A terrible breakdown on a chairlift in China made a black diamond slope look like a rabbit trail in comparison.
After an elevator cable suddenly stopped due to a malfunction, passengers bounced up and down as their elevators swayed violently from side to side nearly 40 feet in the air, harrowing footage from the station showed General’s Mountain ski resort in the northwestern province of Xinjiang.
Skiers who were trapped on the chairlift were seen clinging to the chairs for dear life as they prepared to brave the bad weather, according to footage published last week by The South China Morning Post.
“The chair was swinging in all directions and I almost fell,” said one skier.
“I felt like I was on a roller coaster. “It was very dangerous.”
Despite the scare, all skiers were able to disembark safely before the lift was closed for two days for repairs, the outlet said, adding that the malfunction was due to cold weather.
Earlier this month, northern China battled historically low temperatures, causing them to fall below freezing in some areas and disrupting transportation when two subway cars collided in heavy snow, injuring more than 500 commuters.
The ski lift benches rose and fell and swayed from side to side at the General’s Mountain ski resort in Xinjiang. @NewsFlare The few skiers who were trapped in the lift were seen clinging to chairs as they prepared. @NewsFlare The lift was temporarily closed to wait out the storm. @NewsFlare Southern China has been battling rare snowfall. @NoticiasFlare
As extreme frost covered the northern part of the country, even southern China was hit by rare snowfall.
A Beijing meteorological observatory recorded more than 300 hours of sub-zero temperatures that hit the country in less than two weeks, a local newspaper reported. It makes this December the coldest in the country since 1951.
Meanwhile, European ski resorts are facing delays to their starts as warmer weather has caused snow to retreat.
In the French Alps, heavy rain caused slopes to close until two days before Christmas, according to The Guardian.
The crisis came after about 500 winter athletes called on the International Ski Federation to reduce emissions, warning that global warming will continue to endanger the sport.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn