WINTER PARK, Colo. — The Gondola at Winter Park Resort has reopened as of Monday afternoon, two days after a malfunction caused more than 180 people to get stuck for several hours.
Our media partners in Denver spoke with a skier who said he and his wife were trapped on the lift for more than five hours, but made the most of the inconvenient situation.
Mike Wolf said he’s been skiing at Winter Park for almost seven decades, but this was a first for him.
“I’m 72. I started when I was 3 and this is our hometown area,” Wolf said.
Wolf told Scripps News Denver he, his wife, and four others in the lift didn't get out of the gondola until nearly 6 p.m. on Saturday.
But he said they felt safe and comfortable because of the communication and reassurance they were getting from the ski patrol crews.
Mountains
Winter Park staff describe rescue effort to get 174 people off broken gondola
“It was a beautiful day, the sun was out — they kept skiing the line talking to us, telling us what was gonna happen next, I couldn’t believe the professionalism of the ski patrol,” said Wolf.
Jen Miller, a spokesperson for the ski resort said the gondola did exactly what it was supposed to do, it stopped when it detected a crack.
“This lift is about six years old, it was the first time we had to evacuate this lift,” Miller said. “We know it was a faulty piece that cracked and gave out but we’re still trying to figure out what happened to cause that to crack.”
Miller said all of the skiers and snowboarders who were impacted were compensated with two free lift tickets and $10 vouchers.
“Nobody wants to be sitting on a lift very long when they’re here to ski, it’s a big inconvenience and bummer for people, we recognize that, we don’t want the lifts to break down. We recognize it causes stress and discomfort and we want to compensate our guests,” Miller added.
"We got to know lifelong friends; we swapped phone numbers and emails, four other people who were in there were skiers of Winter Park. I'm sure we’ll be meeting up for lunch or beers, I'm sure we made great friends," Wolf said.
Officials said they were continuing to work with the resort and manufacturer to determine the cause of the Winter Park gondola incident. The last inspection of the gondola was conducted in October 2024. It receives three inspections per year, according to a spokesperson with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.
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