“I am responsible for all aspects of mountain operations, including the safety of our guests. We have rigorous protocols to ensure our gondola and chairlifts are fully unloaded each day. I have reviewed our investigation, and it is clear there was a breakdown in those protocols that day. I take full responsibility as well as ownership to ensure it is addressed so that it never happens again. I recognize the gravity of this guest’s experience and we all are grateful she was found safe and uninjured.” -Heavenly COO, Tom Fortune
After an investigation into how a snowboarder was left inside a gondola overnight on January 25th Heavenly Mountain Resort management have determined it came down to a “breakdown in protocols.”
Monica Laso, a Chilean woman on vacation with a group of friends, spent the day snowboarding at the South Lake Tahoe ski resort. She reportedly became exhausted and took a gondola bound for Heavenly Village, where she thought she would meet back up with her friends. The gondola stopped midway on her trip down and she spent the next 15 hours alone in the cabin as temperatures dipped to 23 degrees. Without a cellphone to call for help Laso eventually lost her voice screaming trying to get someones attention.
She wasn’t found until the next morning as the gondola began operating again. Since then, Laso’s story has made headlines across the country. I can understand why Heavenly wouldn’t want to provide specifics as what happened other than a “breakdown in protocols” but its not really a satisfactory answer.
Pretty confident there’s plenty of folks in town who know the details and they will be come out overtime. Most importantly Monica Laso is was okay after her night alone swinging above the slope of Tahoe and will have one hell of story when she returns to Chile.