Snowboarder trapped on gondola sat suspended in the air for 15 hours overnight as she ‘screamed until she lost her voice’ as workers walked below at Lake Tahoe ski resort
- Monica Laso was left stranded on a ski lift overnight for 15 hours after the lift stopped while she was in mid-air
- Laso had been at the resort with friends who reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office
- In an attempt to combat the cold, Laso resorted to rubbing her hands and feet together as the temperature dropped to 23 degrees.
A snowboarder spent 15 hours overnight stuck in a ski lift gondola amid freezing temperatures at a California resort.
Monica Laso boarded the gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe to ride down the mountain on Thursday around 5 p.m. because she was too tired to snowboard.
Shortly after boarding, however, the gondola stopped completely, leaving her suspended in the air.
Laso called for help, but no one on the ground heard her and didn’t have her cell phone, so she couldn’t call for help.
Speak with KCRALaso told the outlet, “I screamed desperately until I lost my voice.”
Monica Laso boarded the gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe to ride down the mountain Thursday around 5 p.m. because she was too tired to snowboard
In an attempt to combat the cold, Laso resorted to rubbing her hands and feet together as the temperature dropped to 23 degrees.
Laso had been at the resort with friends who reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
She added: “I didn’t have a phone, lights or anything. I felt very frustrated.’
It wasn’t until Friday morning, when the gondola left again for the day, that the staff realized she had been there that night.
The ski area, located on the southeastern side of the lake near the California-Nevada border, is investigating “with the utmost seriousness” how Laso became stuck.
“The safety and well-being of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort,” Tom Fortune, vice president and chief operating officer of the resort, said in a statement.
Kim George, a battalion chief and spokesperson for South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, said sheriff’s deputies called for their paramedics around 8:30 a.m. Friday after Laso was discovered.
She was responsive and alert and refused to be taken to the hospital, George said.
The ski area, located on the southeastern side of the lake near the California-Nevada border, is investigating ‘with the utmost seriousness’ how Laso became stuck
A skier throws up some powder at Heavenly Ski Resort, in South Lake Tahoe, California
In her 23 years in the fire service, “we’ve never responded to anything like this,” George said. ‘I’m very curious about the story.’
In 2016, a jury ordered a Vermont ski area to pay $750,000 in damages to a woman who was stranded in a gondola lift for more than five hours.
Nadine Price had been at Killington Ski Area in October 2011 when the incident occurred.
She boarded a gondola that would take her to the top of the mountain and was stuck when the resort closed the slopes due to bad weather.
Initially, her attorney asked the jury to award his client $500,000, but members unanimously agreed that she deserved more.