Portal to Hell? Australian-made tunnel? Turns out the actual answer is far less exciting.
A small electrical explosion early Wednesday, Nov. 6 knocked out power in parts of Whistler Village and caused a small blast hole in Skiers Plaza.
In an email, Whistler Blackcomb confirmed there was a small high-voltage explosion in the early morning hours near the Fitzsimmons Express. The ski resort said the electrical fault occurred outside of its grid.
Fire crews were called to the scene at 8:13 a.m. after a report of smoke from an underground electrical vault, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) added in an email. On arrival, crews discovered it had been damaged by an electrical failure within the vault, which dislodged the lid cover and adjacent paving stones. Firefighters secured the area until BC Hydro personnel arrived to isolate the vault.
The site has been deemed safe and secure, and BC Hydro is making plans to access and repair the vault, the RMOW said.
The outage began at 3:49 a.m., according to BC Hydro, impacting 531 customers, until power was restored before 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The small hole created by the electrical failure drew some interesting theories from locals online.
“It exploded from the stress building up from people constantly calling The Longhorn ‘Longies,’” one commenter posted on a photo of the hole in the Whistler Winter 2024/25 Facebook group.
“It’s the Australians tunneling in for another season from thelandownundah,” another said.
“Are you sure it’s not a portal to hell opening up?” one commenter posited. “Given the state of current events, it’s not a stretch to imagine.”
This story has been updated to add information from the RMOW.
