Fallen gondola cabin shuts down British Columbia ski resort
A gondola cabin fell to the ground on Monday morning at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in British Columbia, shutting down the Canadian resort's operations.
A banner on the ski resort's website said 'closed until further notice' on Monday afternoon.
'At 9:20 am, an incident occurred involving a cabin at the base terminal of Golden Eagle Express gondola. Our patrol team and first responders were rapidly dispatched on scene,' reads a statement posted on the resort's website. The resort is located in Golden, British Columbia.
CNN Travel reached out to Kicking Horse for additional details but did not immediately receive a response to questions about the number of passengers or whether anyone was injured.
Witness Scott Wilson told CNN affiliate CBC that the cabin fell about three meters (roughly 10 feet) shortly after it was loaded with passengers and headed up the hill.
'Patrol responded right away and some bystander called 911,' Wilson told CBC. 'The doors came ajar in the fall but nobody could get out of the downed cabin. When my son and I left the area about five minutes later, the occupants were still trapped inside,' he said.
Each gondola cabin can hold eight passengers, according to the resort's website.
The resort said in its statement that maintenance and mountain safety teams were dispatched to unload gondola passengers.
'A full inspection has been initiated to determinate and analyze root causes,' the statement said. 'Teams from the manufacturer and relevant authorities have been called in to further assist.'
All lifts were closed to the public on Monday, and the statement said the resort would be 'closed for the remainder of the day.'
The Golden Eagle Express gondola, the ski area's primary lift, 'will remain closed until further notice,' the statement said.
The ski resort said it would provide additional updates related to resort operations later in the day. The accident came after 23 centimeters (9 inches) of fresh snow fell on the mountain within the past 24 hours.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Authorities scramble as truck crash releases millions of bees: 'Hive boxes from the overturned truck were recovered'
The internet was abuzz after a commercial truck overturned in Washington state near the Canadian border, releasing millions of bees into the surrounding area. As detailed by The Associated Press, a semitruck transporting around 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives rolled over in the early morning hours of Friday, May 30, near Lynden. The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office initially estimated that 250 million honeybees had escaped. With the help of beekeepers who responded to the scene, it later updated that number to 14 million while providing an update on Facebook. Authorities closed Weidkamp Road and advised the public to stay away from the area until the bees were contained and returned to their hives. The internet couldn't resist whipping out its best bee-related quips, with multiple commenters on a KOMO News report on YouTube calling the situation "un-BEE-lievable." "I hope they are beeing careful," another said of the responders, who reported getting stung. However, the crash — which appeared to happen when the driver failed to navigate a turn — also had more serious implications, as keepers often move bees to new areas to prevent them from depleting resources for other pollinators, per the AP. Pollinators are experiencing drastic population declines as a result of toxic chemical pesticides, habitat loss, and rising global temperatures, which supercharge extreme weather events that add additional stress. For instance, heavy rains can prevent bees from foraging, while droughts can mean less nectar is available to eat. A recent Honey Bee Health Coalition survey of commercial keepers in the United States found that they experienced an average loss of 62% between June 2024 and February of this year, potentially threatening to upend food security and damage nature's protective biodiversity. Pollinators such as honey bees support around 75% of flowering plant species and 35% of the world's food crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Dozens of beekeepers helped Whatcom County officials quickly rescue most of the bees and get them back on the road to their intended destination. "Hive boxes from the overturned truck were recovered, restored and returned to use. By morning, most bees should have returned to their hives and those responsible for their delivery will be in charge," the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook the day after the incident before confirming the following day that recovery work was over. More broadly, you can support pollinators by converting part or all of your water-hungry turf into a natural lawn or rewilded space. Native plants don't just help slash the time and money you spend on lawn maintenance; they also provide resting spots for pollinators and require minimal to zero toxic treatments. And if you find pests are starting to overtake your yard, consider exploring chemical-free options first. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
What is Flag Day and why do we celebrate it? What to know about the June holiday's history
While June brings several holidays, like Juneteenth and Father's Day, there's a more obscure holiday this Father's Day weekend. Flag Day lands on the Saturday before Father's Day this year, which is always the third Sunday in June. It isn't a federal holiday and most people in the U.S. don't get the day off of work, but most will this year, since it lands on a weekend day. Here's when Flag Day 2025 is, what it is, why it's observed and how it started. Flag Day, which is observed on the same day in June every year, falls on the day before Father's Day this year. Flag Day 2025 will fall this Saturday, June 14, and Father's Day is the next day, on Sunday, June 15. When is Father's Day 2025? Here's the date and origin story for the June holiday for dads Flag Day commemorates the day that the Continental Congress decided what the official American flag would look like: June 14, 1777. 'According to legend, in 1776, George Washington commissioned Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross to create a flag for the new nation,' The Library of Congress says. 