Switzerland — In terms of high-flying rescues, the best one for the ski industry this year may have just happened at Switzerland’s largest ski area.
On December 28th, the Veysonnaz-Thyon gondola stopped due to a power outage. This resulted in guests being trapped on the lift. A spokesperson for the NVRM ski lift company issued the following statement to the press:
We were forced to evacuate customers, some by helicopter, following a mid-afternoon power failure on the Veysonnaz ski lift. At no time was the safety of our visitors affected by the breakdown. The decision to evacuate them was taken to avoid them having to wait too long.
In order to save the trapped passengers, rescuers used a couple of methods. The first was the usual belay method, where ski patrol throw a sturdy rope on the overhead cable. Rescuers then belay the safely attached guests down. The other rescue method was a helicopter, which isn’t commonly seen in these kinds of situations. The videos below from Valais Dude shared the high-flying rescues.
Opened back in 2005, the Veysonnaz-Thyon gondola connects the town of Veysonnaz to part of the enormous 4 Vallées ski resort. The eight-person gondola can fit 1600 people per hour. It takes eight minutes to reach the top terminal. 4 Vallées, which is the largest ski area in Switzerland, consists of the Verbier, Bruson, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Veysonnaz and Thyon ski areas.
Image/Video Credits: Valais Dude, 4 Vallées
