The resumption of activities at Mont-Sainte-Anne, suspended since the fall of a gondola on December 10, will have to wait.
In a message sent to its customers on Wednesday, the Mont-Sainte-Anne station says it must always specify certain information to the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ).
Despite the submission to the authorities of a first report on the tests and verifications carried out since the preventive closure of the station, “additional information is requested before the process of approval of the requirements continues its course”, explains -your.
For its part, the RBQ indicated that as of Wednesday 2 p.m., it still did not have in its possession “all the answers in order to respond to the order” and to proceed with the reopening of the lifts.
Safety of operations and the public
“The reopening of the aerial ski lifts (Panorama Express, Express du Nord, Express du Sud, Tortue) depends on the information that will be provided by the MSA to the RBQ to meet the requirements of the ordinance, and the time necessary for the analysis. of these,” explains RBQ spokesperson Laurent Bérubé.
“In its mission to protect the public, the RBQ will ensure that it has all the evidence that the requirements of the ordinance are [satisfaites]before lifting it,” he adds.
However, in its missive on Wednesday, the station said that its teams had “worked tirelessly to revise all operating procedures with the aim of ensuring the safety of operations”.
“The training process for the operating staff of each of our ski lifts, including our mats and crossbow lifts, has been completely revised and theoretical and practical training took place last week under the supervision of an engineer in charge of project”, can we read there.
“In addition, inspections were carried out on our detachable aerial lifts by independent experts in order to check the attachments, their components and their closing mechanisms,” it also specifies.
A prescription
Recall that the cessation of operations at the Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort was ordered by the RBQ on December 16, a few days after the fall of a gondola.
“The checks that were made before the lift was put back into operation do not meet the” regulatory requirements nor “the manufacturer’s instructions”, then indicated the RBQ in a press release.
Among the requirements of the RBQ to allow the restart of the ski lifts at the station: an expert report on the causes of the incident, security certificates, and a training plan.
The Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort is owned by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR), which has been harshly criticized, notably by Premier François Legault, for the lack of investment in its infrastructure.