SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif., – South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue, and other emergency service agencies responded to an individual who, reportedly, spent the night in a gondola cart hanging in the sky. 

Kim George, the Fire Marshal / Battalion Chief for South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, told the Tribune that the individual refused transport to the hospital, against medical advice.

“Heavenly Mountain yesterday January 25 our friend Monica Laso was snowboarding with some friends at the ski center. They saw her going down with a ski patrol at 4 p.m.,” a thread on social media circulated photos of the missing woman posted by Astro Mila.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has not yet confirmed if the missing woman is the same woman who spent the night in the Gondola.

“Luckily she’s alive,” Mila told the Tribune her friend Monica is traumatized and has not yet told her story.

“EDSO did take a missing persons report from Heavenly last night and the individual was located this morning,” Sgt. Kyle Parker, EDSO Public Information Officer, told the Tribune they are unable to release anything further such as the missing subject’s name, at this time.

Each Gondola cart has survival kits stashed away for just this occasion, one avid skier told the Tribune, though they’re not obvious to the novice rider. 

“High Altitude is no joke,” Heavenly’s website states the mountain “has a base altitude of 6,255 feet and a peak altitude of 10,067 feet which can have an effect on your health if you don’t prepare correctly. High altitude begins at 5,000 feet which means lower oxygen levels and the potential to catch altitude sickness.”

The low temperature last night reached 23 degrees. Exposure to prolonged low temperatures, according to the CDC, causes the body to begin to lose heat faster than it is able to be produced resulting in the use of the body’s stored energy and leading into hypothermia, or an increased risk of death.

A statement released late Friday afternoon from Tom Fortune, VP and COO of Heavenly Mountain Resort and the Tahoe Region, but did not speculate what could have led to the individual remaining after hours.

“The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort. We are investigating this situation with the utmost seriousness,” Fortune said.