Power outage shuts down gondola in Banff, tourists helped after being stranded

BANFF, Alta. – Hundreds of visitors who took a sightseeing gondola up Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park had to be helped down from the summit today after a power outage shut it down overnight.

Pursuit, the company that runs the popular gondola, says in a statement that the Banff-wide outage was caused by a lightning storm on Monday evening.

Spokeswoman Tanya Otis says the first priority was to ensure the safety of its guests who were stuck in the gondola when the power went out.

The company says it then focused on ensuring guests in the upper terminal had food, beverages and blankets as it updated them on the situation.