A Whistler gondola malfunction after an Olympic luge event Sunday is a fairly common problem and should not prompt safety concerns, officials at Whistler-Blackcomb resort said Monday.
The Excalibur gondola on Whistler Mountain missed its docking at the base of the station as it was coming down the mountain after the men's luge finals, forcing the gondola to shutdown.
Spokesperson Christina Moore said a post on the bottom of the car did not properly hitch onto a guide that brings it into the station smoothly.
"Sometimes if there's a particularly heavy person or if everyone is sitting on one side the post misses the guide," Moore told ctvbc.ca, adding that the problem isn't unusual when the weight distribution in the cabin is uneven.
"Most people tend to seat themselves appropriately but there are certain cases where people get together on one side and this happens. It's certainly not a safety concern."
Stephen Philpott was inside the car when it happened. He said the gondola next in line bumped the back of their car.
"The car behind us hit and pushed us," he said in an email to CTV News. "Our doors opened but the car behind us did not open and people were trapped inside."
Moore said she hadn't heard of the gondolas touching, but said the second car would have been accelerating down the mountain quickly.
"When it missed the guide there would be one cabin coming up quite quickly behind," she said.
Philpott said guests were "shaken and scared." No one was hurt.
After the car missed its docking, it had to be backed up slightly in order bring the cabin back onto the guide.
Moore said the entire shutdown lasted around 10 minutes.
"Mechanics and maintenance officers were able to correct it as quickly as possible. We're very sensitive to issues about the gondola."
In December 2008, 13 people were injured after the Excalibur partially collapsed on Blackcomb Mountain. A build up of ice -- or ice-jacking -- was blamed for the accident.
Built in 1994, the Excalibur undergoes a safety check annually by the BC Safety Authority.
An accident on Whistler's Quicksilver lift in 1995 killed two men, and injured nine others.