'Scholars, however, credit the flag's design to Francis Hopkinson, who also designed the Great Seal and first coin of the United States. Even so, Ross most likely met Washington and certainly sewed early American flags in her family's Philadelphia upholstery shop.' According to the Library of Congress, there have been 27 different official versions of the American flag, with the arrangement of stars varying until President Taft standardized the flag to 48 stars in six rows of eight. The current version of the flag with all 50 stars was standardized on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959. Yes. Flag Day is not a federal holiday and doesn't mean a break from work or normal government-funded operations like mail service when it falls on a weekday. But this year, those who don't work weekends will have the day off because it falls on a Saturday in 2025. Flag Day commemorates June 14, 1776, which is the day the Continental Congress agreed on what the nation's flag would look like. In 1916, President Wilson issued a proclamation of June 14 as Flag Day. And more than 30 years later, in 1949, President Truman signed a formal observance of the holiday into law. But the creation of Flag Day pre-dates Wilson's proclamation and started in the 1880s, with a school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, a small town about 35 miles outside of Milwaukee. 'On June 14, 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, an 18-year-old Waubeka native teaching at Stony Hill School, put a flag in his inkwell and assigned his students an essay about what the flag means to them,' PBS says. 'Cigrand left the next year for dental school in Chicago, but he never gave up his advocacy for a national day dedicated to the flag. Cigrand realized his dream in 1916 when Wilson issued his proclamation.' Yes! Flag Day shares a date with the birth of the U.S. Army, which pre-dates the decision of what the American flag would look like by two years. "According to U.S. Army history reports, on June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the formation of 10 companies from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to march to Boston to support the war against England for independence and put it under the command of General George Washington a few days later on June 19, 1775," according to Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), the Department of Defense's largest military installation. "This army was known as the Army of the United Colonies until its name was changed to the Army of the United States after the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776." This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Flag Day this Father's Day weekend: What to know about the obscure holiday
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota DNR to offer 4 elk tags for 2025 hunting season
Jun. 10—ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is offering four elk licenses this year — down from 10 in 2024 — and the tags will be limited to the Caribou-Vita area of northeast Kittson County, the DNR said Tuesday, June 10. Minnesota hunters have through Thursday, July 3, to apply for one of the four elk licenses, the DNR said. "We are reducing opportunities for elk harvest this year to make sure Minnesota's elk populations continue to thrive," Kelsie LaSharr, Minnesota DNR elk coordinator, said in a statement. "The number of permits available is based on the lower-than-expected number of elk we counted during our 2025 aerial flights and recent trends in population growth. "The DNR will continue to work with Tribal Nations, local landowners, agricultural producers, legislators, local government officials and state agencies to manage Minnesota's elk sustainably." The Red Lake Nation in March announced that it will offer 20 tribal elk tags in northwest Minnesota this year — double the number offered last year — for a season that will begin Sept. 15. Much of northwest Minnesota falls within an area covered by a treaty that Red Lake tribal leaders signed with the U.S. government on Oct. 2, 1863. As part of the 1863 Old Crossing Treaty, the Pembina and Red Lake bands of Ojibwe ceded some 11 million acres of land in northwest Minnesota and eastern and northeastern North Dakota to the U.S. government. There are currently three recognized herds in northwest Minnesota: Grygla, Kittson Central and Caribou-Vita. The Grygla area zone remains closed to state-licensed elk hunters, and this year, the Kittson Central zone will also be closed to state-licensed hunters. The Red Lake Band, meanwhile, will offer 10 "either-sex" tags good for either a bull or a cow elk and 10 "antlerless" tags, Jay Huseby, wildlife director for the Red Lake DNR, told the Herald in March. The band won't be taking any elk from the Grygla herd, which has lagged below management goals for more than a decade, Huseby said. The Minnesota DNR tallied 63 antlerless elk and 12 bulls in the Kittson Central herd near Lancaster in early January during its annual winter aerial survey. By comparison, the DNR counted 50 antlerless elk and 25 bulls in the Kittson Central herd during the 2023 survey. The DNR didn't fly the elk survey in 2024 because there wasn't enough snow to accurately spot elk from the air. All of the elk in the Caribou-Vita survey block, where the herd ranges between northeast Kittson County and Vita, Manitoba, were on the Canadian side of the border during the January 2025 survey. The DNR counted 128 antlerless elk and six bulls on the Manitoba side of the border. That was down from 227 elk — 96 in Minnesota and 131 in Manitoba — during the 2023 survey, but the DNR only surveyed the first 4 3/4 miles of Manitoba this year, LaSharr told the Herald in a February story, an area that represented about 25% of the Manitoba survey block. The DNR counted 18 antlerless elk and six bulls in the Grygla herd, down from 18 antlerless elk and 11 bulls in 2023. Minnesota hunters can apply for one of two seasons: * Two licenses are available to harvest either a bull or antlerless elk in the Caribou-Vita (Zone 30) during the A season, Saturday, Sept. 13, through Sunday, Sept. 21. * Two licenses are available to harvest an antlerless elk in the Caribou-Vita (Zone 30) B season, Saturday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Oct. 5. This is a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for Minnesota residents. Successful applicants who choose not to purchase a permit will be eligible for future elk hunts and receive an application point toward their 10-year application history preference. Given the reduction in available state permits this year, no tags will be available for the 10-year application history pool or for eligible agricultural landowners who reside within elk range, the DNR said. Hunters must select a season and can apply individually or in parties of two at any license agent, online at or by telephone at (888) 665-4236. There is a nonrefundable application fee of $5 per hunter. Total license cost for selected applicants is $288. Successful hunters must present the animal within 24 hours of harvest for registration and collection of biological samples to screen for diseases or other health-related issues. In 2024, 4,307 individuals or parties (up to two people) applied for one of the 10 state-issued elk licenses, DNR statistics show. If a similar number of individuals or parties apply this year, the odds of drawing a tag would be about 0.093%, or 1 in 1,077. * On the web: More information is available on the DNR's elk hunting webpage at . For more on Minnesota's elk, check out the DNR's elk management webpage at .
