9 replies to this topic

[WBSKI]

There is a small forest fire on/near Crystal Ridge after a lightning strike this afternoon. Hopefully they get this under control right away so not much damage is inflicted. At least we are lucky they weren't in the process of building Crystal Express this summer.

http://www.vancouver...6250/story.html

Also visible on the webcam: http://www.whistlerb...kcomb/index.htm (rotate the view around)

[mikest2]

Fire started today at Blackcomb

http://www.whistlerb...8-09/090730.htm

[Aussierob]

Really nutty here today. Lightning and thunder still going off everywhere.
We had a strike witnessed at about 3pm and almost immediately it turned into a siginficant fire. It was way too dangerous for us to attack it so we waited for BCFS who showed up pretty quickly with the heavy artillery. The fire is on the north side of Crystal so if they can keep it on that side we will be OK , but if it gets over the ridge we're in trouble. We spent the afternoon setting up sprinklers around the bottom od Crystal chair and Glacier Creek Restaurant. Tommorrow will be more of the same. Wish I had my camera. The bombers dropping retardant looked awesome.

Fortunately we had started to clear the mountains due to the lightning storm before the fire so no one was around when it started.

[Peter]

Apparently there is one burning right by the ski jumps in Callaghan Valley too. I was just there and it was so pretty, it's really too bad.

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[Peter]

A few pictures

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[Peter]

The latest from Whistler-Blackcomb:
For Immediate Release - July 30, 21:41
Whistler, B.C. - A fire is currently burning on the east side of Crystal Ridge, which is the north flank of Blackcomb Mountain. There had been lightening activity in the area earlier in the day. At 14:55 lightning strike ignited the fire on Blackcomb Mountain. The Ministry of Forests & Range has deployed significant resources to contain the blaze, which is now estimated at 50-75 hectares in size is classified as a category four fire. Fixed wing and rotary engine tankers have been deployed, but will cease flights overnight.

The fire is located in a timber area and is not an interface fire. No critical infrastructure in Whistler or the Callaghan Valley are under threat at this time. No evacuation alerts have been issued in the Whistler area. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) has activated its Emergency Operations Centre. An update on the fire will be provided at 8:00 am (PST) unless any major changes occur in advance of that. Due to lightening in the area all guests and staff were evacuated off the mountain by Whistler Blackcomb staff prior to the fire breaking out. Whistler Blackcomb plans to open Whistler Mountain on Friday morning for normal sightseeing, hiking and mountain biking operations, including operation of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola.

July 31, 2009 - Adjusted Operations

Scheduled to Open

* Whistler Mountain Gondola
* PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola departing from Whistler Mountain with no offloading on Blackcomb Mountain
* Peak Chair
* Fitzsimmons Express
* Garbanzo Express
* All Whistler Mountain Hiking and Biking Trails
* Roundhouse Lodge and Harmony Hut with regular operations
* Adventure Zone at the base of Blackcomb


Closed until Further Notice

* Wizard and Solar Chairs on Blackcomb
* Rendezvous on Blackcomb
* Blackcomb Mountain Hiking Trails

[catskills]

My questions are:

• How hot does any section of ski lift cable have to get before the entire cable must be replaced?
  
• Have fires in the past resulted in ski lift cables being replaced?

Damn I would hate for this to impact the 2010 Winter Olympics.

[WBSKI]

I guess I expect if the fire has damaged Crystal Chair, Crystal probably just won't run this winter since they have some plans to replace it soon anyways. Good news that the fire is now shrinking: Great job firefighters and W-B!

[Peter]

catskills, on 31 July 2009 - 08:22 AM, said:

My questions are:

• How hot does any section of ski lift cable have to get before the entire cable must be replaced?
  
• Have fires in the past resulted in ski lift cables being replaced?

Damn I would hate for this to impact the 2010 Winter Olympics.

When there was a fire on Baldy at Sun Valley a few years back, they ran the lifts in an attempt to prevent the cable from getting too hot. I doubt there is a specific temperature that a cable is destroyed at; a splicer probably would inspect and determine what to do. Also I'm pretty sure a section of damaged cable can be replaced without replacing the entire thing.

[Aussierob]

WBSKI, on 31 July 2009 - 09:47 AM, said:

I guess I expect if the fire has damaged Crystal Chair, Crystal probably just won't run this winter since they have some plans to replace it soon anyways. Good news that the fire is now shrinking: Great job firefighters and W-B!

Crystal chair suffered no damage. The fire was kept well away from it. They've had plans to replace Crystal since 1997, so don't hold your breath. IF we get heaps of marketing exposure from the Olympics, and 2010/11 is a banner snow/skier visit year, the powers that be may have cause to consider an upgrade, but I'm inclined to believe they will want to pay off intrawest's debt first.