What a way to spend New Year’s Eve.
Local officials rescued 21 people from a pair of stuck gondolas in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after icy conditions forced them to stay there overnight on Friday.
“All 21 people and rescuers are off the mountain with no injuries,” tweeted the Bernalillo County Fire Department on Saturday, thanking the local sheriff’s office, New Mexico Search and Rescue, State Police, and other personnel for helping. “Way to start the New Year off right!!”
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All 21 people and rescuers are off the mountain with no injuries. We want to thank BCSO, NM Search and Rescue Teams, NM State Police, and Sandia Peak Aerial Tram personnel for their assistance in making this a successful rescue. Way to start the New Year off right!!
— BernalilloCountyFire (@BerncoFire) January 2, 2022
The riders, who were a mixture of employees from the Ten3 restaurant and the tram, were taking the tram down around 9:30 local time when ice accumulation stopped the tramway.
“I’ve been here for 2 years we’ve been stuck once or twice due to some weather, and you just wait 15-20 min, but that 15 min turned into a half-hour, the half-hour turned into an hour, and the conversations came. Then we heard about the ice, and we had to dock at one of the towers,” Ten3 manager Bill Howly told KOB4.
While the employees said they had blankets and each other to huddle with, it was still a chilly night. Thankfully, the trams were stocked with emergency kits prepared for this situation, including food, supplies, and even a place to go to the bathroom.
The trams docked at the tower overnight while rescue crews were called in. The riders repelled down from the tram with the help of rescue helicopters on Saturday before hiking the rest of the way. After all riders checked in with the EMS, officials reported no injuries.
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“At first, we were wondering if we were hiking out, and there was some grumpiness about that, but we were still happy. We would be getting out, but as soon as we heard ‘helicopter’ and ‘repelling,’ we were like, ‘OK, bucket list, bucket list,'” said Howly.
