Photo by Vince Fedoroff
TRASH MISHAP 鈥� A garbage truck collided with the underside of the ski bridge Friday afternoon at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club. The bridge suffered major damage and has been closed.
Garbage truck mishap closes ski bridge
The ski bridge over Sumanik Drive at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club has suffered major damage and has been closed until repairs can be made.
The ski bridge over Sumanik Drive at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club has suffered major damage and has been closed until repairs can be made.
The damages stem from an incident that involved a PNW garbage truck traveling underneath the bridge early Friday afternoon.
Sumanik Drive was closed for approximately two hours following the accident, and club members were forced to park at the Canada Games Centre and walk to the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre via the dog trail parking lot.
The ski bridge is a popular trail access point for cross-country skiers.
Ski club operations manager Mike Gladish described the damage as being a 10-foot gap in the bridge's decking.
"It's major damage to the point that the bridge is not usable,鈥� he told the Star. "And 90 per cent of the people that leave the ski chalet to ski will go over that bridge. It's our main link from the Mount McIntyre rec centre to the dog trail 鈥� and onto all the easier trails.鈥�
Gladish said repair costs are still being sorted out between the waste removal company, the city, and the ski club.
"Timing will be the critical thing,鈥� he said. "It's going to take this week just to get the paperwork sorted out, so I'm hoping that we can have it repaired next week.
"It's not a major repair job. It's all the legalities around it.鈥�
Last year's ski season started Oct. 15 鈥� the earliest start in Gladish's 30 years 鈥� but the average start is the first week of November.
"The critical thing for us is every bit of snow we get is important, because we're in a low snow area,鈥� Gladish said. "So if we get our first major dump of snow before the bridge is repaired, then we're missing that first bit of cover.
The area typically doesn't see a major snowfall until late October, Gladish said.
"I'm pretty sure we'll be back in operation in time for that. If there's some reason that it's delayed, people can walk from the chalet and cross the road and ski.
"It's not going to stop skiing. It'll just make it a bit inconvenient.鈥�
A call to PNW Waste Removal was not returned.
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