15 replies to this topic

[Peter]

Father files lawsuit over B.C. gondola accident


By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun
September 24, 2009 5:02 PM


The father of four children involved in an accident at Blackcomb Mountain last winter has filed a lawsuit against the ski hill owners and the manufacturer of the gondola tower that collapsed.

David Hargrave argues he suffered nervous shock, anxiety, nightmares and depression after all four of his children were trapped inside a gondola with a family friend, Daryl Diggons, on Dec. 16, 2008.

The Excalibur gondola failed after the No. 4 tower sheered off, sending two gondola cars plummeting 10 metres to the ground. The accident stranded 53 skiers in about a dozen gondola cars. A dozen suffered minor physical injuries.

Hargrave recalled he rushed to the scene after receiving a call from one of his children that they were trapped inside a gondola car that had fallen and crashed into a bus shelter, said his lawsuit filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court.

"When the plaintiff arrived on the scene, he could see the gondola car in which the Hargrave children and Daryl were trapped precariously on the top of the bus shelter and he was helpless in trying to save Daryl and the Hargrave children," the Whistler businessman said in his statement of claim.

He claims the accident occurred as a result of the negligence of the defendants, which include Blackcomb Mountain, Intrawest Mountain Resorts and Doppelmayr CTEC Ltd., the gondola system manufacturer and installer. Hargrave's wife, Mandy, and four children have filed separate similar lawsuits, as has the family friend, Diggons. Hargrave's Whistler lawyer, Nancy Whilhelm-Morden, said the parents suffered psychological injuries and the children suffered soft-tissue and psychological injuries.

At the time, the No. 4 tower on the Excalibur gondola lift was made of two pieces: a nine-metre lower section and a seven-metre upper section.

The sections were bolted together. Resort officials said immediately after the accident that water had somehow seeped between the two sections and froze. The expanding ice lifted the upper section, severing the connection and causing the upper portion to fall — a process known as ice-jacking.

Whistler is preparing to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in five months, but no Olympic events are planned for Blackcomb Mountain.

[LiftFreak]

Skier, on 24 September 2009 - 07:03 PM, said:

the Whistler businessman said in his statement of claim.

can't be a very good one. Otherwise he'd haven enough money 'from his business' and wouldn't need to make money out of what happenend...

[Skier123]

When was the gondola built?

[lastchair_44]

1996..why?

[Skier123]

lastchair_44, on 25 September 2009 - 02:36 PM, said:

1996..why?

Just wondering. So Doppelmayr installed it but Doppelmayr CTEC has to deal with the problem

[Aussierob]

Excalibur was built in 1994 and Doppelmayr is the same company as Doppelmayr CTEC

[floridaskier]

I hate hearing about lawsuits like this. I'm sure it was a really scary thing for him with all of his kids on the gondola, but they were all unharmed and I'd say it's obvious this guy is only trying to make a buck out of it.

[Emax]

Mr. Hargrave has stooped to the lowest level of human behavior - accompanied by a legal-beagle who is already there.

Maybe his "business" ventures aren't going so well and he needs a bail-out.

Come to think of it, I find myself feeling quite ill after reading of his lawsuit. I think I should sue him for damages...

Emax

[Andoman]

Emax, on 26 September 2009 - 06:12 AM, said:

Mr. Hargrave has stooped to the lowest level of human behavior - accompanied by a legal-beagle who is already there.

Maybe his "business" ventures aren't going so well and he needs a bail-out.

Come to think of it, I find myself feeling quite ill after reading of his lawsuit. I think I should sue him for damages...

Emax

The ambulance chasers finally found someone of weak moral character to push forward. The first one is always the hardest now they need to get some others to jump on board to go for class action status so the lawyers can extract their pound of flesh from anyone ever associated with the lift.

[Emax]

Andoman, on 26 September 2009 - 06:39 AM, said:

The ambulance chasers finally found someone of weak moral character to push forward. The first one is always the hardest now they need to get some others to jump on board to go for class action status so the lawyers can extract their pound of flesh from anyone ever associated with the lift.

It is middle-class welfare - with lawyers playing the role of Acorn.

When will the folks who actually work for a living stand up and eat those who do not?

[Skier123]

Aussierob, on 25 September 2009 - 03:28 PM, said:

Excalibur was built in 1994 and Doppelmayr is the same company as Doppelmayr CTEC

Yep, just saying it was built before the merger.

[Aussierob]

True.

http://www.whistlerq...gondola-lawsuit

This post has been edited by Aussierob: 26 September 2009 - 10:58 AM

[Andoman]

Emax, on 26 September 2009 - 07:17 AM, said:

It is middle-class welfare - with lawyers playing the role of Acorn.

When will the folks who actually work for a living stand up and eat those who do not?

I'm starting to think you may have been bit by a zombie, your on a people eating bender lately

[Emax]

Andoman, on 26 September 2009 - 12:24 PM, said:

I'm starting to think you may have been bit by a zombie, your on a people eating bender lately

Okay, okay - so let's just render them down and maybe convert them into a useful fuel. Homo-diesel, perhaps?

[hoodoo]

Emax, on 26 September 2009 - 07:17 AM, said:

It is middle-class welfare - with lawyers playing the role of Acorn.

When will the folks who actually work for a living stand up and eat those who do not?

Bud, you are my hero...

[Andoman]

Emax, on 26 September 2009 - 01:10 PM, said:

Okay, okay - so let's just render them down and maybe convert them into a useful fuel. Homo-diesel, perhaps?

Okay, I wouldn't argue with rendering them down for fuel or harvesting organs for transplant.