Skiers lowered to ground after being stuck on chairlift for hours

WHITEFISH, Mont. (STORYFUL/FOX 13) - Rescue crews evacuated 140 skiers at Montana’s Whitefish Mountain Resort after the chairlift got stuck.

The resort’s lift maintenance team responded to an issue with the chairlift December 29.

The repairs to the lift's bull wheel were apparently going to take a while, so they decided to evacuate as many skiers as they could, according to reports.

Two videos taken by Bill Marcial show a rescuer hanging above one of the chairs. He was apparently harnessing a skier to a line so the skier could be lowered back to solid ground.

Onlookers below cheered as the skier began his ascent.

However, the ground below was actually a rocky hillside, which the skier had to maneuver with his snowboard still attached to his feet.

The entire operation took 2 1/2 hours. No injuries were reported.

FOX 13 News contributed, from Tampa, Florida, to this report.