Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Blackcomb gondola collapse


A tower on Blackcomb Mountain's Excalibur gondola collapsed this afternoon. No one was seriously hurt, and all seems relatively well this evening at spectacular Whistler-Blackcomb Resort in British Columbia.

I have been whisked up Blackcomb on the Excalibur lift a few times in my trips up north and out west. By gondola standards, its not terrifying - for example, the Whistler Village gondola, located about 100 yards to the right of Excalibur, scares the crap out of me. Several spots on that one have you hanging what feels like 50 stories over creeks and ravines.

I have always suffered from serious pucker-factor (if you will excuse the crudity) while on chair lifts and gondolas. The whole hanging from a wire thing is a bit difficult for me to grasp.

Regardless, the good news here is that no one got hurt badly. In addition, this happened far enough out from the Olympics that no one will remember it when the flame is lit on Feb 12, 2010, and the fine folks at Whistler will have plenty of time to give everything a once, twice, and thrice-over.

I just thank the sweet, clean Lord God Almighty I wasn't on the thing when it happened!

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