On Sunday (December 22), American officials stated that a ski lift at a resort in Colorado broke on Saturday, and more than 170 skiers trapped have been safely evacuated. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.
According to the report by the Associated Press, the ski lift incident occurred at Winter Park Resort, located about 70 miles west of Denver. At present, all 174 passengers have been rescued.
On Sunday, Jen Miller, a spokesperson for Winter Park Resort, stated that after midday on Saturday (the 21st), the ski lift at the resort automatically stopped running upon detecting a crack in the lift mechanism. About 5 hours later, the cable was lowered, and all passengers were safely evacuated.
As the busy holiday ski season begins, the rescue process went smoothly without any reports of injuries or casualties.
Miller mentioned that ski patrol personnel entered each cable car from above, lowered the lift devices the passengers were in to ground level, and then safely lowered all 174 passengers using seat-equipped ropes one by one to the ground.
On the 22nd, workers were in the process of replacing the section of the ski lift that had broken, while national regulatory authorities and the ski lift manufacturer are conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident in collaboration with resort officials. The other 21 ski lifts remain open.