We Dodged a Shutdown on the Banff Gondola

while others were stranded on Mount Sulphur overnight

Monday, August 7th, 2023 ~ After our stop in Canmore, out Caravan bus tour continued to Banff…or as our guide called it, “Be Aware, Nothing For Free.”

We rode the 2,292' gondola to the 7,486' summit of Sulphur Mountain.

Banff National Park stretched into the distance. Below us, the town of Banff lies nestled on the banks of the Bow River.

The views were a little smoky, but stunning. After hiking a mile and a half, we rode back down.

After we finished, we checked into the Banff Park Lodge, then went for a stroll around downtown Banff. While we were walking down the street, the power suddenly went out so we went back to our hotel.

“Tell me about the power,” I asked the front desk clerk.

“It’s out in the whole city,” he said. Handing me a small red flashlight, he added in an Australian accent, “Would you like a torch?”

“Why yes, please!” I said with a laugh.

Turns out the Banff power outage impacted the gondola.

Passengers were stranded on the gondola for 3 1/2 hours, and hundreds were stuck at the summit observatory. They had to be helicoptered off the mountain the next morning while the gondola was undergoing safety checks!

Ride with us on the gondola and imagine being stuck in mid-air for hours, not knowing what is happening.

We were grateful to have avoided that chaos, but what a story that would have been!