Rescuers helping 80 skiers trapped on Ohio lift

CHESTERLAND, Ohio (AP) - Rescue crews were helping remove about 80 people stuck on a stalled ski lift Saturday at a northeast Ohio resort, a sheriff's official said. No injuries were immediately reported.

The lift at Alpine Valley in Munson Township stopped around 3 p.m., Geauga County Sheriff's Lt. John Hiscox told The Associated Press. He said there were about 80 people initially stuck. The News-Herald newspaper in Willoughby reported that about 30 people remained on the lift at about 4:30 p.m.

Hiscox said Munson Township fire officials were assisted by several other departments in the rescue.

The telephone line to the township fire department rang unanswered Saturday afternoon. A message seeking comment left for a manager at Alpine Valley wasn't immediately returned.

The 125-acre resort east of Cleveland has about 72 acres for skiing, snowboarding and tubing.

Winds in northeast Ohio and the Cleveland area were gusting up to 25 mph or more Saturday afternoon, though that's "fairly common" for the region, said Brian Mitchell, a meteorological technician for the National Weather Service.

The rescue effort came less than three weeks after a ski lift in Maine derailed. Eight people were injured Dec. 28 when five chairs fell as far as 30 feet amid high winds at the Sugarloaf resort, about 120 miles north of Portland.