This is the 2nd youth to fall from a Massachusetts ski lift in the past two weeks. An 18-year-old boy fell from a Ward Hill ski lift in Massachusetts on January 4th, 2012 and died from his injuries. This is beginning to be a concern.
The child that fell most recently fell on Tuesday afternoon. The incident occured at Nashoba Valley in Westford, Mass. A 7-year-od girl fell from the Sundown Triple Chair and was taken to UMASS Medical Center in Worcester. She is reported to have a back injury.
The girl was riding with a friend when she fell about 17 feet from the chairlift as the safety bar was being raised near the top of the chair. She was skiing Nashoba Valley as part of Concord Recreation’s after school program.
Al Fletcher, the ski area’s owner, reported that there were no mechanical issues with that chair nor the lift itself.
On December 20th, a 7-year-old boy fell from a Sugar Bowl, CA chairlift and perished from his injuries. The pattern emerging here is young athletes riding chairlifts with other young athletes. Maybe having an adult on each chair with the young persons is a good practice?