My cable car horror: Holidaymaker thought she was going to die as she was trapped in gondola as it was tossed around by 70mph winds for a terrifying 40 minutes – and vows never to ski in Italy again unless resort bosses tighten safety
An expert skier thrown around by 75mph winds on a stranded ski lift thought she was going to die – as viral footage showed her and a friend being violently thrown into their chairs about 30 feet above the ground.
Stephanie Burt traveled to Italy’s Cervino ski resort earlier this week with her family and lifelong friend Barnaby Dunning for a dream ski trip – only to find herself in a nightmare when the wind picked up during a chairlift ride.
Horrifying video showed Ms Burt and Mr Dunning being tossed around by gusts of wind as an opposite gondola threatened to collide with theirs during the 40-minute ordeal, which left another screaming skier thrown from his seat onto the ground below fell.
But bosses at the Breuil-Cervinia resort, managed by Cervino SpA in the shadow of the iconic Matterhorn, reportedly tried to play down the danger the mother-of-two and her lifelong friend were in – leaving the mother angry after her terrifying ordeal .
And interior designer Ms Burt, who has been skiing since she was three years old and grew up in her native New Zealand, has vowed never to ski in Italy again unless the resort tightens safety protocols.
Stephanie Burt, 48, who feared she might have died after being blown around by high winds on a chairlift at an Italian ski resort
Mrs. Burt and Mr. Dunning’s skis hang from the chairlift as they are jostled by the wind (left, circled). Another angle shows the lone skier in the lift after jumping for his life (right, circled)
Mrs Burt, pictured in the shadow of the Matterhorn with one of her sons and her husband, was skiing at the Cervino resort in Breuil-Cervinia
She went skiing with her family and lifelong friend Barnaby Dunning (in the brown jacket, right)
“They’re brushing their hands off it and I don’t feel like there’s any safety protocols in place,” she told MailOnline.
‘We have held on for dear life for forty minutes, listening, but there has been no communication and no one has checked to see if we are okay.
‘We were traumatized. I was in shock. And they think our lives weren’t in danger. It’s crazy.’
Mother-of-two Mrs Burt, 48, and university friend Mr Dunning had headed to the Cretaz chairlift towards the end of the day on Thursday when visibility started to drop.
They had used the transporter earlier in the day and there was no suggestion from the lift operator at the station that it was unsafe.
But five minutes into the journey, close to the summit, the lifts were disabled because wind tolerances of 70 km/h (43 mph) had been exceeded, leaving the pair and another passenger in the gondola literally writhing in the wind.
“Our butts were off the seats, we were holding the front bubble and literally waving in the air,” she recalled.
“The only reason I’m still alive is because I was there with Barnaby, who weighs two hundred pounds, and I was able to hold him. At one point my ski was hanging over my shoulder.’
As can be seen in the video, the gondola on the opposite side began to sway and turn vigorously in the frantic storms, and at several points threatens to cross paths with Mrs. Burt and Mr. Dunning – whose skis you find dangling from the chair.
The lone skier in the chair behind him, she recalled, “screamed” as the wind tossed his chair back and forth.
The plastic bell that was supposed to protect him from the elements on the ride up had torn open and was acting “like a sail,” causing him to hit his seat even more violently.
He eventually fell from his chair to the ground – a horrific moment caught on camera by another skier who shared the video on social media.
An eyewitness said he later saw the man on ski patrol and was airlifted to hospital, and Ms Burt was later shown a recording of him telling police he had jumped, fearing for his safety if he stayed put.
Cervino SpA previously told this to other media, including BBC newsthat all passengers had ‘all reached their destinations safely’.
Mrs Burt continued: “His screams were moving. It sounded like he was falling to his death. The fear of God was put into me in that elevator. It was the most frightening experience of my life.’
She tearfully added that her thoughts had been about no longer seeing her two sons, aged nine and 11, and her husband.
“The chair on the left swayed a few inches away from us, so I thought about jumping, I thought about it three times,” she said.
‘We thought we were going to be knocked off and killed, and discussed whether it would be better to have broken legs or a broken pelvis and stay alive (by jumping off) rather than being knocked off.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I just have to keep it going.’ I thought about my children, my husband. Barney said, ‘Don’t jump.’
The Cretaz ski lift in the Cervino resort in northern Italy, close to the Swiss border and in the shadow of the iconic Matterhorn
Stephanie Burt with her two sons on a skiing holiday in the Alps. She said she had been afraid of not seeing her children because the chairlift was being shaken by the wind
Interior designer Ms Burt is a lifelong skier and first took to the slopes in her native New Zealand at the age of three (pictured in Flaine, France last Christmas)
Mrs. Burt with one of her sons. She has criticized Cervino resort bosses for not taking her concerns about the safety of the chairlifts seriously
About 20 minutes after the ordeal, workers from the resort arrived to climb the pylon next to theirs to reportedly repair a sensor that allowed the elevator to start moving again.
Ms Burt said the pair climbed the pole, some 30 feet above the ground, in high winds without any safety equipment – a claim denied by the resort.
Finally, the chairlift took off to the top of the Plan Torrette slope, allowing Ms Burt and Mr Dunning to dismount – before falling to her knees in shock.
She claims there was no lift operator at the summit station – meaning the pair were left alone to unwind after their near-death experience before working up the courage to ski back down.
She barely remembers the descent and relies on her muscle memory to descend the slope while high on adrenaline and still in shock.
When she returned to the resort, she demanded a meeting with resort bosses – and spoke to president Federico Maquignaz and chief engineer Mauro Joyeusaz on Friday to recount the traumatic experience.
But she left the public even more upset than before after, she claims, they refused to take her safety concerns seriously and tried to ‘wipe their hands off’.
Mrs. Burt recalled, “They tried to say we were never in danger. I think they might have said they would look at communication with their staff, but that was it.
‘All I got from them was: ‘I’m sorry you were scared.’ There was not an ounce of sympathy, no ‘that shouldn’t have happened’ – just that the chairs were ‘functioning within their limits’.
“But if my nine-year-old had been in that elevator, he wouldn’t be here today. If I had been alone in that elevator, I wouldn’t be here today to tell the story.
‘Having skied for so long I know the environment can change very quickly, but we also rely on their technical knowledge to ensure we are safe.
“They said they’ve been in business since 1936 and have never had a death. It was damn close.”
She added: “I’ve skied in Canada, in North America, I grew up skiing in New Zealand, I’ve skied in Europe. I’ll never ski in Italy again.’
MailOnline contacted resort president Maquignaz and chief engineer Joyeusaz for comment.
A spokesperson for the Cervino resort responded on their behalf. They were not available due to the Easter holidays.