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Hell’s Gate Airtram not affected by landslides, owner confirms

Rumours had started that the historic site’s infrastructure was damaged by storm
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Hell’s Gate Airtram has had no damage despite its location in a steep area along a raging river. (Hell’s Gate Airtram photo)

The owner of Hell’s Gate Airtram breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday.

A rumour had started to swirl around the internet that the historic site had suffered damage from either high waters or a landslide in the past week.

A quick look at the security camera footage was reassuring to William Wu, but he still asked an employee who lives in nearby Boston Bar to take a trip to the site to see it first hand.

He sent a photo of the site to The Standard to confirm that everything was as it should be.

While the Fraser River was very high over the past week due to an atmospheric river that hung over the region, it still wasn’t as deep as its historic high, Wu said.

Hell’s Gate is named as such because of dangers the water there create. It’s a narrow point in the Fraser, creating deep churning rapids. There is a suspension bridge across the river, but there is also an airtram that shuttles paying visitors down to a small village on the opposite side of the water. The tourist attraction has a restaurant, shops, a museum, historic artifacts and activities that cling to the rocks above the water.

Guests can also walk across the suspension bridge.

The airtram and businesses are closed from the fall until the early summer. While open, they are a major tourist attraction in the Fraser Canyon.

On the site’s Instagram page, they thanked the community for caring so much.

“It is heartwarming during these difficult days,” they posted.

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Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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