Nearly 200 people were evacuated by rope from gondolas at Winter Park Resort on Saturday after a crack in a metal support structure halted the lift mid-air, stranding skiers and snowboarders for several hours. The gondola system detected “a significant malfunction” and automatically stopped at around 12:15 p.m., said resort spokesperson Jen Miller.

Ski patrollers climbed up the lift towers, shimmied to each of the gondola's cabins and lowered the occupants' equipment before helping people down one at a time.

A gondola malfunction at Winter Park Resort led to the evacuation of 174 skiers with no injuries reported. The resort is working to resume operations after safety tests.