Colorado ski resort rescues 174 from gondola mishap

DENVER (KDVR) — Over 170 people had to be rescued Saturday after a gondola malfunction at a Colorado resort, a spokesperson confirmed to Nexstar's KDVR.

According to Winter Park Resort, found about 70 miles west of Denver, the mechanical issue happened at 12:15 p.m. The gondola immediately shut down, as the system is designed for safety reasons.

Jen Miller, the resort's public relations and communication manager, said ski patrol began rescue efforts at 1 p.m. and finished at 6 p.m.

In total, 174 people were rescued by ski patrol, which used ropes to lower riders down from the gondolas.

Aleksey Dmitriyev was one of the 174 people rescued by ski patrol. He said he started skiing in 1999 and goes to Winter Park about 15 times each season. The ski resort is his main destination to go skiing with his wife, in addition to Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin.

"We were going up to do our first run, my wife and I, and we stopped. Stopped for about 15 minutes and we started kind of thinking, maybe it's unusual," he told KDVR. "I called the line, and the line saying if it's less than 20 minutes don't worry, call us back… Then we waited a bit longer and we started seeing ski patrol coming down and talking to people from the ground to the cabin, like saying how many of you in the cabin, all that."

They were stuck about 30 to 50 feet in the air, and Dmitriyev took a video of the scenario. Also in the gondola car was a young child who was very concerned. Dmitriyev said the child was fairly calm during the ordeal.

"Everybody was pretty calm, ski patrol was calm and professional and assured us," he told KDVR's Kasia Kerridge. "They practice before, that was actually the first time the gondola broke down in Winter Park. It was kind of interesting because he kind of knew what he was doing, but we were a little bit concerned."

However, that wasn't the end of the day for Dmitriyev and his wife.

"We skied a few runs after that, we used a different lift of course and it was still an OK day but a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said.

According to the resort, the gondola remained closed Sunday for repairs and inspections. The Colorado Tramway Safety Board, alongside the gondola manufacturer, Leitner Poma, arrived at the resort shortly after the malfunction was detected. The safety board oversees and licenses all chairlifts and gondolas in the state.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the resort said a new part had been installed and the gondola will be running again on Monday for thorough testing and evaluation. Pending the results of that test, the gondola will "open as soon as possible to the public," according to Winter Park.

The resort did not have an anticipated timeframe for when the gondola would reopen.