A woman on Thursday accidentally got stuck in a gondola overnight at a ski resort in California as temperatures dropped below freezing.
Monica Laso's leisure trip to Heavenly Resort in Lake Tahoe turned into a nightmare near-death experience after her gondola suddenly stopped. She did not have a cell phone with her and was unable to call for help.
While she tried screaming to workers on the ground, no one below was able to hear her, so she was left stranded in a gondola, still suspended in the sky. Laso was trapped for nearly 15 hours and she kept herself warm by rubbing her arms and feet. The overnight low temperature was 23 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
"I screamed desperately until I lost my voice. I felt very frustrated," Laso told KCRA in an interview in Spanish.
As per reports in the media, Laso's friends had reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office when they could not get ahold of her. She was not found until the next morning when the gondola began moving and ski officials realised she had been stuck inside overnight.
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office requested support from South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue when she was found.
Kim George, a battalion chief and spokesperson for South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue told The Associated Press that paramedics responded to the resort at 8.30 AM on Friday after Laso was discovered in the gondola. George revealed that the woman was responsive and alert and refused to be taken to the hospital.
"The response was to the base of the gondola. This was really the extent of our involvement," George added.
"We've never responded to anything like that. I'm very curious to hear the story," added George, who has been in the fire department for over two decades.
Tom Fortune, the vice-president and chief operating officer of the resort, said in a statement that the property's management is investigating how Laso was trapped.
"The safety and well being of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly mountain resort. We are investigating this situation with the utmost seriousness," Fortune said in a statement shared with The Guardian.
The 2.4-mile gondola is normally scheduled to run from 9 AM until 4 PM, according to the resort's website and the website of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. It wasn't very clear why it would be running just before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
