Up to 80 people stuck on Mount Seymour after crash shuts down only access road
Popsicles, hot chocolate, fries served to trapped patrons at resort lodge before road was cleared early Monday
Dozens of skiers and snowboarders were trapped at the Mount Seymour ski resort for hours Sunday night after a vehicle incident shut down the only road leading up and down the mountain.
Jason Marr said he and about 80 other people had been inside the resort lodge since about 9 p.m. PT Sunday, when they were told by resort staff that Mount Seymour Parkway was being shut down.
"It is pretty cold, I think it's –8 C up here and it's snowing pretty heavily," Marr told CBC News over the phone.
"A few people tried to walk down because they ... took a shuttle bus up here, and they started walking halfway down and realized it was too dark and treacherous so they came right back to the lodge."
The lineup of cars stretched up to the snow-covered parking lot, as shown in a video captured by Jason Marr. This is what conditions looked like:
Despite the scenario, Marr said spirits were high in the lodge.
"Everybody got one popsicle and there's free hot chocolate," he said, adding staff were about to start serving fries.
Some drivers started making their way down the mountain after the crash was cleared around 1 a.m. PT Monday, although many were delayed for a few more hours so the roads could be plowed.
Mount Seymour staff said no one was injured in the crash.
Steve Walsh was one of the first drivers to make it down the mountain just after 1:30 a.m. PT Monday.
"It probably played a large factor that people don't look at the cautions to have mud and snow tires to drive up these roads in these conditions," he said.
"I saw with my every own eyes, three domino-effect ... pileups, and in between that scattered were some eager people that wanted to get out of there, which made for some pretty high-traffic zones and a lot of pissed-off people."
