BANFF, Alta. - A photographer who was taking wedding pictures at the top of Sulphur Mountain earlier this week says there didn't appear to be a contingency plan when the Banff Gondola broke down.
The popular tourist attraction in Banff National Park stopped working due to a power outage caused by a lightning storm on Monday evening.
Pala Kovacs says she had finished taking photos of the couple, who had eloped in the Banff townsite earlier that day, and they were planning to head back down on the gondola.
“We were walking back for our scheduled time back down the mountain when we learned that the gondola was broken down,” she said.
“We waited around and we were told over different intervals what they were doing, but it was super obvious that they didn't have any kind of contingency plan. However, the staff working up there was really great.”
No one from Pursuit, which runs the gondola, responded Wednesday to a request for an interview.
The company has said that several hundred guests had to be helped down from the summit Tuesday after the gondola was shut down. Parks Canada said its visitor safety team was involved.
Some of the guests hiked the 5 1/2-kilometre trail that switchbacks down the mountain Monday night, while others waited until Tuesday morning to walk down.
Kovacs said there were about 100 guests who waited up to 15 hours to take a helicopter down.
“I couldn't hike down if I wanted to,” she said. “I had a suitcase full of photography gear and all my lighting and stuff, so we waited until the morning and we got helicoptered down.
“They were pretty efficient about it, we just had to wait until daylight.”
The newly married couple slept in their wedding clothes, she added.
Kovacs said it wasn't as stressful as she expected, but there were children and older guests who had a tougher night.
“Because it's a gondola, it's the easiest way … and an accessible way for people to experience (the) alpine,” she said. “So, I felt really bad for them because there weren't comfy spaces. They were cold … and they were hungry.”
She said the staff opened a restaurant around 3 a.m. Tuesday and prepared some food once it was clear the remaining guests would be spending the night at the top.
There was one child who needed medication and the first aid kit wasn't fully stocked, she added.
Kovacs said the bride's friend is a pediatric doctor and was able to help that family.
“There were definitely some people who were more stressed and taking it out on the staff,” she said. “But for the most part, people were pretty understanding that it was out of their hands.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.
- By Colette Derworiz in Calgary.
