Five people were injured and hospitalized after falling from a s chairlift at a California ski resort on Monday.
The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District told the Reno Gazette Journal that the department was called to Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. on Monday morning, and later transported five injure people to the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
Witnesses reported that two ski lift chairs collided.
Travis Faanes, who was waiting in line for another ski lift when the incident happened, told the Reno Gazette Journal that he heard gasps around him and turned to see the accident.
“I saw the chairs were swinging, and I saw people just hit the ground,” Faanes said.
Faanes told the Reno Gazette Journal he saw one person pinned to the back chair.
The Heavenly Mountain Resort said it was looking into the accident on the Comet Express chairlift on Monday.
“The safety of our guests is our top priority and the resort is investigating the incident,” spokesperson Cole Zimmerman told the Reno Gazette Journal via email.
The Reno Gazette Journal reported in January that a woman was trapped in freezing temperatures in a gondola at the Heavenly Mountain Resort for 15 hours overnight due to a “breakdown” in ski lift protocols.
Colorado ski lift malfunctions
This come after a similar incident happened in Colorado. On Saturday Dec. 21, more than 100 people had to be evacuated using ropes and ladders after a gondola at the Winter Park Resort malfunctioned, leaving around 150-175 people trapped and suspended in mid-air.
After ensuring that no one was in distress, a rescue operation was initiated about an hour later during which ski patrollers climbed up the lift towers, shimmied to each of the gondola’s cabins and removed the occupants’ equipment before using ropes to hoist people down one at a time, the spokesperson said. Rescue efforts continued till about 6 p.m. that day, and no injuries were reported.
Contributing: Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com.
Jaedyn Young covers local government for the Reno Gazette Journal. Her wages are 100% funded by donations and grants; if you’d like to see more stories like this one, please consider donating at RGJ.com/donate. Send your story ideas and feedback to Jaedyn atjyoung@rgj.com.
