On Saturday, rope rescues rescued 174 people who had been stuck in their gondolas for hours due to a malfunctioning ski lift at a resort in Colorado.
Winter Park Resort reports that just after noon, the chairlift system recognized a malfunction and immediately halted. Winter Park Ski Patrol took down riders trapped in the gondolas one at a time.
Taylor Scotland, a rider, told KUSA of Denver, an NBC News station, that she and seven other passengers were stranded in their gondola for around four hours. She claimed that the ski patrol staff assisted in teaching her how to rappel down from the lift.
Scotland remarked, “You have to push yourself around, so you don’t get hit,” Consequently, I pivoted. There, I felt somewhat afraid.
On his TikTok account, Alexey Dmitriev posted a number of videos of the incident, showing ski patrol members assessing whether anyone had any medical emergencies and approaching to remove the passengers’ gear before placing them in a harness.
In one video, a member of the ski patrol stated, “We’re going to send the seat up.” “We re each going to get into the seat individually and slowly lower everyone down.”
Dmitriev played a video of his own rescue and another of the patrolman lowering a youngster.
According to the resort, all riders made it down safely and there were no reported injuries. There were still other elevators for resort visitors to use.
According to Winter Park Resort, the gondola lift is built to immediately stop when it senses a problem with the system for safety. On Saturday, manufacturer representatives were up to supervise the repairs and inspection.
A broken piece of one of the towers has been removed and a replacement part was installed as of Sunday afternoon, the resort said.
Once the repairs have been thoroughly tested, the Colorado Tramway Safety Board will have to conduct an inspection before the lift can be re-opened to guests.
“We are working as quickly as possible while prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of our guests and staff, and will continue to provide updates as we have them,” the hotel stated.
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