SAM Magazine—Beaupré, Quebec, Dec. 12, 2022—A gondola cabin fell from the haul rope of the Mont-Sainte-Anne (MSA) L’Étoile Filante gondola before operating hours on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 10. No one was injured in the incident. The resort has been closed since Saturday, and an inspection is ongoing. 

“A full inspection procedure was initiated to verify and validate the causes of the event,” the resort said in a statement to passholders. “The teams of the lift manufacturer as well as the competent authorities were called upon to assist our teams in the inspection of the gondola.”

MSA declined to comment further until after the investigation concludes. Sources have told SAM the incident was caused by human error rather than mechanical error.

This is the third time in three years an incident has closed the gondola. Twenty-one people were injured when the gondola came to a sudden stop, causing damage to several cabins, in February 2020. Another person was injured in a second stopping incident in March 2020. Subsequent lawsuits led to two class-actions against MSA operator Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR).

The gondola, a 33-year-old Doppelmayr, closed for a year following the incidents and underwent $1.5 million in upgrades before reopening in March 2021, according to Liftblog.com.

RCR has faced criticism in recent years over an alleged lack of investment in MSA’s aging lift and snowmaking infrastructure. 

In the summer of 2021, the non-profit organization Les Amis du Mont-Sainte-Anne proposed a $175 million redevelopment plan for the mountain. In September 2022, the Le Massif group, which operates Le Massif de Charlevoix, also in Quebec, submitted a bid to acquire Mont-Sainte-Anne with an eye toward redevelopment.

RCR has a lease from the Government of Quebec to operate on the land that expires in 2093.