More than 300 people had to be airlifted off of The Whistlers Mountain after a track rope malfunction forced staff to evacuate two gondolas on the Jasper Tramway for the first time in its 46-year history on Sunday. 

“It was quite an eventful day,” said Alex Rayner, general manager of the Jasper Tramway. 

There were 271 people on the mountain and 49 in the two cars involved when the track rope brake’s safety mechanism on Car 2 kicked in and suddenly stopped the line at about 11:30 a.m. The malfunction is called a haul rope throwover, Rayner said. 

Each car on the tramway is attached to two cables. A haul rope, which pulls the cars up the mountain, and a track rope, which the car slides along. As Car 2 was moving along the track, it made contact with the tower after one of the haul rope guides came out of place, causing the emergency brake to clamp around the track rope, and the haul rope to whip up and over the track rope. 

“It’s a very immediate stop,” Rayner said. “The brake released as it was supposed to.”

Staff immediately initiated an evacuation of the gondolas. 

Parks Canada assisted in the evacuation by providing two medium-sized helicopters and 15 staff members to ferry passengers from the top of the mountain to the parking lot below. Garth Lemke, public safety specialist for Parks Canada, said they received the call for help at about noon Sunday. 

Forty-nine people were evacuated from the two cars by Jasper Tramway staff. They were then transported by heli-sling to the bottom of the mountain.

Another 271 tram users at the upper platform had to be evacuated by helicopter. 

One helicopter travelled from Canmore to assist, and the other, a Bell 407, was already in the area. 

Lemke said Parks Canada did not assist in the evacuation of the cars, which was done by tramway staff. 

“They’re the experts in that,” Lemke said. 

Parks Canada’s participation in the evacuation was complete by 4 p.m. once all passengers had been safely taken off the mountain. 

“The evacuation went very smoothly,” he said. 

It took 28 flights up and down the mountain to remove all the passengers, 12 at a time. An additional 40 passengers opted to walk down themselves. 

“Because no one can stop you from walking out,” Lemke said. 

Despite the sudden braking, only one minor injury was reported when one woman, a diabetic, went into medical distress while hiking down the tram line.

Lemke said they removed the woman by heli-sling from the mountain after the initial evacuation, and she was taken to hospital in a waiting ambulance. 

“I believe she’s fine,” Rayner said. 

Staff at the Jasper Tramway train once a year to perform evacuations from the cars, but have never actually had to run an emergency extraction. Rayner was happy with how the staff reacted.

“It’s the first time in history we’ve ever had to run an emergency extraction,” he said. “They responded quickly.”

The tramway works closely with Parks Canada in their training exercises. Lemke said they often attend training either to observe or practise with the helicopters. “It’s just working with other agencies so we’re all on the same page,” he added. 

That co-operation helped get all 320 tram users safely off the mountain. Each gondola is equipped with ropes to remove passengers in the event of an emergency. 

“The evacuation went very smoothly,” Rayner said. “(It went) as good as a situation like that could go.”

The passengers on the tram at the time would have heard a loud noise as the cable whipped up and over the tower. Rayner said it may have been a bit alarming to those nearby. 

“I imagine anyone would have been a bit shaken up,” he said.

Lemke said the passengers involved in the evacuation had an exciting day. 

“They got more than they paid for,” he said. 

After the incident, only 14 people asked for refunds out of the 320 on the mountain at the time. While going through comment cards from Sunday, Rayner said he found many that commended staff for the efficient and professional evacuation. 

“Some people said it made their vacation,” he said.

Once the evacuation was complete, tramway staff hiked up the tram line to repair the cables and do a full rope inspection. The crew was still on the mountain when a storm blew through the Jasper area. Rayner said they did have to stop and wait for a lightning storm to pass before continuing with the repairs and inspection, but no passengers were still on the mountain when the storm hit. 

“We lucked out with the weather, that’s for sure,” he said. 

The tram was back up and running by Monday morning for the regular start time, and Rayner said information about the incident was freely available to those using the tram. 

“We’re letting everyone know what happened,” he said.