The skier who plummeted 13 feet to the ground after a chairlift they were riding at Breckenridge on Thursday is reportedly uninjured and declined additional care. FOX31 reports the incident happened around 10:35am Thursday morning on the Peak 8 SuperConnect. Brynne Goldberg was on the chair behind the one that fell:
“The guy in front of me, his chair, right as he was coming up to the terminal was just twisting and blowing around. His chair just dropped, and he was just sitting on it. I really think what helped this guy is he had the bar down and his feet on the foot pegs. I think the chair probably helped him or prevented him from himself hitting the ground. I’m really shocked at how it all happened, and that he just stood up and skied away.”
Goldberg said attendants quickly shut down the lift and attended to the man, who got up and simply skied away. Vail Resorts said no injuries were reported and the rider declined additional care.
A spokesperson for Vail Resorts said that at the time of the incident, the resort was following “all standard operating procedures”. Here is Vail Resorts statement released to FOX31 on Friday:
“The wind direction was predominantly favorable for operation of the Peak 8 SuperConnect when it opened for the day at 10 a.m., however an abnormal wind gust across the top terminal, in addition to the chair coming into contact with components of the upper terminal, created the circumstances of this event.”
-VAIL RESORTS
The lift re-opened at 12:30 on Friday following an inspection from the Colorado Tramway Safety Board.
