Bartlett, New Hampshire — As more shocking images and videos have emerged regarding the carrier fall from the Flying Bear chairlift at Attitash yesterday, various people spoke up about the possible causes of the incident.
A notable one came from Reddit user @Fluffhead_Phan, who described their experience riding the lift when the incident occurred.
The Reddit user said the following in the post about the detachment:
“This happened Feb. 2, 2025 at Bear Peak (Attitash). The staff at the top of the lift provided vouchers but had no other info. We were 13 chairs behind this one on our ‘last run of the day.’ We spoke to some folks at the top who were closer to this chair when it fell and said the chair started swinging violently when the lift came to a sudden halt, it hit the pole and came crashing down (can confirm our chair swung a lot too). The chairlift started moving again then stopped, it stopped right above where he fell. So we saw the ski patrol come down with the med-sled and stabilize his head, neck and back. Skier gave us a thumbs up but said his back was fucked up.”
The individual was assisted by ski patrol and was taken to the hospital. According to New Hampshire Public Radio, the individual was released from the hospital.
Another perspective came from Althea Rowell, who’s a tenured lift mechanic. She hypothesized what happened at Attitash in the Lift Mechanics of the World Unite!!! Facebook group:
“This appears to be a D-104 grip, with the eye witness statement of seeing/hearing ice fall while leaving the terminal, in combination with the grip remaining open, my bet would be that there was ice build up in/around the closing rail that did not allow for the proper force to be exerted on the grip in order to close (when decommissioning grips it takes a very hard, full force slap against the ground or chair to close the grip). The lift operator who reset the initial fault is 200% at fault, especially if they did not go into the terminal to read the grip force value before resetting. In my experience I’ve had lift ops reset without even calling a 10-7 to a mechanic. Source – I’m a mechanic and lift manager that works on D-104 grips and trains lift ops.”
In addition, a concerning image has been making the rounds on social media showing the downed chair. Lift mechanics who have seen this photo believe that the chair suffered significant metal decay over time before falling off the haul rope.
For now, these takes should be considered as speculation. The situation is currently being investigated by the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office and the New Hampshire Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The Fire Marhsal’s Office has stated that the probable cause was a mechanical failure. Doppelmayr, the lift manufacturer, and Attitash Mountain are also assisting in the investigation. The New Hampshire Passenger Tramway Safety Board will likely release a document regarding the official cause of the detachment in the future.
The Flying Bear chairlift was closed today as crews investigated the cause of the incident. Its status going forward this season is unknown. The Bear Peak side remains open to the public, with Kachina and Abenaki chairlifts operating in that terrain pod.

Image Credits: @Fluffhead_Phan, @OEM_knees, Attitash Mountain Resort