Terror Over Tahoe

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I have never skied, nor have I ever had a desire to ski.  Over the course of many years I have learned that I can break more than my share of bones simply by puttering around the yard.  I don't need the added drama and expense of going someplace exotic and participating in a daredevil activity just to acquire some body plaster for friends to sign.  

I did visit a ski center once and almost got on a ski lift to ride to the top of Mt. Schweitzer which overlooks the scenic small city of Sandpoint, Idaho, but was saved at the last minute from that terrifying prospect when my hostess, Cousin Joyce, offered an alternative activity.  The ski lift, which I viewed from below, looked like a an aluminum plank dangling below a cable and held in place by a piece of aluminum tubing similar to that which makes the frame for a webbed lawn chair.  The minimal lawn chair hanging from a cable might have held me, but I had my doubts.  We went boating instead.

That was my only experience with a ski "lift."  I did see photos of a ski "gondola," and they look far more comfortable and safer, yet they, too, dangle high above the rough terrain of ski slopes by cables.  The photos of gondolas that I saw looked as though they were completely enclosed and could hold perhaps four skiers or snowboarders and their equipment.

This past week, in a scenario that sounds like the opening scene of a horror movie, a young lady and some friends were staying at a resort in South Lake Tahoe, California, and spending their days out on the slopes snowboarding.  It was late in the day on Thursday when the woman rode the gondola back up the mountain for one final snowboarding run, but when she got to the top she realized that she was actually too tired for another run, and she asked one of the operators if she could instead just ride the gondola back to the base.  She got into a gondola at 4:58 p.m. and was only part way down the mountain when the ride shut down for the day.

When the car stopped and the captive in the airborne cable car realized what had happened. she yelled desperately to workers that she could see below on the mountain, but they could not hear her, and eventually she lost her voice.  The frightened individual did not have her phone with her, nor a flashlight, and no any way of signaling for help.    She spent a long and very cold night (the temperature dropped to the low 20's) in the gondola swaying in the breeze as she rubbed her hands and feet and tried to stay warm.

Her friends realized she was missing and made a report during the night, but apparently no one thought to check the gondolas.  She was discovered the next morning when the rides resumed.  A fire rescue unit was called and gave her a preliminary examination, but news sources said that she declined further medical follow-up at a hospital.

The resort where she was staying is conducting an investigation into how one of its guests could have been stranded overnight in a container dangling from a cable high above a ski slope.

It was undoubtedly a very harrowing night, but now the snowboarding tourist is back on solid ground, and she is safe.  Her next big challenge will likely be handling the hordes of personal injury lawyers who are no doubt lined up and clamoring to represent her in court.

Good luck with them!