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Sea to Sky Gondola aiming for early-spring reopening after apparent sabotage

WATCH: Nearly a week after the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish was shut down by a suspected act of sabotage, its operator says the popular tourist attraction won’t be back up and running until early next spring. Catherine Urquhart reports on the impact to season passholders and employees – Aug 16, 2019

The operator of the Sea to Sky Gondola says the company hopes to have the attraction back up and running by early next spring.

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Most of the gondola’s 30 cars fell to the ground around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, after police say the 55-millimetre cable that held them up was apparently cut.

WATCH: Safety concerns during Sea to Sky Gondola repairs

On Friday, gondola general manager Kirby Brown said the company has now ordered a replacement cable and 30 new cabins from a manufacturer in Europe.

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We’re now getting confirmations on estimated delivery dates,” Brown said.

“By the time that cable is manufactured and the cabins are manufactured and shipped across the Atlantic, across North America, and get to us, we’re gonna be looking at an early spring opening.”

Brown said despite the long shutdown and the need to replace equipment, the company is in good shape.

WATCH: New theory on Sea to Sky Gondola sabotage

We’re well insured. We’ve also got a great relationship with our bank,” he said. “On the finances side, we’re going to be just fine.”

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He said the company was also continuing work on its new elevated skywalk attraction and hopes to open it around the same time the gondola resumes operation.

Season pass holders will have their passes “frozen” at Aug. 10, and will have the remaining days in the season added on for next year, Brown said.

In the meantime, he said they are able to take advantage of some discounts in Squamish.

He added that the company was able to retain nearly all of its core staff, but that 75 seasonal staff members were out of work.

WATCH: Financial impact of the Sea to Sky Gondola collapse

He said the company would be participating in a recruitment fair run by Tourism Squamish and the Squamish Chamber of Commerce for laid-off staff.

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Squamish RCMP continues to investigate the apparent sabotage but has not spoken to a possible motive.

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