Hundreds of people were stranded after a power outage shut down the Banff Gondola and some had to be airlifted by helicopter, in Banff, Alta., on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. A photographer who was taking wedding pictures at the top of Sulphur Mountain earlier this week says there didn't appear to be any contingency plan when the gondola broke down. CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
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 the mountain town of Banff, Alta., 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 Banff that day, and they were planning to take the gondola back down when they heard it wasn’t operating.
She says the staff at the top did what they could, but there were some children and older customers who had a difficult night.
Kovacs says she had her photography gear and the couple was in their wedding outfits, so they spent about 15 hours at the top until they could be helped off the mountain by helicopter the next morning.
No one from Pursuit, which runs the gondola, has responded to a request for an interview.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.
