NORTH CREEK, N.Y. (AP) — Nearly 70 people were rescued from gondola cabins at an upstate New York ski area after a mechanical problem forced a shutdown of the lift system, leaving skiers stranded for hours up to 70 feet (21 meters) in the air, authorities said.
Staff at Gore Mountain in North Creek, nearly 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Albany, and state park rangers climbed lift poles and used rope and body harnesses to lower people to the ground on Wednesday. The operation took nearly five hours. No one was injured.
About 67 skiers in 20 gondola cabins were helped back down to the ground. There was some anxiety among those trapped, and worries about having to use the restroom, people on the mountain said. Although the temperatures were below freezing, the cabins remained warm as the doors were closed and the sun was shining, they said.
“It was sobering and something that I’ll probably carry with me for the rest of my life,” said Kevin Bolan, a 64-year-old physician assistant and longtime skier who was stuck in one of the cabins for nearly five hours.
“You think nothing of getting on a lift or getting on a gondola, and now you’re going to think twice,” the resident of Newcomb, New York, said. ”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 if you were going into the woods on a hike.”
He said the rescues went very smoothly, and he complimented the professionalism of the rangers and ski area staff.
The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates Gore Mountain, said the tower wheel assembly of the gondola lift moved out of alignment, triggered a safety sensor and the lift was stopped immediately.
“Our trained mountain operations team carried out the evacuation, and guests were supported throughout the process,” the authority said in a statement. “Safety remains our top priority, and our teams are fully trained and experienced in managing situations like this.”
Park rangers and Gore Mountain ski patrol had trained together for gondola evacuations in November, climbing lift towers and traversing along cables to reach the gondolas, just as they did Wednesday, officials said.
The gondola lift reopened on Thursday.
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