Eighty skiers and snowboarders were evacuated Wednesday from a malfunctioning chairlift in Aspen.
The Aspen Times reports (http://bit.ly/1J5I3cS ) that it is the third consecutive ski season in which a mechanical issue has disabled a chairlift at an Aspen Skiing Co. ski area during the busy holiday period.
There were no injuries. Ski patrollers removed the passengers from the Tiehack Express four-passenger lift just after noon. The evacuations took about two hours with temperatures in the 20s, though it wasn't snowing at the time.
Two-person teams of ski patrollers belayed passengers down from their perches. One ski instructor reportedly skied underneath the stranded lift passengers and tried to throw them hand warmers.
Aspen Skiing Co. said in a statement that the lift experienced a faulty emergency circuit relay.
My day getting evacuated off the Tiehack lift. Thank goodness I got several great runs in before
Posted by David Notor on Wednesday, December 23, 2015