More Than 170 Snowboarders and Skiers Rescued After Colorado Ski Lift Breaks Down

Mar. 15, 2025

Winter Park Resort in Colorado.Photo:Getty

Getty

Staff at a Colorado ski resort had to rescue more than 170 skiers and snowboarders from a lift after it broke down mid-ride up a mountain.

174 people using the ski lift at the Winter Park Resort in Winter Park became stuck just after 12 p.m. local time on Saturday, Dec. 21, according toThe GuardianandThe Colorado Sun.

Resort spokesperson Jen Miller toldThe Colorado Sunthat the machine stopped automatically after it detected a crack in a structural piece of the lift. She referred to the crack as an “operational malfunction.”

“Ski patrol has trained extensively for this," she toldThe ColoradoSun, noting that this is the first time the ski lift — which opened in December 2018 — had been evacuated. “It’s a very rare thing to have to evacuate a lift at all.”

A ski lift (stock image).Getty

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

The evacuations began at around 1 p.m., local affiliate stationFox 31reported, and members of the ski patrol continued working until everyone had made it safely to the ground at 6 p.m. No one was injured, the outlets reported.

One TikTok videoshows the beginning of the incident, when a resort employee called out to a cabin full of skiers and snowboarders from the ground to ask if anyone was injured.

“Ski patrol has started a lift evacuation,” the employee yelled out to the skiers, before asking if there were any injured, elderly or disabled guests in the cabin.

“Is everyone feeling good?” one member of the ski patrol can be heard telling the gondola passengers in anotherTikTokvideo, before beginning to escort them to the ground. “We’re slowly gonna lower each one of you out. We’re gonna leave gear and take the gear out at the very end.”

The outlets reported that Winter Park Resort has since closed that particular lift and workers began replacing the section that was cracked on Sunday. State regulators including the Colorado Tramway Safety Board and the U.S.-based manufacturer Leitner Poma are set to inspect the lift once it has reopened as well as investigate what caused the crack, per Fox 31.

Miller toldThe ColoradoSunthat the crack was “part of the malfunction,” and said the cause is still being investigated. “We are working with the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board, the manufacturer, all of the authorities,” she said.

“The gondola did what it was designed to do and once the malfunction happened, it stopped,” she added.

Winter Park Resort did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

“It’s a bummer for sure,” she toldThe Colorado Sun. “But malfunctions do happen, and our teams are trained. It’s not an overnight fix. We’re not sure how long it’s going to take to fix it.”

source: people.com