But Switzerland really is a rather splendid place to be when things go wrong, isn't it?
Gosh. I really don't know what to say.
You can say that again!
I hope the rest of the year will be without another fright like this.
One is never really prepared for something like this. I would have been a wreck. I hate flying and I an not good with heights.
Glad to hear everyone is okay after the ordeal.
oh wow - I have never ever heard of anything like this! So glad you are ok. I just played the video of your rescue to my son. he asked why everyone looked happy and not scared (he's 5).
Someone did say once all of Switzerland's cable cars are all new and that's why they are so safe (??)... and that all the second hand ones go to France according to the rumours...
Ach du Kacke!
Well, after the shock, and as the Monty Phyton used to say->
"Always look on the bright side of life" da da dadadadada
Nice experience...
You might surprise yourself, should you find yourself in this situation: Just look at the faces of the people in the cable car - they looked pretty calm (although I bet quite a few of them burst into tears as soon as they landed on solid ground!).
I hate flying - every minute I'm in the air is complete torment for me - yet when I found myself in an aeroplane that was forced to abort the landing a few dozen metres above the runway, after a violently bumpy descent, I actually enjoyed it!
We were so close to crashing, but something deep inside me bubbled up at the last minute, and the next thing I knew I was grinning and giggling like a lunatic.
It was only when the plane landed at another airport that it actually sunk in, and the journey back to Zurich the next morning was not the most comfortable of experiences, despite being completely smooth and uneventful.
Hats off to the OP, though, for going through the stuff of adventure stories, and coming out of it smiling.
Bravo!
Wow... how cool of your brother to keep it together to film it all, too. I am amazed at how calm everyone looks, but I guess the adrenaline helps get through it.
Hope you are warm now....what a spectacular story... thanks for sharing, too.
Wooof! Something to tell the grandkids, can I have the Youtube link I would love to share it with friends on the LET forum please.
what he said ^^^
joski, thanks for sharing your incredible story + posting the vid!
best wishes to you + your family
Thanks for all the responses... yes, it was very traumatic, but met some really nice people - one swiss guy (the guy who lent me the gloves) was particularly nice... he apparently knew the situation was potentially fatal, and yet he told all of us that it was a technical problem, and it wasn't dangerous. My husband also knew that the problem was very bad (he saw it through the ceiling door when the guys went up to check it out), but he chose not to say anything to all of us, to stop any mass hysteria. He also chose to allow everyone to go first before him - and he chose to go with my Aunty who is petrified of heights. It's amazing how she coped - and it's amazing how you surprise yourself in situations like that - you just DO cope... and you're right, you end up high on adrenaline afterwards, and we haven't stopped talking about it since it happened!!! once in a lifetime thing (I hope!), and it's something I will never forget. It was amazing!! Apparently it's been closed all day today... wonder when it will be fixed... At the time, I was miserable, freezing and scared - but immediately afterwards, I felt ecstatic!!! - yes, we had to go down on two more cable cars to get to the bottom!! On the last cable car, everyone was really happy - music going, and spirits were really high!... glad I had the experience, just not sure I'd CHOOSE to do it again!!!
I would think that the relief and adrenalin would have made the trip from Trockener Steg quite unnoticable.
It is good to see how organised and trained the Swiss are in emergencies.
Those cable cars are pretty safe because the cable car cab is sitting on 4 seperate cables and are locked on all four cables when there is an incident.
Each cable on its own will take more than twice the weight of the cab full of people.
Very interesting experience... glad you all came out safe!
Even more interesting what one discovers in people around them in tough times like this one: Kindness, self-control, positive attitude, sacrifice,....
Thanks for sharing! Wow, an amazing story... Thankfully everyone came down safely.
A big thumbs up to those rescuers too. Don't you just love a calm pragmatic person in these situations... Bet no one was complaining about boring Swiss that day.
Happy New Year!
Gal x
Thank God you and everybody else on the cable car made it back safely. Hats off to the folks to the rescue people who got the job done. I don't want to THINK about transferring from a cable car to a helicopter.
BTW, are you right about the temperature being -27 degrees CELCIUS???
Bloody Hell !!
Do you do the lottery every week, perchance? If you do then please tell us what numbers you have chosen so we can avoid them.
Hope you have a better 2010.
I can well believe that temperature. It was -10C when I went up there in late Summer 2007.
It cannot be stressed enough how people should always be correctly equipped and dressed for the mountains - especially in January and especially when going up as high as in the Matterhorn area, which is well over 3000 metres. It's so easy to hop out of a heated car or train and so difficult to imagine how cold it can be just a few minuted ride up a mountain, even when things go right...
I agree, but it gets bloody cold up there, especially if you are stationary! It is not like you would want to jump up and down to get warm .
Great story OP, obviously the situation was dealt with with Swiss precision, and you will talk about it for many years to come.
I have never been a fan of that cable car. I have been up there once, and I found it too precarious and slow.
In that temperature range, celsius and farenheit are almost the same - that's when you know it's seriously cold.
I used to work as a chairlift operator. When we had to shut the lifts down due to high winds, I was always amazed by how many and how much people complained. We were stopping for their own safety, and in other situations people always want to take the safest path, so it always seemed odd to me how much they complained. Maybe if a few more people read about events like this then they will accept the fact that chair lifts / cable cars plus high winds is a really bad combination. You should therefore be thankful when the experts at the ski hill prevent you from ever getting into such a situation by not letting you onto the lift in the first place.
I'm glad you, your family, and everyone else was OK. On the bright side, it must have been a real bonding experience for you all.
Precarious and slow? You've then obviously not sampled a ride on one of Zermatt's finest - the (now decommissioned) 1950es vintage Triftji - Rote Nase cable car
Wow - as others have said, you were very lucky and it is all quite remarkable. I wonder what they do if there are kids on board? Has made me think twice, we have two 3 year olds and a 4 year old and regularly go up mountains on cable cars, how on earth would they cope with terrified kids??