Ice caused resort accident

WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) — A rare type of ice buildup has been blamed for the partial collapse of a gondola tower at Canada’s Whistler ski resort.

Thirteen people were slightly injured and dozens were trapped for hours in unheated gondola cabins when a tower on the Excalibur gondola buckled Tuesday afternoon, bouncing two of the cars off the ground. The resort, which will host the alpine events of the 2010 Winter Olympics, said Wednesday that the tower failure occurred when water somehow seeped into a splice on a section of a tower.