My cable car horror: Holidaymaker thought she was going to die as she was trapped in gondola as it was tossed around by 70mph winds for a terrifying 40 minutes – and vows never to ski in Italy again unless resort bosses tighten safety

An experienced skier who was swung around in a stranded ski lift by 70mph winds thought she was going to die – as viral footage showed her and a friend being violently tossed in their seats around 30ft above the ground.

Stephanie Burt travelled with her family and lifelong friend Barnaby Dunning to the Cervino ski resort in Italy earlier this week for a dream ski trip – only to find herself cast into a nightmare as winds picked up during a chairlift ride up.

Horrifying video showed Mrs Burt and Mr Dunning being thrown about by the gusts as a gondola opposite threatened to collide with theirs during the 40 minute ordeal, which saw another screaming skier fall from his seat to the ground below.

But bosses at the Breuil-Cervinia resort, operated by Cervino S.p.A in the shadow of the iconic Matterhorn, reportedly sought to downplay the danger the mother-of-two and her lifelong friend were in – angering the mother after her terrifying ordeal.

And interior designer Mrs Burt, who has been skiing since the age of three growing up in her native New Zealand, has vowed never to ski in Italy again unless the resort tightens up its safety protocols.

‘They’re wiping their hands of it and I don’t feel there’s any safety protocols in place whatsoever,’ she told MailOnline.

‘We spent 40 minutes holding on for our lives, listening to  and there’s been no communication, and nobody has checked if we’re doing okay.

‘We were traumatised. I was in shock. And they think that our lives were not at risk. It’s insane.’ 

Mother-of-two Mrs Burt, 48, and university friend Mr Dunning had made for the Cretaz chairlift towards the end of the day on Thursday as visibility began to dip. 

They had used the transporter earlier in the day and there was no suggestion from the lift operator at the station that it was unsafe.

But five minutes into the journey, close to the top, the lifts were deactivated because the wind tolerances of 70kmh (43mph) had been exceeded – leaving the pair, and another rider in the gondola behind, literally twisting in the wind.

‘Our bottoms were off of the seats, we were holding onto the front bubble and literally swinging in midair,’ she recalled.

‘The only reason I’m alive is because I was there with Barnaby, who weighs 100kg and could hold it down. At one stage, my ski was up over my shoulder.’

As seen in the video, the gondola opposite began swinging and spinning vigorously in the frantic gales, and at several points threatens to cross paths with Mrs Burt and Mr Dunning – whose skis can be seen dangling from the seat. 

The lone skier in the chair behind, she recalled, was ‘screaming’ as the winds whipped his seat about. 

The plastic bubble meant to shield him from the elements on the ride up had been yanked open and was acting ‘like a sail’, buffeting his chair even more violently.

He eventually fell from his chair to the ground below – a horrifying moment caught on camera by another skier who shared the video on social media.

An eyewitness said he had later seen the man walking with ski patrollers and that he had been airlifted to hospital, and Mrs Burt was later played a recording in which he told police he had jumped, fearing for his safety if he stayed put.

Cervino S.p.A previously told other media outlets, including BBC News, that all passengers had ‘all reached their destination safely’. 

Mrs Burt continued: ‘His screams were harrowing. It sounded like he was falling to his death. The fear of God was put into me in that lift. It was the most frightening experience of my life.’

She tearfully added that her thoughts had been of not seeing her two sons, aged nine and 11, and her husband again. 

‘The chair on the left was swinging an inch from us, so I thought about jumping, I thought about it three times,’ she said.

‘We thought we were going to be knocked off and killed, and discussed if it would be better to have broken legs or a broken pelvis and be alive (from jumping off) rather than being knocked off.

‘I remember thinking to myself: “I’ve just got to hold on”. I thought about my children, my husband. Barney said: “Don’t jump”.’

Around 20 minutes into the ordeal workers from the resort arrived to climb the pylon next to theirs to allegedly fix a sensor that would allow the lift to begin moving again.

Mrs Burt says the pair climbed the pole, around 30ft from the ground, without any safety equipment in high winds – a claim denied by the resort. 

Eventually, the chairlift set off to the top of the Plan Torrette slope, allowing Mrs Burt and Mr Dunning to dismount – at which point she fell to her knees in shock.

She claims there was no lift operator at the station at the summit – meaning the pair were left alone to compose themselves after their near-death experience before mustering up the courage to ski back down. 

She barely remembers the descent, relying on muscle memory to make her way down the slope while pumped full of adrenaline and still in a state of shock.

Upon returning to the resort, she demanded a meeting with resort bosses – and sat down with president Federico Maquignaz and chief engineer Mauro Joyeusaz on Friday to recount the traumatic experience.

But she left the audience more upset than before after, she claims, they refused to take her concerns about safety seriously and sought to ‘wipe their hands of it’.

Mrs Burt recalled: ‘They tried to say that we were never in any danger. I think they might have said they would look at their staff communication but that was all.

‘All I got from them was: “I’m sorry you were scared”. There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy, there was no “that shouldn’t have happened” – just that the chairs were “operating within their limits”.

‘But if my nine-year-old had been on that lift, he would not be here today. If I had been alone on that lift I would not be here today to tell the story.

‘After skiing for this long I know the environment can change very quickly but we are also relying on their technical knowledge to make sure we are safe.

‘They said they have been operating since 1936 and have never had a death. It came b***** close.’ 

She added: ‘I’ve skied in Canada, in North America, I grew up skiing in New Zealand, I’ve skied through Europe. I will never ski in Italy again.’ 

MailOnline contacted resort president Mr Maquignaz and chief engineer Mr Joyeusaz for comment.

Responding on their behalf, a spokesperson for the Cervino resort they could not be contacted because of the Easter break.