Staff at the Sea to Sky Gondola is defending the tourist attraction after a viral Facebook post accused an employee of forcing a young couple to be rescued from a hike back down the mountain.

In Facebook post, Shelbee Fulton said she and her boyfriend hiked the Sea to Summit trail in Squamish on Sunday, adding they planned on taking the gondola back down but icy conditions slowed their ascent causing them to miss the last ride.

"We were late for the gondola but there was two girls standing right in front of us so we knew it would be OK," she wrote on Facebook.

The couple was told they would need to pay $60 – more than they had and more than listed on the company's site – and the ATM at the summit was out of service.

Fulton says they offered to pay at the bottom, but were refused and told to take a forest service road back down.

"Clay comforted me for a few minutes before telling me we had to start walking. He approached the man again to inform him that it was almost sun down and pointed to me on the ground saying I was going to freeze. He said 'she won’t freeze' with a smirk on his face," she said.

From there, the couple's day got worse.

Fulton claims a search-and-rescue team was forced to rescue the pair as conditions had deteriorated to a point that they didn't feel safe.

"We were cold as hell, my lips were blue, I cried the entire way down. This has been the most physically and emotionally exhausting experience of my life," she wrote, adding she tears up while detailing the ordeal.

John Willcox with Squamish Search and Rescue confirmed they rescued the couple Sunday, adding that they weren't prepared for nighttime hiking.

"Hopefully the worst case scenario would’ve been they were very uncomfortable and sore of going all the way and going all the way down. I guess the thing to know is to be prepared," he said.

Willcox said the couple was located along the service road and was rescued easily.

"We were able to drive right up to them without any trouble," he said.

In a statement to CTV News, Fulton says they were prepared to hike the trail but not prepared to hike the service road in the dark.

"The gondola was running and two girls stepped on directly before us!!! They refused us for reasons that were completely out of our control," she said.

A spokesperson for the gondola confirmed parts of Fulton's story, but pointed out that the couple had not purchased a sightseeing pass and knew what the trail was like, having hiked it before.

"The gondola’s website contains numerous advisories for hiking guests to check on the time for last ride down. The Sea to Summit hike also features signage along the way indicating when the guest is a quarter of the way up, half-way up and three-quarters of the way up to assist in gauging time left to complete," the company said in a statement.

But the company confirmed it isn't customary for staff to turn hikers away from the summit after the gondola is closed if they don't have the fee and appear to be ill-prepared.

"We are following up with the staff with how this particular situation was handled. Safety is a core value."

Fulton says she hopes that how her situation was handled helps others down the line.

"These people are supposed to do everything in their power to promote and ensure safety, not to turn a profit," she wrote. "Please everyone be so careful and so aware of any potential unprecedented circumstances when hiking, camping, etc. We were lucky, but the next person might not be."