Nearly 200 people were evacuated by rope from gondolas at Winter Park Resort on Saturday after a crack in a metal support structure halted the lift mid-air, stranding skiers and snowboarders for several hours.
The detected “a significant malfunction” and automatically stopped at around 12:15 p.m., said resort spokesperson Jen Miller.
Miller confirmed a shared on social media was the source of the malfunction.
Ski patrol members began evacuating people at 1 p.m., Miller said.
Evacuating the gondola involves patrol members climbing the gondola towers, shimmying down the cable, entering the car from the top and using a rope system to lower passengers to a team on the ground.
Eighteen ski patrol members evacuated all 174 gondola passengers by 6 p.m., according to Miller. No injuries were reported.
Resort officials are not sure how long the lift will be out of commission, Miller said. A replacement part arrived at the resort this morning and a crane is on-site to repair the structure, but the gondola will remain closed through at least Sunday.
Winter Park’s , Miller said, and the resort is working closely with the on reopening the gondola.
