16 replies to this topic

[SkiLiftsRock]

Here is a video I saw about it. I would post a news article but the news people never get the story right so I do not want to waste anyone's time here with reading. 1 minute summary video.

http://youtu.be/th5F9uNOFtU

[Conrad]

Crazy news! I find it interesting that they shut the entire mountain down when this happened. When Spillway fell at Sugarloaf, nothing like that happened. Different regulations, I guess.

[Andy1962]

Conrad, on 03 March 2014 - 07:06 PM, said:

Crazy news! I find it interesting that they shut the entire mountain down when this happened. When Spillway fell at Sugarloaf, nothing like that happened. Different regulations, I guess.

shutdowns of other chairlifts of same vintage or same manufacturer and model and build year, is not unusual if Regulating Authority thinks there might be a design flaw. The Whistler Quicksliver accident in 1995 resulted in the shutdown of 31 Lift Engineering high speed quads in Canada and the USA . Be assured that regulating authoritoes keep an eye out on what happens outside their own jurisdiction. It keeps all of us safer on a general level. please don't draw any conclusions from my observations, they are just observations. The full mountain shutdown could be for a number of reasons, none of which I am prepared to speculate on.

media writeup of this weeks 2014 incident

http://www.theprovin...9483/story.html


story about same thing happening on same chailift in 1991

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Chairlift+crash+Kelowna+hill+eerily+similar+1991+mishap+former+employee+says/9574435/story.html


story says 1991. Please see note from forum member Snoh_man in this same thread dated March 5,2014 at 10:36pm in which snoh_man corrects the month and year of the 1991 incident to actually being Nov or Dec 1989 (snoh_man was an employee on the hill at that time)

This post has been edited by Andy1962: 06 March 2014 - 04:19 AM

[Allan]

They only have one Mueller lift. They're a small area, as for closing the other lifts that day - I'd guess they'd need all other staff for the evac. The news also has indicated they've had their operating permit revoked for the time being. Not sure if that covers just that lift or all of them.

[Shawn72]

Is this believed to be a wind issue or mechanical. Just curious if anyone knows what caused the carrier to swing that much?

[Allan]

Shawn72, on 04 March 2014 - 01:56 PM, said:

Is this believed to be a wind issue or mechanical. Just curious if anyone knows what caused the carrier to swing that much?

That's what's being investigated.

[teachme]

Somewhere along the way I remember reading that one thing that forced Grouse Mountain to upgrade its Muller lift (Inferno) was the ability to get insurance. As I vaguely remember the lifts to be of the same vintage, that may also have something to do with their closure.

[Emax]

Andy1962, on 03 March 2014 - 10:14 PM, said:

shutdowns of other chairlifts of same vintage or same manufacturer and model and build year, is not unusual if Regulating Authority thinks there might be a design flaw. The Whistler Quicksliver accident in 1995 resulted in the shutdown of 31 Lift Engineering high speed quads in Canada and the USA . Be assured that regulating authoritoes keep an eye out on what happens outside there own jurisdiction. It keeps all of us safer on a general level. please don't draw any conclusions from my observations, they are just observations. The full mountain shutdown could be for a number of reasons, none of which I am prepared to speculate on.

media writeup of this weeks 2014 incident

http://www.theprovin...9483/story.html


story about same thing happening on same chailift in 1991

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Chairlift+crash+Kelowna+hill+eerily+similar+1991+mishap+former+employee+says/9574435/story.html

See earlier thread: There, their, they're.

[snoh_man]

Andy1962, on 03 March 2014 - 10:14 PM, said:

story about same thing happening on same chailift in 1991

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Chairlift+crash+Kelowna+hill+eerily+similar+1991+mishap+former+employee+says/9574435/story.html

I am quite certain that the deropement mentioned in the article was not in 1991, but 1989. It could possibly have been 1990, but I'm pretty sure that it was the 1989-90 season that I worked there and was involved in the deropement. In addition, it was quite a different root cause than the recent incident, since this earlier event was not known to have been triggered by a chair hitting a tower.

Several of us new employees were downloading on the chairlift, coming back down from the top of the chair during a training session in late November or early December of 1989. This was a week or two before the hill opened for the season. It wasn't a good snow year, and I think the hill had around 40cm through Christmas. I remember doing slope maintenance, cutting shrubs with pruners over Christmas.

IIRC, the bullwheel and motor for that Meuller lift ride on steel rails, connected to a concrete counterweight. Since it was early in the season, the lift had not been run, or loaded heavily. I believe that the bullwheel was likely frozen in place, along with the wooden planks above the rails. Those planks are where the operator normally stood at the controls, which were on the motor/bullwheel, behind the loading area.

