Rescue crews recover multiple people trapped overnight on Sandia tramway

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Multiple people who were trapped on the Sandia Peak Tramway following icy conditions have been rescued.

In a tweet, Bernalillo County Fire said all 21 employees have been rescued.

Officials said they rescued 20 employees from Gondola 2, and were working on a rescue plan for one employee who was still in Gondola 1.

The Ten3 employees were taking the tram back down Friday night around 9:30 p.m. after ice accumulation stopped the tramway.

According to Sandia Peak HR Manager Brian Coon, there was an unusually fast accumulation of ice on one of the cables that made it droop below the tram, making it dangerous to keep going.

KOB 4 has confirmed that a rescue team is on route and will be flying a helicopter to land on the mountain.

BCSO search and rescue says the folks are in surprisingly high spirits.

Stay with KOB 4 and kob.com for updates.

After a coordinated effort between BCFD, BCSO, NM State Police, and NM Search & Rescue Teams, we are happy to report that the 20 people have been rescued from Gondola 2. Gondola 1 still has one employee and we are actively working are rescue plan.

— BernalilloCountyFire (@BerncoFire) January 1, 2022