Resort must show gondola is safe
It’s hard to judge the dependability of a three-mile-long gondola with a cup of beer in your hand while listening to music.
Many in the throng who climbed via gondola to the 5,700-foot elevation outdoor amphitheater of Silver Mountain to enjoy the recent Brewfest were nonchalant about whistleblower Tim Pipkin’s claim that the tramway was poorly maintained. A Spokane woman wanted to drive to the top rather than trust the gondola, which in places rises 200 feet off the ground. However, Spokane machinist Josh Hall explained why many rode the tram when he told the Spokesman-Review: “You never know what to believe. … I guess I put my faith in the operators.”
The allegations raised by Pipkin about the condition of the gondola can’t be dismissed simply as a matter of he said this and Silver Mountain managers said something else. Not only is Pipkin a former lead gondola mechanic at the resort above Kellogg, Idaho, but he backed his claims with a stack of maintenance records. Also, other former resort employees, including a long-time maintenance manager, have questioned the safety of gondola operations.
Too much is at stake here to rely on claims by Silver Valley manager Brian Rhodes that the ski lifts are safe – and that Pipkin is nothing more than a disgruntled employee. At best, it’s in the resort’s interest, as it stages year-round events to draw attention to dramatic expansion plans, to prove beyond doubt that gondola safety hasn’t been compromised by cutting corners. At worst, the resort needs to retrofit more than half the gondola cabins that Pipkin contends are overdue for new parts, safety inspections or both, as well as check cables and towers.
If neither management nor the resort insurance company is concerned enough to address the serious allegations, then state officials or Idaho District 2 lawmakers should. No less than the safety of tourists and visitors is at stake here, as well as the region’s reputation as a safe destination spot. In Washington state, where ski areas are inspected twice yearly by engineers hired by the state Parks and Recreation Commission, a thorough review of the gondola would be in order. Unfortunately, neither the federal or state government in Idaho provides routine inspections of ski lifts located on private land. They should.
Obviously, those who know the importance of the gondola to Kellogg and the Silver Valley want to believe Pipkin is exaggerating. Opened in 1990 and maintaining a clean record since, the gondola has been crucial to spurring interest in real estate development and recreation opportunities in long-depressed Shoshone County. A resort expansion project calls for adding a golf course, 1,000 new condominiums and houses, and a new lift system.
Those grand plans, however, could be sidetracked if there is an incident or even a tragedy involving the gondola.
“If somebody ends up getting hurt or killed,” Pipkin told reporter James Hagengruber of The Spokesman-Review, “I don’t want it to be on my conscience. I’m going after nothing. There is no money involved here. It’s about other people’s safety. I just want to fix it. The maintenance just isn’t being done.”
The burden of proof about the gondola’s safety rests with the resort.