Two years after the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, British Columbia, was last vandalized, authorities have announced that the reward for help bringing those responsible to justice has doubled to $500,000.
The RCMP also announced Wednesday that the investigation had been taken over by the Major Crimes Special Projects Unit, which released a thermal image of a suspect along with video showing a security guard being nearly injured during the latest incident in September 2020.
Authorities said the security guard was “within seconds” of being struck by one of the massive cables that hold up the gondolas and were severed in both acts of vandalism.
Corporal Chris Manso said investigators are pursuing a charge of endangering life — a felony charge that can carry a life sentence — and urged anyone with information about the person or people responsible to come forward.
“We know there are people with information that can help police with this investigation,” Manso said.
“What’s important to remember here is that someone almost lost their life.”
In August 2019, the lines of the Sea to Sky Gondola were intentionally severed for the first time, sending the attraction’s cables crashing to the ground. About 75 employees were made redundant as a result of the forced closure of the attraction.
The gondola reopened in February 2020 after more than $5 million in renovations, then was temporarily closed due to COVID-19 in March. The attraction reopened with new health and safety measures in May.
But on September 14, 2020, the attraction’s security team alerted police to another act of vandalism. A technical report later confirmed that the cables had been deliberately severed a second time.
The gondola reopened the following June. At the time, Kirby Brown, general manager of the Sea to Sky gondola, told CTV News that Vancouver’s safety had become a “concern” for operators.
“I used to say I ran a tourism business and now I run a security operation, and that’s both sad and true,” Brown said. “We will all feel better when they catch these individuals or the individual.”
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