Ice-jacking in Whistler
VANCOUVER - Officials at 2010 Olympics site Whistler-Blackcomb were inspecting every ski lift Wednesday, while insisting Tuesday's collapse of a gondola lift tower was a freak accident.The support tower's collapse - attributed to a process called ice-jacking - sent two gondolas plummeting 10 metres to the ground.
It stranded 53 skiers in about a dozen gondola cars. Twelve of them suffered minor injuries, but the most serious damage could be to the resort's reputation: the accident is getting worldwide media attention just 14 months before B.C. hosts the Winter Games.
Resort officials said water somehow seeped between two pieces on a lift tower of the Excalibur gondola, and then froze in the recent chill. The expanding ice lifted or jacked up the upper section, causing the upper portion to fall.