'I screamed until I lost my voice': Snowboarder spent 15 hours trapped in gondola as temperatures hit -5C
Monica Laso spent the night rubbing her hands and feet together to fight off the cold - as temperatures dropped to -5C, according to the National Weather Service.
Monday 29 January 2024 07:02, UK
A snowboarder was stuck hanging in the AG百家乐在线官网 on a gondola at a resort in California for 15 hours overnight.
Monica Laso boarded the gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe around 5pm after she felt too tired to snowboard down the mountain, she told KCRA 3 News, an affiliate of Sky News partner NBC.
Suddenly, two minutes after she got on the gondola it stopped, leaving her stranded in the air.
Ms Laso said she screamed every time she saw people down below but they could not hear her, and she did not have her phone with her to call for help.
"I screamed desperately until I lost my voice," she told KCRA in an interview in Spanish.
She spent the night rubbing her hands and feet together to fight off the cold as temperatures dropped to -5C, according to the National Weather Service.
Ms Laso's friends reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sherriff's Office, but she wasn't found until the following morning when the gondola started up again for the day and crews realised she had been there overnight.
Read more from Sky News:
Father drowns in frozen pond after falling through ice with son
Inside the world's largest cruise ship as it sets sail
Alabama prisoner first to be executed with nitrogen gas
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
A spokesperson for South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue said Ms Laso was treated at the scene.
The ski resort said it is investigating how she got trapped "with the utmost seriousness".
"The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort," said Tom Fortune, the resort's vice president and chief operating officer, in a statement.