Gondola saboteur put self ‘in extreme danger’
Early morning attack sends cars hurtling down
If the weekend collapse of the popular Sea to Sky Gondola attraction in Squamish, B.C., was an act of sabotage, as police suspect, it’s possible that the perpetrator could have pulled it off in just a few minutes with a simple hand tool, says the head of the company who helped install the cable system.
But before any copycats out there get inspired to target other cable car rides, Franz Spichtig, owner of Rigging Specialties of Canmore, Alta., has a warning: “The person who did it put themselves in extreme danger.”
At the point that the cable snaps apart, there’s no telling which direction it’ll go.
“If you get hit hard, you’re suffering,” he told National Post Monday.
B.C. RCMP officials had little new information to offer Monday on the status of their investigation into the incident, which they’ve described as a “deliberate act of vandalism.”
Around 4 a.m. Saturday, the “haul rope,” from which the attraction’s 30 gondolas are suspended, snapped sending the cars hurtling to the ground. Nobody was hurt.
Opened in 2014, the gondola attraction climbs 850 metres and offers breathtaking views of Howe Sound and surrounding mountains.
The cable was spliced at the midway point, police say. It is believed the alleged perpetrator reached the cable by climbing the ladder of a maintenance tower.
Spichtig said his heart sank when he got the phone call early Saturday morning.
“I was absolutely disgusted,” he said, adding there’s no way the cable could have separated on its own. The cable, he said, is roughly 52 millimetres in diameter and made up of a solid plastic core surrounded by six strands, each consisting of 25 twisted steel wires.
Spichtig said the perpetrator probably just needed to make a partial cut — perhaps using a cutting torch or mechanized cutting wheel — before physics took over and separated the rest of the cable.
“Probably cut two-thirds and it’ll snap,” he said.
Spichtig said he’s aware of wire ropes that have been damaged from lightning strikes or fires but he’s never heard of someone intentionally cutting one before.
“Not a good thing for the cable car industry, which is a safe way for moving people,” he said.
In an updated statement Monday, Sea to Sky Gondola said damage was likely in the “millions” and estimated that 18 to 20 of its 30 gondolas would need to be replaced along with the main cable. The CBC reported that an estimated 200 people, including fulltime and seasonal workers, could be affected by the closure.
A spokesman for Doppelmayr, the gondola manufacturer, did not respond to an email query.
As investigators probed the incident, speculation continued to swirl about possible motives.
Phil Gurski, a consultant and former analyst with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, cautioned against jumping to conclusions on his blog site.
“Maybe it was an a--hole who likes to vandalize things. Maybe it was a lone ‘crusader’ who wants to deliver a message about what happens to those who ‘damage’ the environment. Maybe it is someone part of a larger movement,” he wrote.
Gurski added: “One might think that by carrying out the vandalism at 4 a.m. the actors wanted to minimize any harm to anyone, but how did he/they know there were no maintenance workers on the site or campers nearby? Serious injury or death may in fact still have been possible.”
The Vancouver Sun previously reported that when the project got underway years ago, some environmental groups were critical of the consultation process.
“However, the community was largely supportive, including other environmentalists.”
HOW DID HE/THEY KNOW THERE WERE NO MAINTENANCE WORKERS ON THE SITE OR CAMPERS NEARBY? SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH MAY IN FACT STILL HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. — PHIL GURSKI, FORMER CSIS ANALYST