Families stranded on Snowbird Tram after emergency brake engages mid-descent

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — What started as a scenic ride turned into a tense two-hour ordeal for several passengers after the red aerial tram at Snowbird resort came to a sudden halt mid-descent Wednesday afternoon.

Around 4:30 p.m., the tram's emergency brake unexpectedly engaged, leaving 40 people suspended high above the mountain, according to Snowbird staff.

Among those on board was Monica Stewart and her family, who had taken the tram up for a summer outing.

"It felt like you were slamming brakes on a car," Stewart recalled. "People that were outside said that they did see sparks — which is kind of wild."

Stewart said in the cabin she was in, there were 31 people, including 14 children, onboard. At one point, Steward said staff considered rappelling people down.

"(Staff) said, 'We are prepared and trained to rappel you down if we need to," Stewart said.

Stewart said her thoughts immediately turned to her 5-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome.

"I was thinking ... how are we going to get her safely down this mountain if we have to rappel?"

Snowbird officials said the emergency brake system, one of several safety mechanisms on the tram, activated without warning. Dave Fields, president and general manager of Snowbird, confirmed that mechanics were dispatched immediately to assess the situation.

"Our team climbed up, inspected the tram, and found everything looked good," Fields said. "They were able to disengage the brake and bring everyone down safely."

Despite the scare, Stewart expressed gratitude for the staff's professionalism. "They were amazing — that was super hardcore to do that."

Fields emphasized that while the sudden stop was highly unusual, all safety systems functioned as designed.

"We're really fortunate to have an amazing group of mechanics and electricians," he said. "They followed procedure and did a great job."

According to Fields, inspections of the tram system showed no issues on Thursday night.

The resort also used the blue tram car and the Peruvian chair lift to bring down remaining passengers who waited at the top of the tram lift to be brought down the mountain.

Norda Barrowes and her family said there were about 50 people still on the mountain when the tram came to a halt.

"We went to get on the tram to go down and it was not working so we waited and waited," Barrowes said.

Barrowes said several passengers, including her sister-in-law and her nieces, were able to take the Peruvian chair lift. However, her brother opted to hike down the mountain with their 2-year-old child — a trek that took a few hours.

"Another gentleman was very kind to assist my brother," Barrowes said. "They are walking down right now with the baby. They said it's going good and they have water, but he's getting tired carrying the almost 40-pound toddler."

The tram was back up and running smoothly by Thursday evening, after most of the resort's operations had closed for the day.

Contributing: Alton Barnhart, KSL-TV

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