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BOALSBURG – Scary moments were had at a local ski resort after a 'lift malfunction' leaves several people trapped on the chair lift.

Skiers were trapped on a lift at Tussey Mountain ski resort the first day back opened.

Rescue operations were underway as crews worked to help get everyone off the lift safely. Crews were able to safely lower everyone down from the chair lift a little after noon Saturday.

Five people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.

"We got a report of multiple people trapped on the chair. A little while into it we found out that a chair let loose, and we had people trapped almost at the top of the mountain,” Boalsburg Fire Company Assistant Chief Nate Frey said.

"It was scary," witness Niki Lobiondo said.

One witness described to 6 News what she saw when it first happened.

"I saw this big pile up of chair lifts, one on top of the other,” Lobiondo said. “Like they just slid down the like the metal rope."

A video posted by a skier publicly on the social media app 'Snapchat' Saturday morning at Tussey Mountain ski resort shows what appears to be a skie enjoying the day on the mountain when suddenly five chairs on the ski lift became pinned together and trapped several people on lift.

"They slid backwards,. I don't know what happened but they came loose somehow,” State College patrol officer Bradley Smail said. “They didn't come off but they slid back on the cable into the other one."

The Tussey Mountain marketing director said the accident happened when a chair slipped along the haul rope and created a domino effect, resulting in four chairs slipping on the rope, leaving skiers and snowboarders trapped.

After more than an hour of work ,authorities said they were able to get everyone off the lift.

"We just provided man power ... assisted with the ropes and rigging to lower people off the chairs," Frey said.

"We had to get ready and put our crews in to assist the ski patrol, to evacuate everybody off the chairs, and the injuries being our priority."

Resort officials say they’ve contacted the manufacturer of the lift to learn more about what caused the malfunction. They are working with state agencies to make sure a situation like this will never happen again.

Officials at the resort said the five people injured are expect to recover.

There is no word on when the mountain will reopen, but officials said the beginners slope and snow tubing will remain open Sunday.

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