It’s a wedding that staff and guests at See Ya Later Ranch Winery in Okanagan Falls, B.C., will not forget.
Boulders, some the size of a small car, tumbled onto Green Lake Road near the winery on Saturday night. The boulders crushed part of the roadway and closed the route in both directions.
“We were in the middle of hosting a pretty large wedding — I think it was sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 at night, we found out there was a rock blocking the way,” said See Ya Later Ranch Visitor Experience manager Sarah Sloan.
“We just had to get into action and make sure all the guests could get home.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the road was still closed with no timeline as to when it will reopen.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI), crews were on the scene throughout the day and an aerial geotechnical assessment took place Tuesday afternoon.
Get daily National news
“If the assessment determines it is safe, clearing will begin immediately,” said the MOTI in a statement.
“We will know more once the assessment is completed.”
Meanwhile, at See Ya Later Ranch there was concern the rockslide would impact traffic. However, according to Sloan, it was still a busy weekend.
“Of course, there was concern because that is the main way that people find us, and we are a little bit off the beaten track,” said Sloan.
“We’re five kilometres up the mountain but we were so happy to see that people found us anyway and it was great, it was great long weekend.”
In the meantime, travellers are being asked to use White Lake Road and Willowbrook Road as a detour.
The next update on road conditions is expected to be made Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. through DriveBC’s website.
“We’re just hoping it gets moved as quickly as it can be,” said Sloan.
“And we’re still open, please come visit us. Come for a tasting, enjoy the beautiful views, enjoy some lunch — we’d love to see you.”
Comments