Heavy winds trap 300 guests, 100 staff overnight on Grouse Mountain

Heavy winds and stormy weather stranded more than 300 people on the top of Grouse Mountain on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. (CTV News).

Heavy winds and stormy weather stranded more than 300 guests and 100 staff on the top of Grouse Mountain Saturday night.

Communications manager Julia Grant said when winds reached more than 100 km/hour it was deemed unsafe to operate the gondola that is used to transport people from the top of the mountain to its base.

“We were experiencing very high winds, so we felt it was unsafe to operate the tram,” she said. “The weather we’ve been seeing is really quite extreme - we haven’t experienced that prolonged winds in a while.”

The last gondola ride down was around 11:30 p.m., she added, noting that elderly people and those with infants were priority passengers.

The remaining 300 guests were given blankets, food, hot chocolate, and water, and spent the night at the chalet. Christmas movies were played, and first aid services were available.

The gondola began operating around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, and all 300 people made it safely down the mountain.

“Spirits were pretty high and guests seem to be okay,” Grant said, noting that everything seemed to go smoothly. “We tried to maintain communications as best we could.”

An international student named Alexa says she managed to catch a few hours of sleep during the impromptu slumber party.

“It was too windy, and it wasn’t safe to come down on the gondola – so we stayed up for the night,” she told CTV News, noting that she was relieved to make it safely down.

Fellow international student Henry agreed.

“It was pretty crazy, and I’m glad to be [down] here now,” he said.

Some trapped guests expressed their frustration on social media.

“Stuck on Grouse Mountain. Gondolas not working. I didn’t sign up for this for my Christmas Party!” Tweeted Lisa Reader, @BigCity66.

This isn’t the first time gondola delays have trapped guests. In March, a computer glitch trapped 38 passengers in a gondola for just under four hours.

The weekend’s extreme weather may have been an inconvenience, but it’s not all bad news.

“The good news is that we’ve had 50 cm of snow in the last 48 hours, so for skiers and riders that’s a good thing,” said Grant.

Normal gondola operations have resumed.