Hundreds Stranded On Top Of Canadian Mountain After Power Outage
Earlier this week, on the evening of Monday, August 7th, between 400 and 500 people were stranded on the top of Sulphur Mountain's interpretive center near Banff, Alberta, after the Banff Gondola lost power during a storm.
This video, captured by Helena Gil -- a woman stranded at the interpretive center -- shows a crowd of sightseers and tourists trying to get comfortable as they overnight at the interpretive center.
Current situation at the @BanffGondola 👎🏼 The lack of preparedness for situations like this is astonishing. Not even the gift shop is giving away blankets, sweaters etc… only the restaurants started to provide food after 2 hours here and with nobody telling us what is going on pic.twitter.com/ERUWf3MI27
— Helena Gil (@gil_helena) August 8, 2023
Of the guests stranded, some chose to hike down at night from the interpretive center on a 3.5-mile-long trail that returns to the base area, many of whom were guided by volunteer rescuers who arrived at 2 AM.
The rest opted to spend Monday night at the interpretive center, where they were provided food, drinks, and emergency blankets. During the night, temperatures reached as low as 46 degrees Fahrenheit in Banff.
Those who were trapped in the gondola cabins were helped down first Monday evening using a backup generator. The rest of the guests who spent the night at the interpretive center were retrieved Tuesday morning by helicopter or hiked down at first light.
Parks Canada participated in the guest recovery efforts.
Pursuit, the company that operates the Banff Gondola that accesses Sulphur Mountain, announced that it will reimburse impacted guests. They are also assessing the shutdown, which was the first of its kind in 20 years of operation.
The Banff Gondola is now open again, as of Tuesday, 4 PM.
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