Squaw Valley, CA - 15 April 1978
On a stormy April afternoon in 1978, the Cable Car at Squaw Valley came off of one of its cables, dropped 75 feet and then bounced back up, colliding with a cable which sheared through the car. Four people we killed and thirty-one were injured.
Singapore Cable Car - 29 January 1983
The derrick of the Eniwetok, a Panamanian-registered oil rig, passed under Singapore’s aerial cable car and struck the cable that stretched over the waterway between the Jardine Steps Station and the Sentosa Station. As a result, two cabins plunged 55 metres into the sea, killing seven people.
le Mont Dore, France - 25 December 1965
On Christmas Day, 1965, the Mont Dore cable car was carrying fifty skiers to the summit of the Sancy Mountain. Suddenly, a hundred meters before the car arrived at the top station the power cut. The passengers were thrown forward onto to front which gave way under the shock. Seventeen passengers ejected from the cable car onto the steep rock and snow slopes some twenty meters below, ten of them lived to tell the tale, some without so much as a scratch.
Cavalese, Italy - 3 February 1998
A US Marine Aircraft plioted by Captain Richard J. Ashby struck the cables supporting the cable car in Cavalese, Italy. The aircraft was flying at a speed of 540 miles per hour and at an altitude of between 260 and 330 feet despite orders from the Pentagon to keep above 1,000 feet (305 m) in that area. The aircraft’s right wing struck the cables supporting the cable car. The cable was severed and 20 people in the cabin descending from Cermis plunged over 80 metres (260 ft) to their deaths.
St-Etienne-en-Dévoluy, France - 1 July 1999
A cable car taking staff, cleaners and maintenance workers to an international astronomical observatory fell 80 metres (260ft) to the valley below. The cable car was privately owned by a Franco-German scientific enterprise and used to transport staff and equipment to an observatory high in the mountains. 20 workers on board a cable car plunged to their deaths.
Cavalese, Italy - 9 March 1976
A cable car cabin in the Italian town of Cavalese fell some 200 metres (660 ft) down a mountainside, then skidded 300 feet (91 m) before coming to a halt in a grassy meadow. In the fall the three-ton overhead carriage assembly fell on top of the car, crushing it. Forty-three people died, including 15 children between the ages of 7 and 15 and the 18-year-old cable car attendant. The only survivor was a 14-year-old Milanese girl, Alessandra Piovesana, who was on a school trip and was with two friends when the accident happened. The inquest found that two steel cables crossed and one severed the other. The automatic safety system which could have prevented the disaster was switched off. Four lift officials were jailed for their part in the disaster.
Snowbird- 2011
New jersey man shat his pants between tower 3 and 4. Many people suffered upset stomachs and lack of stoke
NO SHIT! THATS FUNNY
Best response I’ve seen on unofficial
Same thing happened at Jackson in ’94, only the guy was from Texas.
scary shit. My boss told me about the Squaw Valley cable car thing. He said it was super freaky but glad he wasnt out there that day.
Great story. Rich and captivating.
That cable car is still on a piece of property owned by the former mountain manager down in Verdi, NV. I stumbled on it once. Very sick sight.
Wow, that Squaw cable must have been like the Tower of Terror at WDW for a few seconds. But the worst is the le Mont Dore. I didn’t realize you had to clip in to the cable car to survive a sudden stop…FFS…
Didn’t read any of this, just looked at the pictures. Is Squaw Cable Car a new KSL “improvement”? Open-air Tram to drink my ski in/out coffee, how upscale.
Gotta give it to Andy Wirth-less and KSLosers, you guys really know how to polish those turds.
You sir are a dip shit
@Boycott Squaw. That is by far, the DUMBEST comment I’ve ever seen on Unofficial. That is really saying something too. You have taken the prize for the most ignorant, inconsiderate, and flat out ridiculous person ever to make a comment. Please, someone take your computer/phone/ISP away for life!!!
Vail gondola cable frayed and some cars fell after frayed cable dislodged some cars at tower. The top heavy cars rolled upside down and landed inverted.
It’s funny how Squaw Valley denies the Cable Car accident. Ask any Squaw employee (especially the ones that actually work for the Cable Car) and you’ll see what I mean. And that accident is the reason why KSL changed the name from Cable Car to “Aerial Tram”.
I don’t think Squaw employees (the people that are seasonal and usually don’t even know where they are from) being ignorant of the incident has anything to do with the old Ski Corp or KSL trying to hide what happened. Your argument is outlandish to say the least.
Can’t say I blame them if that’s true, you don’t want your customers freaking out about possibly dying on a cable car accident. Same reason it’d be foolish to talk about the accident while riding on the tram up, people are paranoid.
I work at Squaw and I can say officially…this never happened. Urban legend.
My sister and uncle were on the Squaw accident, they were fine thank God. Sister was knocked out trapped under the cable. My dad was patrolling that day and knew they were on it, but didn’t know their condition, can’t imagine what he must’ve felt.
I’ve read the story and know some of your family. My heart goes out to you and yours.
Next week, worst gondola incidents..
Alyeska has nothing to brag about
Great article but sad…
Some more :
January 13th 1989 : the first run of the big cable car in vaujany (oisan/french alps). http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPAiNDfMdu9tg88XHHLUS19b1IKyhOJfQ5Dwfh0Y_ytHUYJ-PEcMUNgSWOdw
The car droped. 8 dead, “luckily”, it was the first run, and the car was only filled with with technician and some officials, and the car was not fully loaded ( 160 Pepople capacity car….)
August 29 1961 in vallée blanche, near chamonix (france). A plane from the army destroys the cable and 6 people fell to theire death.
october 26 1972 : 2 booths of the cable car colided in les deux alpes (france).
9 people died.
nobody talks about the tram collapse of 2013, luckliy it was a 35″ pow morning so noone was hurt
was noone hurt badly ???
Can’t wait for the upcoming “Worst Rope Tow Disasters”
Don’t get me started on rope tows. My, as a seven year old, nightmares.