Around 110 people have been manually evacuated from a chairlift at Canterbury's Mt Hutt ski field following a mechanical fault.
The main summit lift broke down around 11.50am and staff spent the next two hours lowering guests to the ground with a rope and T-bar. The lift is several metres high in places, leaving some skiiers and snowboarders facing a scary drop.
Ski area manager James Mackenzie says the evacuation ran smoothly and no one was injured.
"We prioritised and focused on the top of the lift, where there's a bit more wind, and then we worked our way down to get elderly guests and children, and then circle back for the rest of the adults," he says.
"Some guests will be feeling particularly cold and they were welcomed to the base area with a hot chocolate and checked out by a doctor or nurse if that was required."
The lift chairs have a pod on the back carrying a line, which can be lowered to ski staff on the ground below. They then attach a thicker rope which can be pulled back to the chair, run through a pulley and used to attach a 'T-seat'.
That's then lowered to the ground slowly with the guest on board, until the chair is empty.
"The good thing is it's a very visual process, so the people waiting on the chair can see what's happening in front, so they can work how long it's going to take to get to them," Mr Mackenzie says.
"Obviously we're really sorry they got stuck on the mountain, on the chair lift, I hope they felt like they were well looked after by the patrol team."
The lift itself was broken when one of the chairs got stuck at the top summit terminal, meaning staff were unable to use the emergency generators.
Those stuck on the lift would get another day on the mountain free if requested.
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