Hundreds of people helped off Sulphur Mountain after power outage stops Banff Gondola
CBC
Patrons of the Banff Gondola have all been helped off the mountain as of late Tuesday morning after they were marooned both in the gondola cabins and at the summit of Sulphur Mountain's interpretive centre Monday evening because of a power outage that impacted the lift.
At the time power was cut there were between 400 and 500 people on top of the mountain, says Mark Hendricks, a spokesperson with Pursuit, the company that runs the operation in the mountain town.
"Our first priority was getting the folks stuck on the gondola cabins off the cabin safely," said Hendricks on Tuesday.
Everyone stuck in the gondola cabins was helped off first yesterday evening, but the company was unable to operate the lift to bring down the many guests who remained at the summit of Sulphur Mountain at the Above Banff Interpretive Centre, Hendricks said.
Helicopters with Parks Canada flew all remaining guests off the summit by 11:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, he said.
Some Banff Gondola patrons opted to hike down the 5 1/2-kilometre trail yesterday evening, while others slept on the floor of the centre overnight. Some chose to hike down Tuesday morning.
Food, drink and blankets were provided to patrons who stayed the night and those who made the hike down, says Hendricks.
A video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, at 4:28 a.m. on Aug. 8, appears to show people sleeping on the floor of the interpretive centre, which is where the gondola stops.
In an earlier statement provided Tuesday, Parks Canada said it was working with Pursuit to get visitors down from the summit.
"The safety of those impacted is our top priority," Emma Badgery, a communications officer from the Banff field unit, said in an email.
Pursuit will be providing those impacted with reimbursements, said Hendricks.
He says they are now assessing the 'gondola failure' and will run the lift as soon as it is considered safe to do so again.
"This was a very unprecedented event at the gondola. We have not in the last 20 years had a shutdown of this magnitude with that many guests at the top of the mountain," he said.
"I'm proud of how our teams reacted in terms of safety protocol and that in terms of hospitality as, we supported those guests as they stayed with us overnight."