More than 200 people were trapped on the Express du Village hybrid lift at Bromont, montagne d’expériences for several hours on Wednesday night due to a mechanical breakdown. In the end the riders had to be manually evacuated after service could not be restored and the lift remained inoperable over the course of the day on Thursday. Jonathan Perron was one of those stuck on the lift and said that he was about halfway up the mountain when things stopped. “We waited a couple of minutes thinking it was just temporary and not a big deal, but when we saw the other chair lift, number three, starting to work and lift people up, we knew something bad had happened,” he said. “We never expected that it would be more than three hours.” Perron said that it took more than an hour for a member of the staff to get to his chair, providing an update on the situation via megaphone. “I remember telling myself: I can’t believe that they are just starting now to use the backup system. If the main system is not working after 15-30 minutes they should try the backup right away.” After the backup system was tried and failed, Perron said it was another long wait before there was any clarity on what was going to happen next. Although the air temperature was not very cold, the lift user said that the wind became a significant factor as he waited for progress to be made. See full story in the Friday, Jan. 24 edition of The Record.
