Gondola Emergency Evacuation This Morning- Personal Account

May 29, 2012

As many Telluride locals now know, the Gondola came to a violent and abrupt hault this morning around 8:50 am. I know this because I was running late for work and was caught on it. Had I been on time, I would have downloaded to Mountain Village fine as my boss did. When you’re stuck in a gondola you have a lot of time to think about life, death and everything else. I was concerned about whether or not I had to take a dump. I was concerned for other folks higher up the line because the stoppage happened so fast the cabins were smashing into towers, the line and wheels. I guess the bike racks work well because a few bikes remained on the cabin a little ways up the line. Then a guy came over the speaker system and explained that the Telluride side would be evacuated and that the Village side would be able to download normally. They are on 2 different cables apparently. So here’s my advice about a gondola evac:

1. Don’t panic. It is easier said than done especially when you just slammed into a tower, but getting evacuated is actually kinda fun

2. Bring water with you whenever you tavel on the gondola. It becomes an oven in there and you might even start taking your clothes off.

3. Bring something to do on the gondola. When you are stuck in a gondola for 2 hours you WILL be bored as hell and WILL consider jumping.

4. If it is winter time, definitely dress accordingly on the gondola. Maybe even grab one of those sissy blankets. You may freeze to death if you are not prepared.

5. Do not board a gondola if you feel any urge what-so-ever to poop. You may have your own little emergency evacuation.

Thank you to all the responders and lift maintinence personnel that are working on the issue and helped with the evac. These guys are great and we often take for granted how tough their job is and how cool it is to commute to work on a gondi. THANK YOU!

PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesey of Jared Vincent)