Woman says she was trapped in gondola for 15 hours at ski resort

Monica Laso says she didn't have her phone with her when incident occurred

In a bizarre story, a woman spent 15 hours overnight hanging in a snow resort gondola in mid-air.

It happened Thursday, at Heavenly Mountain Resort located in South Lake Tahoe. Monica Laso and her friends were on a ski trip.

In an interview with KCRA 3, Laso said since it was getting late and she was getting tired, she approached a worker for directions to a gondola that would take her to the base. The worker guided her there after she said she was too tired to continue down the hill.

Laso said she got into the gondola at around 4:58 p.m. Two minutes into the gondola ride down the mountain, however, the gondola suddenly stopped, and there she was — alone and stranded.

But it wasn't just for an hour or two. Laso was stranded in the gondola for a staggering 15 hours.

Stuck in the cold, Laso didn't have her phone, so she yelled for help, but there was no response.

“I didn't have a phone, a light or anything,” Laso said during the interview. “I screamed desperately until I lost my voice.”

Without a phone, Laso said she screamed every time she saw a worker down below, but they couldn't hear her.

Meanwhile, Laso's friends reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office when they couldn't get a hold of her. It wasn't until Friday morning, when the gondola started running again, that Laso got down the mountain and was safely on the ground.

That's when crews realized Laso had been in the gondola overnight.

“I felt very frustrated,” she told KCRA 3.

According to the National Weather Service data, temperatures in the area were in the mid-20s overnight. Laso said she kept warm by rubbing her hands and feet together.

Kim George, fire marshal at the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Department, said they reached Laso that morning at 8:28 a.m. They assessed and treated her before releasing her.

Tom Fortune, Heavenly Mountain Resort's vice president and chief operating officer, sent a statement to KCRA 3 and said they are investigating what happened “with the utmost seriousness.”