Nearly 70 people were believed to be rescued from stalled gondola cabins located at the Gore Mountain ski resort in North Creek, in upstate New York.
The incident arose after a mechanical malfunction left them stranded high above the ground for so many hours. The incident is said to have taken place during the early hours of Wednesday morning after a safety sensor was triggered by a part in the gondola that was misaligned.
This impacted the drive system and caused the lift to shut down all of a sudden, leaving all 67 skiers suspended in nearly 20 cabins up to 70 feet off the ground.
Rescue efforts were seen coming into place swiftly, with state park rangers, resort staff, and emergency personnel working together as a unit to reach every gondola present there.
They managed to climb the lift towers, and emergency personnel worked together to reach every gondola.
They climbed the lift towers and traversed along the cables, and used ropes and harnesses to lower every person safely to the ground.
This operation took nearly five hours in cold temperatures, but the enclosed cabins retained warmth, and there were no injuries.