Last night I posted a screenshot from a video showing a person dangling from the Park City Red Pine gondola well after the loading zone. I speculated it was probably due to a mechanical and/or staff failure. I shouldn’t have said that as we do not know what happened before the…
— Lift Blog (@liftblog) January 1, 2026
One woman’s ski trip turned into an undignified debacle this New Year’s, when her ski boot became trapped in a gondola door, leaving her dangling upside down until park staff could free her.
As Town Lift reports, the incident took place shortly after 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, on the Red Pine Gondola at Park City Mountain’s Canyons Village. An eyewitness told the outlet they saw the the woman attempt to board the gondola late. She tried to stop the doors by placing her foot in the doorway, but instead they clamped shut on her ski boot and the gondola continued to move. It went on for another 50 feet until staff stopped it, with the woman dangling by the stuck boot.
Once the lift was stopped, Park City Mountain employees came to her aid. They accessed the gondola with a ladder, unbuckled the boot and safely returned the woman to the ground. All in all, it was only stopped for around 10 minutes before resuming service.
Reports of the incident had originally included video of the woman’s plight, but they were removed at her request. “Last night I posted a screenshot from a video showing a person dangling from the Park City Red Pine gondola well after the loading zone,” wrote Lift Blog on X. “I speculated it was probably due to a mechanical and/or staff failure. I shouldn’t have said that as we do not know what happened before the video started. The original video has been deleted by the poster at the request of the rider, who was not injured, and I deleted my tweet. Utah does have a Passenger Ropeway Safety Committee that may conduct an investigation, which would give us more insight.”
