The restaurant workers walked into the aerial tram car at about 9 pm on New Year's Eve, their shifts complete, their moods festive, even with the lashing wind and heavy snow. The trash bins they carried inside the car were full of food leftovers from Ten 3, a restaurant near Albuquerque.
She thought as she felt the tramway system that she was almost home.
Nineteen employees of Ten 3 and two employees of the tramway system were going home to celebrate with their families, but there were twenty people in one car.
The cars stopped near the second tower.
There was nothing at 10 p.m.
At 11 pm, there was no movement.
Ms.Santos told her colleagues something was not right.
For those who were stranded, the clock had to be turned to a count until their rescue.
It would take a long time.
The passengers rationed Life Savers gummies and bottles of water as they waited for rescue crews to arrive, as the temperatures dipped into the mid-20s.
All of the passengers were rescued by Saturday afternoon. No one was hurt.
Spencer Moreland, the incident commander for New Mexico Search and Rescue, which provided about 30 volunteers who helped with the rescue, got a call from the New Mexico State Police at 3 a.m. He was on the scene by 4 a.m., and an hour later, rescuers were on the scene.
Rescuers had to get to a tower, climb to the tram and set up a rope system to lower people to safety. The passengers were taken away by a helicopter at a time, from a landing site about 100 yards away.
Larry Koren, the pilot who flew the stranded to safety by landing his helicopter on a narrow ridge, said that rescuers battled difficult conditions.
Mr. Koren said that members of the sheriff's office, along with other local officials, had trained with the tramway operator for such a situation.
He said that they had considered a rescue but never executed it, and that they never expected it would be for 21 people in a snowstorm.
The tram cars were not able to reach their destination due to the emergency cable crossing over another cable.
He said that rescuers were lucky that visibility had improved. The crew members might have had to hike to safety if they had not been stranded.
Some of the cooks wore Crocs.
Being trapped in a tram car on New Year's Eve was seen as a funny, yet dangerous, adventure. At midnight, her videos show her and others yelling Happy New Year.
The temperature began to fall. It was 35 degrees at 12:57 a.m. The passengers broke out pretzels and Life Savers gummies from their backpacks after retrieving emergency blankets from the car.
The image is.
A passenger on a car stuck on a New Mexico mountain is sharing a picture on social media.
Ms. Santos said that everyone was quiet. It is dark. It is freezing. The small safety blankets don't retain any heat, so we're literally freezing or shivering.
She said, "You just start thinking, 'Is this how I'm going to die, in a tiny box with my co-workers?'"
The car was swayed by the wind. At 3:49 a.m., they were bunched together, mostly silent, but still supportive of one another. She couldn't sleep because it was 24 degrees.
She tried to think that the car had a built-in toilet. They could communicate with the workers through a speaker on the car. They were told help was on the way. She thought she was going to die by 4 a.m.
Ms.Santos said that you just felt powerless. You are cold. You are sad. You just want to be with your friends on New Year's.
She reached for a blanket and a water bottle when rescue crews arrived. She got on the helicopter and was checked by medical workers before walking to her car.
She recorded a message when she opened up the photo sharing site again.
She said she had no words for the day. I am out of words. This has been terrible.
