen and will be vigilant.

DL

http://www.theprovince.com/Sports/jacking+cited+gondola+collapse/1086362/story.html

Dave in Vancouver
.. I'd rather be at Whistler

Heart goes out to those on the lift and others affected.

DaveL
has-been ski instructor (35 years)