BURST
Almost five years after a security guard was nearly killed by falling cables that were cut on the Sea to Sky Gondola for the second time, a criminal investigation is stalled and a lawsuit remains active in the courts.
The second sabotage, on Sept. 14, 2020, happened 13 months after vandalism on Aug. 10, 2019. In both cases, someone hiked into the area south of Squamish around 4 a.m. and climbed a tower to cut the massive cables, which measured more than 5 centimetres in diameter.
Dozens of cable cars crashed to the forest below. Damage was extensive and cost $10 million in repairs. The gondola was closed for six months in 2019 and nine months in 2020-21.
The company’s initial $250,000 reward to help find the culprit or culprits was doubled to $500,000 in 2022, but it has produced no arrests and police won’t comment on any possible suspects.
“We recognize the public’s continued interest, however, we are not in a position to share specific investigative details,” RCMP Lower Mainland district spokeswoman Sgt. Vanessa Munn said by email.
Major crime investigators continue to explore leads and encourage new tips, she said.
Meanwhile, a messy lawsuit continues in B.C. Supreme Court. It was filed by Sea to Sky Partnership against Unified Systems, a security systems company that, in turn, is suing two subcontracted security firms.
Unified is accused of causing damages through negligence by Sea to Sky, but it denies it was negligent and alleges Sea to Sky cut corners on its security system.
Unified says liability for any damages at least partly rests with two third-party subcontractors. It alleges Black Tusk Fire and Security Black Tusks guards didn’t patrol properly and that Lanvac Monitoring failed to properly monitor security cameras.
“The Black Tusk security guard saw the vandal approach and climb the gondola and cut the gondola cable, but failed to take any steps to prevent or stop the vandal,” Unified alleges in its filing.
And Lanvac “failed to verify the alarm triggering as a credible threat, sound the alarm and notify the RCMP,” it alleges.
The gondola, which opened in May 2014 at a cost of $22 million, continues to attract sightseers who pay $48 to $76 to take the 10-minute ride to the Summit Lodge, almost a kilometre above Howe Sound.
Security was beefed up after the cable was first cut, and new surveillance cameras captured an image of the second vandal, which police released at the time to encourage tips.
In September 2022, Sea to Sky Gondola sued Unified, which it hired in 2020 to install a system specifically “so as to ensure that such an event would not happen again,” according to the lawsuit.
It alleges Unified, which set up an alarm that would be triggered by a vandal and broadcast a warning to let the vandal know they were under surveillance and police had been called, was negligent because a vandal was able to climb a ladder near a tower and cut the cable.
“The alarm was not triggered at any point up to or during the security breach,” according to Sea to Sky’s lawsuit.
But Unified in its response said Sea to Sky hadn’t adopted Unified’s proposed full-security system and “significantly pared back the design” because of cost.
Unified alleges Sea to Sky promised but then failed to remove the cars from the cable overnight to allow cameras an unobstructed view of the towers, failed to keep the suspension cable running 24/7, and failed to build a physical barrier or remove ladders around each tower to prevent climbers.
It also alleges Black Tusk’s and Lanvac’s employees weren’t properly qualified, trained or sufficient in number.
None of the allegations has been proven in court, and neither Black Tusk nor Lanvac have yet filed a response. Sea to Sky didn’t return a request for comment.
Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford in an email declined to comment on the lack of charges and said “despite the adversity faced early on,” he has the “utmost confidence in the gondola’s team’s world-leading operational and safety protocols.”