This morning we received an email from our friend Howard with the attached video from Stratton, Vermont. The video looks to show a snowmaking pipe that has burst, spraying the gondola cars with high pressure water.
We have reached out to Stratton mountain on the status of the lift and pipe and they responded with the following statement:
“We are thankful to report that no one was injured in what was a scary episode for seven skiers and riders in two gondola cabins. At about 3:30 pm Christmas Eve, a break in a snowmaking pipe on Lower Standard sent water at a 45 degree angle toward the gondola. Snowmaking computers showed a drop in pressure and operators immediately began the process of shutting down the system. The operations team simultaneously stopped the lift, restarting it slowly to reposition the cabins. Approximately seven minutes later, the gondola made its way to the summit where guests disembarked. The gondola is running as usual today and snowmaking operations continue using alternate pipes in the network.” – Myra Foster, Senior Manager Of Marketing And Communications @Stratton