Canadian cable car line slashed by saboteur again

A popular cable car line in Canada has been deliberately cut by a saboteur, sending dozens of carriages crashing into the mountain below.

The person who severed The Sea-to-Sky Gondola cable, near Squamish, British Columbia, in the middle of night risked death to chop the steel line.

Monday's attack, which has caused millions of dollars of damage, is the second year in a row the cable has been cut.

Depending on where the two-kilometre long cable was severed, the dozens of empty cars potentially smashed into the mountain from a height of 300 metres.

Luckily, no one was injured.

Emergency workers have been unable to properly assess the damage at the tourist attraction because smoke from the US wildfires has hampered helicopter flights.

Police believe the attack took place around 4am Monday (local time).

General manager Kirby Brown told CBC he woke up to his phone ringing.

"This event mirrors last year's event in a very eerie fashion ... We're all stunned and shocked," he said.

"To me, this is somebody sabotaging our business."

Mr Brown said he had watched CCTV footage and was shocked at the saboteur's action.

"This individual has no regard for their own life and limb. They wanted to do what they did, they did it swiftly, they did it with skill."

Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating and have temporarily closed all walking tracks and mountain biking trails.

An overnight camper sleeping in a tent close to the cable car line said she heard the crash around 4am.

"It was pretty much trees falling and then metal sounds," Zoe Desjardins told Global News.

"It was loud enough to wake me up."

The long cable is made up of six steel wires tightly woven together.

Anyone who cuts the line is at risk of being fatally lashed by the recoil.

The Sea-to-Sky Gondola's line was cut last year, with almost 30 cars wrecked.

The 2019 insurance bill, still being processed, could total $310 million.