Industry News
Guests at Steamboat Resort, CO, were stuck for up to two hours last week when the gondola suffered mechanical issues bringing it to a halt.
Two hundred nineteen guests were suspended above the slopes last Thursday, March 31st, about 20 minutes after the resort had opened for the day.
Lift mechanics determined that backup power would need to be used to get the lift moving again to unload the guests before they could fix the issue, reports Steamboat Pilot.
“The problem yesterday, that’s not normal, is that the auxiliary power had a delay in turning on. So, guests were on the gondola for about an hour before the lift started moving again with auxiliary power.”
– Loryn Duke, director of communications at Steamboat Resort
The lift moves much slower on backup power, meaning it took another hour before all the guests were safely unloaded.
The gondola was repaired and running by 3 pm. Guests stuck in the cabins communicated with the resort via social media for updates.
“We were hearing from people they were on there and we were trying to respond to let them know that we were working on it and we would get them off quickly. But there’s no real way for us to get in touch with the people in the cabin.
“Reach out via our social media channels. We are always monitoring them.”
– Loryn Duke
