An 8-year-old snowboarder dangling from the Ramshead Express high-speed quad chairlift at Killington Ski Resort was saved by a catch net early Wednesday afternoon.
The boy was was riding Ramshead with 3 other passengers when the incident occurred. Killington says he was not fully seat when leaving the loading area which led to him slipping off the chair.
Ski patrol quickly responded to the scene deploying a catch net before tossing a rescue sling over the haul rope in an attempt to lower the boy slowly. This attempt failed and the boy fell from the chairlift. Thankfully the catch net broke his fall.
Ski patrol transported the boy to the base via snowmobile and reports he was uninjured by the fall.
Eye witness account from Steve Swain who took the video:
This kid somehow managed to slip off the quad chair but had his arm behind the bar which was up when I came upon the scene. The other people on the chair had his other arm but he was dangling pretty far down.
The ski patrol did a great job of setting up a catch net that they then padded with lift pole pads. They put a rope over the cable and sent a sling up but it failed to hold him. He slipped out and fell into the net, unharmed.
Saw him riding down on a snowmobile a short time later, sitting on the seat in front of a ski patroller. Happy ending to a hairy mishap