When the chairs holding the employees got down to around Tower 5 or 6, the bullwheel moved suddenly. It could be that the heat or vibration from the motor set the bullwheel free from being frozen in place, since it went flying ahead quite a distance, perhaps 5-10 feet or so. Perhaps it was the change in tension from having loaded chairs coming down the hill. According to the employee operating the lift, he barely jumped out of the way as it moved, blowing the wood planks out of the way. Normally, you never really notice the bullwheel move - I don't recall ever adjusting the planks during a shift operating that lift.

With the abrupt forward movement of the bullwheel, there was suddenly a lot of slack in the line, and a lot less tension. The down-line haul rope ended up coming off the sheaves at the tower nearest to where the employees were at the time. The chairs with the employees dropped almost to the ground, and then flew back up, eventually stabilizing.We were evacuated fairly quickly from the chair, but I was always a little bit nervous taking that lift again in the future, particularly near towers where the curve of the hill would have meant hitting the ground in a deropement. I only worked there for a few months, but continued to ski at the hill intermittently, taking my kids up as recently as last year.

What is more worrisome is another story about the seats breaking beneath other passengers who luckily didn't fall. The plastic seat slats have been very weathered and faded for the past five years or more, but seeing that they failed catastrophically, I hope that every piece of that lift is gone over with a fine tooth comb before it ever runs again. Forget grandfathering (if that is allowed), if it can't meet the same CSA standards as a new lift, it's time to retire it. At almost 50 years of age, it's got to be fully amortized by now.

As for other lift-related incidents I can recall at that hill, the gearbox on that chairlift died in either Feb 1989 or Feb 1990, shutting down half of the hill over a month early. I also remember hearing stories about how they failed to lock out the tee-bar in the 1970s during maintenance, costing someone their legs in the bullwheel at the top of the hill. All of this was before the current owner took over in the mid-1990s.

[Andy1962]

snoh_man, on 05 March 2014 - 07:36 PM, said:

I am quite certain that the deropement mentioned in the article was not in 1991, but 1989. It could possibly have been 1990, but I'm pretty sure that it was the 1989-90 season that I worked there and was involved in the deropement. In addition, it was quite a different root cause than the recent incident, since this earlier event was not known to have been triggered by a chair hitting a towe

.

quote edited to keep my comments short, to note the correction on Month and Year of lste 1980's or early 1990's incident


I added a correction to my March 4 2014 (1:14am) comments to correct my stated month and year of the second incident documented by the newspaper. corrected notes to Nov or Dec 1989 as per your statement above. Important that if we add information about real events in this forum that inaccurate information should be corrected. Your corrections are noted. thanks for telling the story as you recall it happening.

This post has been edited by Andy1962: 06 March 2014 - 06:21 AM

[mikest2]

Update from the BCSA

BC Safety Authority statement regarding investigation into Crystal Mountain Resort chairlift deropement
Submitted by JenniferLee on 6 March 2014 - 1:00pm
• [View]
New Westminster, BC, March 6, 2014—Jason Gill, Provincial Safety Manager of Passenger Ropeways and Amusement Devices for BC Safety Authority (BCSA) today issued the following statement:
“On Saturday, March 1, 2014 at approximately 11:00am, an incident was reported to BC Safety Authority involving the full deropement of a fixed-grip double chairlift where three chairs struck the snow, two of them carrying passengers. The incident occurred at Crystal Mountain Resort (near Kelowna) on the Blue Chairlift at tower #2.
“Four people were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries, including broken bones. Two individuals have since been released, and two are still recovering in hospital.
“I have been on-site since Saturday, along with two BCSA safety officers, conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident. In the interest of public safety, Crystal Mountain’s operating licence has been suspended pending the results of a full investigation.
“Preliminary findings indicate that a swinging chair struck a tower causing a full deropement. A non-functioning tensioning system was also discovered and is being considered as a possible contributing factor to the incident. We have now been able to get the chairlift to an operational state and the next phase of the investigation will require dynamic tests in order to perform further analysis of the installation.
“This chairlift was first put into operation in 1967 and was last inspected by BCSA on December 11, 2013. While older chairlifts are generally safe when maintained properly, we are also looking at what conditions may have changed since our last assessment.
“An incident of this nature is extremely uncommon, and mechanical or structural failures resulting in injuries to passengers are rare. Chairlifts in BC are very safe and most incidents involve rider error, usually during loading or unloading from the lift. The number of reported injuries from passenger ropeways has declined steadily every year since 2009.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the individuals who suffered injuries as a result of this incident. We fully intend to make public our final investigation report when it is complete, including analysis of the cause and steps being taken to mitigate a risk of reoccurrence.”

