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65 trapped on Canada gondola; some rescued
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-28 13:54
A ski lift at Canada's famed Lake Louise resort malfunctioned Sunday,
trapping about 65 people in gondolas for hours as darkness fell and temperatures
dropped below freezing.
When the resort could not get the lift working again, ski patrollers
rescued the stranded passengers by traversing the cable using rescue equipment
in a feat one witness likened to something out of a James Bond movie. Resort
officials said the most severe injuries were a few cases of frostbite.
Jon-Henry Vanderwerf, 10, was alone in one gondola for three hours with his
9-year-old brother, Luke.
"It was scary, it was cold and the wind was blowing the car from side to
side," he said. "The worst part was just before they rescued us. It kept swaying
and rocking."
The Grizzly Express lift stopped about 3 p.m. local time, shortly after the
World Cup ski races ended at the Rocky Mountain resort. One of the safety
switches tripped, said Rick Werner, the resort's operations manager.
He initially compared the problem to a flat tire and said the resort was
trying to fix it. But the lift never started again and it was 8:50 p.m. before
everyone was off.
Skiers and snowboarders remain trapped on the
Grizzly Express in Lake Louise, Canada November 27, 2005, as some 65
people remain trapped after the ski hills new gondola broke down around
3pm following the World Cup race.[Reuters] | Eight teams of ski patrollers attached self-propelled pulley units to the
gondola's cable to reach the individual cabins, officials said. They then hooked
cables and harnesses around the trapped passengers before lowering them to the
ground.
The evacuees were taken off the mountain by snowmobile or snow cat.
Texas tourists Olga Elman and Glen Schwartzverg praised the ski patrols who
rescued them after about two hours.
"These guys knew what they were doing. They made sure we were OK," said
Elman, 47, of Houston, who was lowered by harness about 130 feet to the ground.
She said it was an adventure.
"I've skied for 25 years and never, ever, ever — I never expected anything
like this," she said.
Daniel Ulmer and Ralf Schmeckenbecher, German photographers who were riding
the gondola after covering the World Cup races, said they were stuck for more
than 4 1/2 hours.
"We had barely gotten on the gondola when it stopped," Schmeckenbecher said,
adding their rescuer "came down the pulley thing like James Bond."
Derek Goodbrand, 22, of Calgary, who was also trapped, said he was bored
until the rescue started. "It was really fun being lowered in the harness," he
said.
Michael Guiffre, a cardiologist whose 15- and 10-year old sons were among
those on the gondola, said the rescue plan was only initiated after people had
been stuck for two hours.
"I'm very unhappy," he said. "They've had no fluids, no food, no external
source of heat. They're at risk for hypothermia."
Giuffre said the resort brought out lights to illuminate the hill for those
trapped only after he complained.
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