Monica Laso boarded the gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe around 5pm after she felt too tired to snowboard down the mountain, she told KCRA 3 News, an affiliate of Sky News partner NBC.

Suddenly, two minutes after she got on the gondola it stopped, leaving her stranded in the air.

Ms Laso said she screamed every time she saw people down below but they could not hear her, and she did not have her phone with her to call for help.

"I screamed desperately until I lost my voice," she told KCRA in an interview in Spanish.

She spent the night rubbing her hands and feet together to fight off the cold as temperatures dropped to -5C, according to the National Weather Service.

Ms Laso's friends reported her missing to the El Dorado County Sherriff's Office, but she wasn't found until the following morning when the gondola started up again for the day and crews realised she had been there overnight.

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A spokesperson for South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue said Ms Laso was treated at the scene.

The ski resort said it is investigating how she got trapped "with the utmost seriousness".

"The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort," said Tom Fortune, the resort's vice president and chief operating officer, in a statement.