[liftmech]

Quote

In the interest of public safety, Crystal Mountain’s operating licence has been suspended pending the results of a full investigation.

That's quite a step. I'd understand, obviously, shutting down the affected lift, but the whole mountain? I don't recall BCSA shutting Whistler down after the Quicksilver accident.

[Aussierob]

Whistler wasn't shut down after Quicksilver. I would guess that the BCSA have reason to be concerned about the whole mountain if the have pulled the OC's.

[Peter]

http://crystalresort...ss-release-2-0/

Quote

Press Release, March 13th 2014


WEST KELOWNA, BC, March 13, 2014 — Crystal Mountain Resort announced today that it will remain closed for the rest of the 2013-2014 winter season. BC Safety Authority has yet to conclude its investigation into the root cause of the incident that involved the double chairlift on Saturday, March 1st.

Crystal Mountain Resort is continuing to work with the BC Safety Authority. The time it will take to complete the investigation is unknown. Mike Morin, general manager at Crystal Mountain Resort, believes that it is likely to extend into next month.

“We might have been able to open for one last weekend at best but the chances of that happening are slim,” said Morin. “Pending the scope of the investigation, it seemed unrealistic to try and rush the process to be open for just a couple of days.”

Crystal Mountain’s last day was scheduled for March 23rd. The resort opened for 52 days out of a possible 66 days. Season pass holders will be credited for the shortened season. Pass holders can expect to receive a letter advising how much credit will be applied towards a Crystal Mountain Resort Season Pass for next year.

All staff have been notified of the closure and termination of employment. This gives all staff the opportunity to seek alternative employment immediately and/or apply for Employment Insurance.
“This way nobody is left in limbo. The majority of our staff are seasonal and have their own plans for Spring. Some are already working,” said Morin. “We love our staff and our loyal visitors and have made these decisions with their best interests in mind.”

All 4 injured victims that were directly impacted by the incident have been released from hospital and are recovering at home.

[mikest2]

Crystal will not be operating this season.

http://www.castanet....101-.htm#122805

[mikest2]

From the BCSA site:

BC Safety Authority issues update on incident investigation at Crystal Mountain Resort

Submitted by gburke on 19 September 2014 - 9:18am

• [View]

New Westminster, BC, September 19, 2014—BC Safety Authority (BCSA) today issued an update on the status of its investigation into an incident that occurred at Crystal Mountain Resort (near Kelowna) on March 1, 2014. The incident involved the full deropement of a fixed-grip double chairlift where three chairs struck the snow, two of them carrying passengers. Four people were taken to hospital.
BCSA has now completed the data collection and analysis phase of a full investigation into the incident and anticipates being able to release a final comprehensive investigation report later this fall. BCSA’s report will discuss how the following factors contributed to the incident:

• Condition of the tensioning system.
  
• Configuration of the rope-catching device installed at the tower where the deropement occurred.
  
• Placement of the tower that experienced the deropement relative to other towers and loading area.

“Most incidents are the result of numerous factors and the investigation report that BCSA is preparing will discuss those factors in detail,” says Jason Gill, BCSA Safety Manager of Passenger Ropeways and Amusement Devices.
In June, BCSA concluded the on-site portion of its incident investigation. A number of instructions and various requirements were provided to Crystal Mountain in July to allow enough time for the required regulated work to be completed in order to resume operation of its three ropeways for the 2014/2015 ski season. To BCSA’s knowledge, this work has not yet been completed.
On September 13, Crystal Mountain Resort announced that they will not open for the upcoming ski season, a decision made of their own accord. Crystal Mountain’s operating license remains suspended until BCSA is satisfied that the resort’s ski lifts meet all required safety standards.
“We will grant a full operating permit only once we are satisfied that the lifts at Crystal Mountain Resort are safe for passengers,” says Gill. “With the ski season around the corner, the public should be very confident that ski lifts in the province are safe.”
Ski lift incidents of this nature are uncommon, and mechanical or structural failures resulting in injuries to passengers are rare; the majority of ski lift incidents involve rider error, usually during loading or unloading from the lift. The number of reported injuries from passenger ropeways has declined steadily every year since 2009. BCSA continuously reviews standards and processes based on what we learn to see where there may be opportunities for improvement.
BCSA is mandated to oversee the safe installation and operation of technical systems and equipment in BC, including passenger ropeways such as ski lifts, gondolas, tramways, rope tows and passenger conveyors.
- 30 -
BC Safety Authority is an independent, self-funded organization mandated to oversee the safe installation and operation of technical systems and equipment. In addition to issuing permits, licences and certificates, we work with industry to reduce safety risks through assessment, education and outreach, enforcement, and research.

[mikest2]

Full report has been published:

http://www.safetyaut...ort_june_26.pdf