The British Columbia gondola company, whose main suspension cable was intentionally cut twice, has filed a lawsuit against the security company it hired to design and install a new, upgraded system after the first crime in August 2019. A notice of claim filed in the Supreme Court of B.C. this week via Sea to Sky Gondola claims that an alarm system designed and installed by Unified Systems Inc. failed when an unknown person cut the cable a second time in September 2020. In both incidents, gondola cars on the cable spanning 880 meters crashed, causing millions of dollars in damage along with lost revenue when the attraction in Squamish, BC, had to close. The statement of claim filed in Vancouver says the alarm was supposed to sound if an unauthorized person tried to climb one of the towers holding the gondola cable, but failed because the safety system was not receiving enough power. The allegations have not been proven in court and the security company has not filed a response to the civil suit. RCMP released a grainy photo of a suspect this week, while the agency doubled its reward to $500,000 in an effort to solve the crimes. The suit alleges the failure of the safety system constitutes breach of contract and negligence by the company, saying it should have known the system was not working at certain times and should have warned the gondola operator. Sea to Sky Gondola made it clear to Unified Systems that “safety was paramount” to ensure the cable would not be severed a second time, the statement said. “Although the vandal approached the tower, climbed the ladder and cut the cable, each of which should have been detected by multiple components of the (security system) … the alarm was not activated at any point,” he says. Kirby Brown, the gondola’s general manager, said during a news conference Wednesday that they increased the reward with the goal of getting anyone with information about the crimes to come forward. The direct cost of the damage in both incidents exceeded $10 million, he said, noting that the amount does not include the benefits the attraction provides to the local economy that were lost when it was twice forced to close and replace the gondola’s infrastructure. The company was insured for the damage, Brown said. In addition to the black-and-white thermal image of a person standing on or near a gondola tower, Mounties released a video clip showing a security guard walking under the cable seconds before he cut it in September 2020. RCMP Sgt. Chris Manseau said investigators believe the suspect is very healthy, familiar with the area and knew exactly what tools to use to cut the wire, avoiding personal injury. He said police believe it could have been the same person who cut the wire both times, but it’s possible others were involved. The suit asks the court to award the gondola company general damages, special damages, interest, costs and any further relief the court may deem just, although no dollar amount was included in the statement of claim. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 15, 2022.
