Woman Thought to be Missing Was Stuck in a Gondola Overnight!

[ski diva]

Well, this is the stuff of nightmares. From KCRA3:

Woman thought to be missing was stuck 15 hours overnight up on a gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort​

Monica Laso was on a skiing trip with her friends Thursday when she was stranded on a gondola​

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. When Monica Laso planned a skiing trip with her friends to Heavenly Ski Resort, she never imagined she would spend 15 hours overnight hanging in the sky on a gondola. The hours felt long as Laso said she was fighting the cold by rubbing her hands and feet.

Thursday was her first time at the Lake Tahoe area resort. She spent most of the day snowboarding. Towards the end of the day, she fell behind her friends since they are more experienced than her.

Laso said since it was getting late, she approached a worker who guided her to the gondola after she expressed that she was too tired to continue down the hill. She got into the gondola at around 4:58 p.m., and then two minutes later, it stopped, leaving her alone and stranded.

KCRA 3 interviewed Laso in Spanish. The following quotes were translated.

"I didn't have a phone, a light or anything," said Laso. Without a phone to call for help, Laso said she screamed every time she saw a worker down below, but they couldn’t hear her. "I screamed desperately until I lost my voice," Laso said.

Laso's friends said they reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office when they could not get ahold of her. It wasn’t until the gondola started working again Friday and went back down the mountain that crews realized she had been there overnight.

"I felt very frustrated," Laso said.

Kim George, a spokesperson for South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue, said they assessed and treated Laso before releasing her. In a statement sent to KCRA 3, Heavenly Mountain Resort said it is investigating how this could have happened.

George said this is the first time they have responded to something like this in over 20 years.

 

[groomer groover]

"I felt very frustrated," Laso said.

My goodness. That had to be an understatement or poor translation.

 

[IceHeeler]

Laso said since it was getting late, she approached a worker who guided her to the gondola after she expressed that she was too tired to continue down the hill. She got into the gondola at around 4:58 p.m., and then two minutes later, it stopped, leaving her alone and stranded.

I suspect some gondola operators may lose their jobs. I can't wrap my brain around the operators not paying attention to the downloaders and the rider having no way to communicate with her party. Truly terrifying.

 

[MissySki]

That is so scary!! Good reason to ski with a phone, assuming you have battery and service at that point.

 

[altagirl]

This is waaay over a decade ago now, but we know someone with a lifetime pass to a resort because they left him stranded on a lift overnight. It was during summer operations for bike season, luckily, but on a regular chair, not a gondola. I can't imagine!

 

[Sheena]

This is a good way to get sued! Holy cow that's scary.

 

[MissySki]

This is waaay over a decade ago now, but we know someone with a lifetime pass to a resort because they left him stranded on a lift overnight. It was during summer operations for bike season, luckily, but on a regular chair, not a gondola. I can't imagine!

That is like a really scary movie! Was he alone or with someone else on the lift?

 

[Susan L]

There was a movie about someone getting stranded on a lift and they were eaten by wolves...I think. I ski with a whistle for safety reasons.

 

[altagirl]

That is like a really scary movie! Was he alone or with someone else on the lift?

Alone. LOL, depending on who you were on the lift with, I'm not sure if that's better or worse....

A safety whistle is useful for any number of reasons though!

 

[Jilly]

I think it was Absolutely Fabulous that had a skit about ending up on the chair overnight.

 

[floatingyardsale]

The movie is Frozen, and filmed at Snowbasin, where the wolves totally eat people over night.

 

[Christy]

Wait, the wolves climb up and get on the chairlift in the movie? If that were the case, couldn't a person climb down, the way the wolves were climbing up? Seems like our opposable thumbs would make it easier for us to climb. Or maybe the moral is, just bring snacks wolves like?

 

[altagirl]

Wait, the wolves climb up and get on the chairlift in the movie? If that were the case, couldn't a person climb down, the way the wolves were climbing up? Seems like our opposable thumbs would make it easier for us to climb. Or maybe the moral is, just bring snacks wolves like?

I was also thinking wait, that's a REALLY ridiculous plotline, I mean how would that even be feasible. Unless they jumped off the lift? But then you're not on the lift? I can't say I'd even think to be scared of wolves on the ground - you know - you stay on the lift an unless they are wolves with jetpacks or.... levitating wolves or.... wolves with opposable thumbs and climbing gear, like you said.... I don't know, but if you're on a chairlift, then they are just the evening entertainment while you wait for the lift to start in the morning.

Snowbasin really has a lock on the nonsense ski movies!

 

[newbieM]

I swear this has been stuck in my head. Cold, hungry, needing to pee.

Her poor friends not knowing where she was all night. Sigh.

 

[altagirl]

Or maybe the moral is, just bring snacks wolves like?

Also, take lots of pics! You could have the first record of a wolf sighting in Utah on iNaturalist!

 

[floatingyardsale]

I have not seen the masterwork of cinema in question, but I am told that the victims decide to jump from the gondola and break their legs, and then the wolves eat them.

 

[Jilly]

Well, that would make more sense...

 

[MissySki]

Wait, the wolves climb up and get on the chairlift in the movie? If that were the case, couldn't a person climb down, the way the wolves were climbing up? Seems like our opposable thumbs would make it easier for us to climb. Or maybe the moral is, just bring snacks wolves like?

No.. one of the people jumps from the chair, badly breaks his leg, and gets eaten by the wolves.

 

[Sheena]

Ok. Wolve and movies aside -lol.

What the heck is going on to have someone download on a gondola at almost 5pm. I am not familiar with the lifts at heavenly, but I am used to most lifts closing at 3:30/4:00 pm.

 

[leia1979]

Ok. Wolve and movies aside -lol.

What the heck is going on to have someone download on a gondola at almost 5pm. I am not familiar with the lifts at heavenly, but I am used to most lifts closing at 3:30/4:00 pm.

The lifts close at 4pm there. Technically the gondola does, too, but I assume it usually stays open a little later to get people down to the village. Sounds like this poor woman got a bit lost or took a long time coming down. No idea what their policy is for stragglers.