Sunshine Village chairlift breaks down, 'terrified' skiers and boarders rappelled to safety

Some skiers and snowboarders forced to rappel off a broken-downchairlift on Sunday were so shaken from the experience that skipatrollers had to transport them to the base of the mountain by sled and snowmobile.

"There were some people up there who were just so terrified of the ordeal and probably had some decent amount of shock that they were unable to actually ski back down the mountain after they got them off the lift," said Ryan Corry, a Calgary man who was among those stranded.

On Dec. 27, Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resortevacuated about 100 people off the Goat's Eye chairliftafter it broke down "due to a failure of the main gearbox,"according to a statement from the resort.

"When we first got to the lift, you could smell diesel or oil, something that was definitely not normal," said Corry.

He was on the Banff hill that day with six other family members and friends one of whom was just a beginner.

"We were quite worried about her."

Corry saidhis sister and brother-in-law are experienced climbers and were able to calm her.

He also credits the Sunshine Village ski patrollers, saying theydid a "terrific job communicating and leading everyone through the evacuation."

Corry saidit took about two to three hours to get everyone safely off the lift and staff ushered them into the lodge for hot chocolate, coffee and treats.

"Obviously they gave us some vouchers for another day,since the majority of ours was wasted up on the lift. They were definitely apologetic."

The resort expects the Goat's Eye chair to remained closed for several days while it obtains parts to repair the lift.