No skier or snowboarder enjoys when a lift suddenly stops. One of the lingering fears is it won’t restart in a timely fashion, which is what happened Sunday at Heavenly Mountain ski resort in Lake Tahoe.
According to SouthTahoeNow.com, multiple people were evacuated from the Comet Express chairlift at Heavenly Mountain Resort on Sunday. Reportedly, a mechanical malfunction caused the lift to stop running. The lift didn’t run again, but there were no injuries reported. The number of people on the Comet lift was not revealed.
“Heavenly Mountain Resort extends its apologies to the guests who were inconvenienced by this event,” said Kevin “Coop” Cooper, Sr. Communications Manager for the resort. “The safety of our guests and staff is our highest priority, and we plan to resume normal operation of the Comet Express Chairlift as soon as the mechanical issue is resolved and the chair is determined to be safe for operation.”
The Comet lift is not operating today. High winds have shut down a number of lifts and the gondola today at Heavenly, located in South Lake Tahoe.
Heavenly lift maintenance personnel are currently assessing the mechanical issue and stoppage. They will continue to work in conjunction with state and regulatory agencies until all issues are resolved.
Heavenly operations staff immediately responded to the lift shut down and started the evacuation of all guests from the Comet lift by utilizing rope harnesses to lower the skiers and snowboarders to the ground. The distance was a reported 20 to 40 feet below. Witnesses on Sunday said the Heavenly eavenly Hstaff got everyone down quickly and efficiently from the malfunctioning lift.
The Comet Express is one of the most popular lifts on the Nevada side of Heavenly. It is unknown when the 28-year-old lift will be back in operation.
