175 People Rescued Following Gondola Breakdown at Winter Park Ski Resort

Rescue teams had to be deployed following the failure of Winter Park Ski Resort's gondola.

Winter Park Gondola / The Denver Post

After the lift unexpectedly shut down on Saturday, more than 150 skiers and snowboarders aboard the Winter Park Gondola had to be rescued via rope.

Ski patrollers were on standby and after making sure no on was injured or in distress, they climbed the lift towers, crossed the lines to the gondola cabins and lowered each passenger's equipment before helping everyone down one at a time. No injuries were reported

Jen Miller, Winter Park Resort Public Relations and Communications Manager explained that the gondola did what it was designed to do, which is to stop immediately if any interferance is detected to keep the passengers safe. The incident was reported at noon, and evacuations were quick to ensue, lasting four hours afterwards.

Visitors were at the ready with their cameras to share photos of the event, and the source of the complications was identified when the photos revealed a crack on a tower component near the resort base.

Miller confirmed that the crack on the tower is indeed the source of the malfunction that led to the evacuation. "We're not sure why the part failed and are investigating that," said Miller.

The Colorado Tramway Safety Board that oversees and give license to all chairlifts and gondolas in the state along with Gondola manufacturer Leitner Poma arrived at Winter Park on Saturday afternoon to inspect the damage and help repair the lift as quickly as possible.

The crane and replacements need to repair the lift were not expected to arrive until Sunday from Grand Junction, and repairs and safety inspections will need to be preformed before the lift will be back in action. This could take several days to complete, but until then, the resort announced that its Arrow and Gemini lift services will still be in operation in the base area.