Park City Mountain Resort has been having a tough week. Crowds have been plentiful due to snowfall and vacation week, and there was a fight on one of their chairlifts. Unfortunately, multiple deaths occurred on the mountain as well.
TownLift reports that an employee died after a tree fell onto the Short Cut chairlift cable, making the individual fall off the lift. On Wednesday, the individual was identified as 29-year-old Christian Helger. According to TownLift, he was a member of the Park City Mountain Resort. Ski Patrol evacuated the other ten riders. The chairlift will be closed until a thorough investigation can be conducted.
Deirdra Walsh, who is the vice president & chief operating officer of Park City Mountain Resort, released the following statement:
“The Park City Mountain team – as well as the entire Vail Resorts team – extend our deepest sympathy and support to the family and friends of our team member. We are all deeply saddened by this tragic incident, and we will be providing support for our employees as we grieve this devastating loss.”
Short Cut and Orange Bubble lifts will be CLOSED for the remainder of the day. @PCski
— ParkCityMtnAlert (@PCMtnAlert) January 2, 2023
This wasn’t the only tragedy that occurred at Park City Mountain Resort over the long weekend. KUTV reports that a seventy-five-year-old man died while skiing at the ski resort on Sunday. An autopsy is pending, but they think it was a cardiac episode.
For those who are curious about the whereabouts of the Short Cut lift, I’ve attached a video P.O.V. from YouTuber Nick W. It’s situated on the Canyons side of the mountain, and connects the Red Pine Lodge and Gondola to the Orange Bubble Express.
We send our thoughts and prayers to the employees over at Park City Mountain Resort and the families of the victims during this challenging time.
Image/Video Credits: Andrew T. (FourSquare), Nick W.
