Five chairs fell 25 to 30 feet to the ground when a cable derailed, injuring at least six people. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening. The estimated 220 people remaining on the lift were stranded for several hours amid wind gusts of 30 to 50 m.p.h. as the resort’s ski patrol scrambled to evacuate them, using a pulley system to lower skiers to the ground.
By mid-afternoon, the causes of the Sugarloaf accident were still unknown.
Most Common Ski Snowbard Injuries
But lift incidents – particularly ones involving actual derailment or falling chairs – are extremely rare.
“It’s a complete freak accident,” says Troy Hawks, a spokesman for the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). “Our long-term data shows it’s far more dangerous to drive than to ride a chairlift.”
The NSAA doesn’t track lift incidents – like this one – that don’t involve fatalities, though Mr. Hawks says they’re exceedingly rare. But since 1973, there have been 12 deaths attributed to ski-lift malfunctions in the US – a period of time that included more than 14 billion lift rides.
In other words, if a skier were to ride a chairlift 100 million miles, he would have a 0.17 percent chance of being killed. By contrast, the death rate for motor vehicles is 1.33 for every 100 million vehicle-miles, Hawks says.
The most recent US lift fatality was in 1993, when a detachable quad lift at Sierra Ski Ranch in California failed and one person was killed. The two worst incidents, both involving four deaths, occurred in the 1970s, with accidents at Vail and Squaw Valley.
Most Common Ski Snowbard Injuries
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