$250,000 reward offered in Sea to Sky Gondola vandalism case

SQUAMISH (NEWS 1130) — A quarter-million-dollar reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for cutting the lines of the Sea to Sky Gondola a second time.

The reward of $250,000 was announced Friday as the operators say they are digging deep to help the RCMP make an arrest.

Re: lessons learned from last time, @seatoskygondola operators say focus remains safety and $250K reward is “us digging deep” to help @SquamishRCMP make an arrest. “We are standing here today because we did not catch this person.” @CityNewsVAN @NEWS1130

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) September 25, 2020

RCMP Sgt. Sascha Banks says investigators believe the same people who cut the cables last year may have done it again earlier this month.

“There’s at least one person that’s involved in this, but we’re not going to be talking about exactly the number of people. I think that’s yet to be determined,” she says.

The gondola’s General Manager Kirby Brown says an advanced security system had already been in place prior to the damage.

“This individual on both occasions came very close to hurting people. It hurt our community. It certainly hurt our business,” he says.

“It’s no surprise that this little company has been rocked financially over the past year and a half. So it’s us digging deep to try and give the RCMP an additional tool,” Browns adds.

While some people have come forward with information, investigators are still looking for additional information, Banks says.

Sea to Sky Gondola announcing a 250 thousand dollar reward for info leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever responsible for cutting the gondola line this month and last year @NEWS1130 @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/QQQi8W3lLl

— Travis Prasad (@CityNewsTravis) September 25, 2020

There’s no estimate for the damage yet, but it is believed to be significant since up to 30 of the 39 gondola cars need to be replaced.

Property damage believed to be significant, but no costs finalized yet.
Up to 30 of 39 cars on @seatoskygondola need to be replaced, but process is not being rushed.
It took about 6 months last time to get the tourism attraction running again. #Squamish @NEWS1130 @CityNewsVAN

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) September 25, 2020

The lines were cut Sept. 14, sending the cars crashing to the ground just over a year since the first time it happened.

When the cables were cut in 2019, it resulted in millions of dollars in damage. The company was forced to bring in about 30 new cabins and a new main haul rope from Europe.

It took about six months to get the gondola up and running again the first time it was damaged.

Anyone with information is asked to contact an officer through the police gondola information line at 1-604-892-6122, or through its email, GONDOLA.INFO@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

For more information about the reward, email reward@seatoskygondola.com.

– With files from Hana Mae Nassar