About 70 people have been rescued from a gondola cabin at an upstate New York ski area after a mechanical problem shut down the lift system, leaving skiers up to 70 feet (21 meters) in the air for hours, authorities said.
The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates Gore Mountain, said the gondola lift’s tower wheel assembly went out of alignment, triggering a safety sensor and the lift shut down immediately. (REUTERS file photo for representation)Workers at Gore Mountain in North Creek, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Albany, and state park rangers climbed lift poles and used ropes and body harnesses to lower people to the ground Wednesday. The operation took about five hours. No one was injured.
About 67 skiers were helped down to the ground in 20 gondola cabins. There was some anxiety among those trapped and concerns about using restrooms, the mountaineers said. Even though the temperature was below freezing, the cabins were warm with the doors closed and sunlight shining in, they said.
“It was calming and something I’ll probably carry with me for the rest of my life,” said Kevin Bolan, a 64-year-old physician’s assistant and longtime skier who was trapped in one of the cabins for about five hours.
“You think nothing of getting in an elevator or getting on a gondola, and now you’re going to think twice,” said the Newcomb, New York, resident. “You’re going to make sure you go to the bathroom and maybe have a power bar with you and make sure you’re prepared, just like you’re going into the woods on a mountain.”
He said the rescues went very smoothly and he praised the professionalism of the rangers and ski area staff.
The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates Gore Mountain, said the gondola lift’s tower wheel assembly went out of alignment, triggering a safety sensor and the lift shut down immediately.
“Our trained mountain operations team carried out the evacuation and guests were supported throughout the process,” authorities said in a statement. “Safety remains our highest priority, and our teams are fully trained and experienced in handling such situations.”
Park rangers and Gore Mountain ski patrol trained together in November to remove gondolas, climbing lift towers and traversing cables to reach the gondolas, just as they did Wednesday, officials said.
The gondola lift reopened on Thursday.
