‘I almost got flung off’: Terrifying lift malfunction violently swings skiers in China
A terrifying ski lift malfunction in China made a black diamond run seem like the bunny slope in comparison.
After a lift cable stopped suddenly due to malfunction, riders were bounced up and down as their lifts swung wildly from side-to-side nearly 40 feet in the air, harrowing footage from General’s Mountain ski resort in the northwestern Xinjiang Province showed.
The skiers who got stuck on the lift were seen clinging to the chairs for their life as they braced themselves through the rough streak of of weather, according to the footage posted last week by The South China Morning Post.
“The chair was swinging in all directions, I almost got flung off,” one skier reportedly said.
“I felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride. It was very dangerous.”
Despite the scare, all skiers were able to safely disembark before the lift was closed for two days for repair, the outlet said, adding that the malfunction was caused by cold weather.
Earlier this month, Northern China battled historically low temperatures, causing it to fall below zero in some areas and disrupting transportation as two subway cars collided in heavy snow, injuring more than 500 commuters.
As the extreme deep freeze frosted over the northern part of the country, even southern China had been hit with rare snowfall.
A weather observatory in Beijing recorded more than 300 hours of sub-zero temperature plaguing the country in less than two weeks, a local paper reported. It makes this December the coldest in the country since 1951.
Meanwhile, European ski resorts are facing delayed starts as warmer weather has caused snow to retract.
In the French Alps, heavy rainfall caused the slopes to be closed until two days before Christmas, according to The Guardian.
The crisis came after some 500 winter athletes petitioned the International Ski Federation to cut emission, warning that global warming will continue to endanger the sport.
With Post wires
