The Squamish Chief editorial team has selected 10 top themes, events and issues for the year in our coverage. This story is one in a series of those.
The sky may as well have decided to fall.
On Aug. 10, the unthinkable happened — the Sea to Sky Gondola’s cable was cut, causing several cabins to crash to the ground.
RCMP would later reveal that the cut was deliberate. A report from Technical Safety BC also echoed this finding. It remains unknown who made the cut and why, and an investigation on the matter is ongoing.
The impact of this incident was felt almost immediately. The gondola is one of the largest employers in the Squamish area, and many were suddenly left without a job.
But Squamish showed heart.
Employers throughout town banded together to host a job fair that allowed at least some of the gondola’s workers to avoid being caught without income.
And for their part, the gondola’s staff did not stop to wallow in self-pity. They immediately mobilized their team to bring food from the restaurant at the peak down to Squamish Food Bank and Squamish Helping Hands.
In the months that followed, the gondola has been rebuilding.
A new cable arrived in October from Switzerland, which was ahead of schedule.
A team of 14 people attached the new haul rope to the original cable. It was then pulled up the line and around back to the base.
This exacting operation was led by a Swiss rope-splicing expert named Hannes Koller.
The gondola said the original cable has been removed and melted down at a foundry for re-use in other steel products.
In November, the gondola announced that some cabins were not affected by the cut, as they were either suspended in the air in the upper spans or were at the top and bottom stations.
The company said it inspected, tested and certified nine cabins as safe for installation on the new cable.
Damaged cabins that weren’t up to standard were recycled by a local company.
In addition to that, the gondola says it will be installing 30 new cabins — which have already arrived — for its anticipated spring 2020 re-opening.
The facility was built to carry 40 cabins.
