Monica Laso left stranded overnight on Lake Tahoe gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort after miscommunication left tired snowboarder mid-air until next morning.
It could’ve ended up much worse… A snowboarder has told of surviving being trapped 15 hours overnight in a ski gondola at a Lake Tahoe resort after being errantly abandoned by mountain operators.
Monica Laso a Chilean snowboarder was on a skiing trip with her friends at the Heavenly Ski Resort, when miscommunicated instructions left her astray.
She was at the top of a mountain and was directed toward the gondola around 5 p.m. Thursday after she told an employee she was too exhausted for another run.
‘I lost my voice’
Two minutes into the descent, the gondola suddenly halted, leaving Laso stranded midair as the sun set over the horizon.
‘I didn’t have a phone, a light or anything,’ Laso told KCRA in Spanish.
Unable to call for help, Laso proceeded to yell at every resort worker she saw — only for none of them to hear her.
‘I screamed desperately until I lost my voice,’ Laso said.
The stranded woman was forced to rub her hands and feet together to stay warm during the 15 excruciating hours she was moribund.
What to do? How to be rescued? Who will hear me in the wilderness?
Time to re-appraise safety standards?
Laso’s friends reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office when they couldn’t find her.
Crews did not even realize she was there until the following morning when the gondola started working again and the stranded woman got off at the bottom.
‘I felt very frustrated,’ Laso said.
Laso was assessed and treated by South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue before she was released, according to agency spokesperson Kim George.
George told KCRA this is the first time they’ve responded to a call like this in more than 20 years.
Vail Resorts, which operates the Heavenly, said in a statement: ‘The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort. We are investigating this situation with the utmost seriousness.’
