<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials were investigating on Sunday what caused a crack in a Colorado ski lift that forced the evacuation of over 170 stranded skiers and snowboarders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The gondola lift at Winter Park Resort, about 113 kilometres west of Denver, automatically stopped when it detected the crack in a structural piece of the lift just after noon on Saturday, resort spokesperson Jen Miller said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>People riding in the gondolas were lowered down by ropes over the course of about five hours, she said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-fires-burn-halls-gap-and-grampians-national-park/003fd9e6-56f6-4802-8914-4df7638339f2" rel="" target="" title="Victorian communities remain under threat ahead of 'catastrophic' conditions on Boxing Day"><strong><span>Victorian communities remain under threat ahead of 'catastrophic' conditions on Boxing Day</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>No injuries were reported during the rescues, which came at the start of the busy holiday ski season.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ski patrollers entered the cabin of each gondola from above and lowered people's equipment to the ground before using a rope equipped with a seat to lower each of the 174 passengers to the ground, Miller said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Workers were replacing the section of the lift that cracked on Sunday as state regulators and the lift's manufacturer worked with resort officials to investigate what caused the crack, Miller said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/winter-park-resort-more-than-170-snowboarders-and-skiers-rescued-after-colorado-ski-lift-cracks/3c20dbd2-fe84-4575-b8f0-794372e8387f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The resort still had 21 other lifts open.</span></div></div>