Snowboarder trapped on ski lift for 15 hours in California

Heavenly Gondola, which said it was investigating the incident. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

A snowboarder who spent 15 hours trapped overnight in a California gondola described her frightening ordeal as she desperately screamed for help in freezing conditions.

Monica Lazo boarded the gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe on Thursday evening at the end of a long day. snowboard.

But when she started down the mountain around 5 p.m., the lift stopped while she was still in the sky.

Speaking to local media, Ms Laso said she repeatedly screamed for attention but no one heard her. Without a cellphone, she had no way to call for help.

“I screamed desperately until I lost my voice,” Ms. Laso told KCRA.

She said she struggled with freezing. Temperatures that dropped below 23F (-6C) on the mountain on Thursday evening had her arms and legs rubbing together.

Friends of Ms Laso reported her missing to local police, but she was not found until Friday in the morning when the gondola started running again and resort staff realized she had been stuck there all night.

Lake Tahoe's Heavenly Resort is one of the most popular resorts in California. Photo: AP

Heavenly is one of the most popular ski resorts in California. said they were investigating the incident “with the utmost seriousness.”

“The safety and well-being of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort,” Tom Fortune, vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. resort.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has been contacted for comment.

Kim George, a spokesman for South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, said sheriff's deputies called their paramedics at approximately 8:30 a.m. Friday after how Ms. Lazo was discovered.

She was located.

Ms. George said she was responsive and alert and refused to be transported to the hospital.

In her 23 years with the fire department, “we've never responded to anything like this,” she added. “I'm very curious to hear the story.”

The Telegraph has contacted Vail Resorts, which owns Heavenly, for comment.

The ski resort is located on the southeast shore of Lake Tahoe near California-Nevada border in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Its lifts can carry more than 50,000 skiers and snowboarders every hour.

Earlier this month, a man was killed in an avalanche at nearby Palisades, a Lake Tahoe resort operated by Alterra .