The summit six chairlift at Mt Hutt ski field will remain closed for the next two days after a chair derailed and left 172 ski-goers stranded for two hours.
The main lift broke down Sunday morning when the chair derailed as it came into the top terminal, and will undergo maintenance and a thorough assessment of the fault.
Ski area manager James McKenzie has nothing but praise for the ski staff on how the evacuation was handled, and says hot chocolates, refunds or a free day's skiing were offered to guests and trapped skiers.
"People could see what was happening. It's not something we intentionally did to them, it was one of those unfortunate things that can happen with very complex bits of machinery," he said.
Summit six is 15 metres high with ropes used to lower skiers to the ground. McKenzie says is not a huge height but it was too far for people to drop.
Mr McKenzie says they hope to have the lift operating again tomorrow or Wednesday.
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