25 mins of stuck

On a beautiful sunny day, we were heading up the mountan on a ski gondola. The summit of 3100m awaited us.   However as luck would have it, the gondola stopped midway. We were left hovering over a very long drop onto a glacier.  For the first few minutes, the mood was normal, it was oh well, it will get going in a minute and conversations continued.

Five minutes in to the experience, voices got quieter, there was more whispering and coats were being removed. There was a heat in the cabin due to the roaring sunshine and only one small opening to let in the air. It was getting hot and uncomfortbale.

Luckily as it was the end of the ski season the cabin was not packed full of people, but as the minutes ticked by, the space got smaller and the breathing took up more space. Thank goodness the gondola was not full!

After 10 minutes of waiting with no understanding of what was going on, couples and friends started telling stories of other people they knew who had been in similar situations and that the wait had been over 4 hours!! Despite the stories being in French, German, Italian or English, we all understood that stuff like this happens and its not always with happy endings.

With the passing minutes, the mood was plummeting and there was no sign, no movement and no way of knowing what was happening. More items of clothing were being removed and it was now 15 minutes into the hanging.

The friends I was with were also starting to mildy panic. Quietness was around.

At this point, one person called someone to find out more. Miracuously they got through and spoke to the right person immediately.  They were informed that in 5 minutes the problem would be solved and we would be on our way. Everyone was listening in.

There was a communal sigh of relief.

The sense of security spread through the space and we all became jovial again, we had made contact and the problem was being sorted.  

However the wicked voice in my head was considereing whether they just saying that to console us? Did they really know what the problem was?

Once the 5 minutes were gone, we really did wonder and we got quieter.

Time seemed to slow down and faces seemed to get more stern. A few folks were breathing heavier and getting nervous.  What needed to be done next? A communal hug? A team buidling session? Another phone call? Smash a window?

and breathe...........

However 10 minutes later after many questions had been perculating in the mind, the gondola began to move. The sighs and the breathing were intense. Phew.

We were on our way. On arrival to the summit - 3100m - we were told of the problem and that it was routine. A tire had burst and needed to be replaced. Simple and routine.

Many things had been in our favour, but one thing that really could have been better was the communication. There would have been a way to broadcast the issue to all cabins as speakers were installed, yet this had not been done.

As a consequence we had all began building our own stories and dramas, and as it turned out, it was just a 25 minute wait for a routine problem.

So my reflection is, do we spot these opportunities to communicate the message? Should we be consciously doing more of this, to remove fear and dread?

Anyway we had a great day skiing and a pause for reflection!