Yellowknife (Feb 11/04) - One warning for Japanese tourists climbing the stairs to Pilot's Monument has been a constant all winter long -- watch your step, the next one might be a doozy.

Japanese visitor Tomomi Matsuo had a hard time making her way down the steps from Pilot's Monument, Thursday afternoon. She thought the build up of snow was dangerous. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

Sagi Suzuki, with Canadian Ex Aurora Tours, said his company has been forced to bring out its shovels several times this winter just to clear a path for its guests to climb to the top of the popular lookout and landmark.

While there haven't been any serious accidents yet, the thought of one of his guests slipping and falling down ice-covered stairs does worry him.

"I've seen a few people slip, but they didn't get hurt," said Suzuki. "I think though that it is very icy, very dangerous. Someone could break a leg."

The 60-metre stairway is an oft-travelled route as Suzuki said Pilot's Monument is one of the principle stopping points when he takes visitors on a tour of the city. Two thousand of his guests climb it every year, with an average of about two trips a week.

As of last Thursday, most of the steps were coated in packed snow -- some of it 15 centimetres thick.

"The snow is not soft," said Tomomi Matsuo, a Japanese citizen who has been working in Yellowknife's hospitality industry since last November. "It's very hard. It's very dangerous."

Suzuki admitted he has never contacted anyone about the icy stairs but believes they should be maintained more regularly.

"The city should probably do something about it," he said.

Andrew Morton, facilities manager for the city, said the lack of maintenance on the steps was an oversight they rectified last Friday.

Normally, he said, inmates from the Yellowknife Correctional Centre will come and clear the steps after every major snowfall, but this winter some communication problems with the facility put Pilot's Monument out of the picture.

Morton said the city noticed snow was piling up on the steps last week, and YCC came out and cleared them Friday.

"I guess they got a new guy at YCC, and I'm a new guy here," he said.

"The way it used to work was that during a snowfall they would just go there and clear the steps. It use to be part of their route. I assumed they were still doing it."

He said they will be making sure the steps are cleared of snow from now on. Morton said if the public or any tourism operator that uses the site notices the snow piling up again, they should give the city a call.

"It's unfortunate, because if we had known we would've done something about it," said Morton.

Coun. Blake Lyons said the city dodged a bullet this winter.

"Anytime you see a possibility for an accident and you don't do anything about it, you're potentially liable," said Lyons.

"It's kind of scary, especially if a tourist had been hurt. It wouldn't be a pretty sight."