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Power failure strands skiers at Sunshine Village

Thousands of skiers were stranded last week when a power failure shut down the Sunshine Village ski resort outside of Banff. According to reports more than 3,500 skiers were on the mountain when the power went out at 10:30 a.m.

Thousands of skiers were stranded last week when a power failure shut down the Sunshine Village ski resort outside of Banff. According to reports more than 3,500 skiers were on the mountain when the power went out at 10:30 a.m. March 6, and another 2,500 were stranded in the parking lot. The lifts and gondola were shut down for several hours.

Electrical components on the new gondola, which replaced the legendary Flying Freezer back in 2001, were blamed for the long delay in getting operations up and running again.

"We are having some difficulties with our electrical components on the gondola," John Ross, the director of marketing and sales, told CBC. "We now have power back but our new gondolas are very, very sensitive."

Power was also out in other areas of the Bow Valley.

Sunshine Village refunded lift tickets for skiers and snowboarders.