25 years ago, the country's worst lift accident

[SILENCER]

Isn't chair 2 at Loveland still a YAN?

[neufox47]

As someone who had a chair fall off the cable while they were on it, I have much sympathy and empathy for those on the lift. It is super hard to jump off the chair even when you think something bad is about to happen. It just seems safer on the lift. Fuck you Indian Head (Michigan).

[Ramsey]

Isn't chair 2 at Loveland still a YAN?

There are plenty still around.... Most parts were over-engineered and they are still standing strong.... The bits that were weak or failed in these accidents have long since been replaced or entire lifts retro-fitted..... Some of the drive & return stations out East that I know of are structurally YAN but now have POMA machinery running the lift.

Just 'cos you see a Poma badge at the top of a tower doesn't mean it wasn't once a YAN tower....

[cocavaak]

I was at Keystone that day. A friend and I were up above and skied down to the bottom of that chair and noticed it had stopped. The victims were out of sight so at first we didn't know what had happened. That chair was the only way back to the front side so we asked a patrolman how we were all going to get out and he said he didn't know. So we rode back up the chair we had just skied down and then tried to traverse through the woods, staying high enough so we could get over the ridge to the front side. Traversing through the woods in downhill gear was no fun. It was getting late and we thought we'd better give up and ski to the bottom of the Teller lift to see how they were going to get all the people stranded on this side out. When we got down we saw no one and wondered where did everyone go? Just then another patrolman showed up and he said folks had skied down the stream valley to the South that emptied out on the road down from Keystone. My buddy was worn out at this point so it would have been hard for him to ski out. No problem - another patrolman showed up with a snowmobile and towed us down the drainage to the road. It was dark by this time so we headed into the bar for some food and beer and heard more details about the carnage. Good thing for us we hadn't gotten to that lift 15 minutes earlier.

[kidwoo]

I see ski areas are still pretty good at keeping this shit under wraps.

1 Sep 2009: Heavenly, California, USA (chairlift): 1 dead, 1 injured [ski resort]One of the guide ropes from the nearby Heavenly Flyer zip line caught on the chairlift cable upending a chair with a honeymooning couple on it. The woman was caught in the wire and was able to hold on but the man fell to his death.

http://www.illicitsnowboarding.com/2...ents.html#more


First I've heard of it, and I freakin live here.

[Hugh Conway]

I see ski areas are still pretty good at keeping this shit under wraps.

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...=Heavenly+Lift

I think the slope deaths get less coverage (but could be wrong)

[old goat]

Good Lord what a story. Amazing about the doctors eating lunch at the time.

A good friend is a ski photographer for over 30 years, was on the scene at Squaw when the tram cable broke and cut the car in half along with 4 occupants. 30 anniversary was in 2008.

http://www.moonshineink.com/articles.php?id=653

Ride safe! every time I see the cable roll back I get ready to bail!

RIP Robert Frohlich--best ski writer I know of.

[kidwoo]

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...=Heavenly+Lift

I think the slope deaths get less coverage (but could be wrong)

You read ski forums in august? Weird.

There is a link to the tahoe paper conglomerate thing though so I just wasn't paying attention.


I just spent the last 45 minutes reading that page I linked and all the accident reports over the last 50 years. Chairlifts are gnarly.

[brunobrau]

I'd just moved back to Germany and was trying to decide if I should go to Kaprun & do the Kitzsteinhorn, Solden or Stubital. I think the Heidelberg Ski club went to Stubital so there's where I ended up.

[karpiel]

Isn't chair 2 at Loveland still a YAN?

1, 2, 4, 6, 7.

I believe.

Pali at gaybay, exhibition was, norway is, the lift at silverton. They are everywhere.

[Hugh Conway]

I just spent the last 45 minutes reading that page I linked and all the accident reports over the last 50 years. Chairlifts are gnarly.

so's that dudes research skills

Angels Flight, San Francisco, USA (funicular): 1 dead, 7 injured [scenic

[Creeker]

Good Lord what a story. Amazing about the doctors eating lunch at the time.

A good friend is a ski photographer for over 30 years, was on the scene at Squaw when the tram cable broke and cut the car in half along with 4 occupants. 30 anniversary was in 2008.

http://www.moonshineink.com/articles.php?id=653

Ride safe! every time I see the cable roll back I get ready to bail!

Thanks for linking to that article...

Easily the most informative account I've ever read. Proud to have been stitched up and repaired by Dr. Denny Chez on multiple occasions!

[XXX-er]

"The only other big problem was the hydraulic fluid for the winch. It needed a lot of lubricant and we ran out of oil for it. We began to use suntan lotion and stripped the women’s purses of any cosmetics and lotions, even lipstick."

Mike "Goofy" Shimmons , I met that guy camping out/partying at a windsurfing championship , I remember him telling me about the suntan lotion AND he was a funny guy

[manchester81]

Which chair at Louise is still a YAN? I remember the old friendly giant and top of the world before it became a 6-pack were YAN. But I thought Glacier and Larch were Poma?

Reading about these accidents is scary. I remember the Whistler one happening and reading about it in the paper.

I am pretty sure that Paradise is a Yan lift.

[wizard604]

yikes.... I think I'm riding with the safety bar down from now on. I know it's no guarantee, but shit happens ....

[ShawnB]

sweet baby jesus what a nightmare!! there'd be a global news organization feeding frenzy if something like that happened these days...

It was national news when it happened, and everybody did know about it. It was a major story on the evening news on every network for like, three days running afterwards.

And there was, I think, a made-for-TV movie subsequently. I can't find any net evidence of it, but I remember it and thinking that was a damned tasteless/exploitative thing to make a movie about.. Sad.

[L7]

Which chair at Louise is still a YAN? I remember the old friendly giant and top of the world before it became a 6-pack were YAN. But I thought Glacier and Larch were Poma?

Reading about these accidents is scary. I remember the Whistler one happening and reading about it in the paper.

Paradise chair is a yan triple. When it went in it phantomed stopped so much it became known as poltergeist as the movie came out around then.